Girl toys vs boy toys: The experiment - BBC Stories

The Experiment: Are you sure you don't gender-stereotype children in the toys you choose for them?

[jenniferhuang]

I love how open-minded the adults are when the gender of the children are reveled. They don't get defensive about their previous behavior, which is quite refreshing.

[brynnhill]

As a girl with 2 brothers, I played with all the "boy's toys." Yet, my brothers still didn't play dolls with me nearly as often, and I had to turn to my mom to play. I think boys refusing to play with girls toys is a far more significant barrier these days, as girl's toys are far less likely to be used across genders

[dominicasoto]

They pointed out how boys toys help the brain to develop certain parts of the mind that girls toys fail to improve on. It's sad that they're more concerned with allowing the children to play with whatever they want rather than being more concerned with ensuring their children are using the proper tools to help their little brains develop properly. Genderizing toys isn't what matters, intellectual equality seems more important in this matter

[flaviomedina]

Lots of the comments are taking this as transgender propaganda or gender neutrality.
I don't think those are even the main issues at all! This seems to be much more about gender justice - giving women opportunity to develop logical skills, spatial awareness and be horoes or adventurers instead of (necessarily) housekeepers and damsels in distress. It's giving boys the opportunity to develop different aspects of their emotional intelligence, and yes, housekeeping skills too.
I can't believe people are more concerned with farfetched conspiracy theories when there are such blatant and more serious issues being approached.

[pedroff_]

Damn, people really missed the point in this one, it's not denying the possibility of differences, the video just shows how much of these behaviours are from social origins, rather than biological. It shows how we really exaggerate in the tiny differences there actually are and how we treat children, which should behave more or less similarly, in quite different ways, based on something that, although has some impact, is mostly irrelevant at that stage.
The campaign wasn't "no more men and women", because, then, biological differences are more noticeable, but it is towards stopping giving so much importance to gender, especially in child. I see no reason for it being inheritedly negative.

[valenciamaribel]

My father bought my siblings and I both boy and girl toys . We played with all of them and like to think we've turned out just fine . Playing with toys that were for the opposite gender didn't make us gay or trans . We've all grown up and are happily married to the opposite gender. Now I have a child of my own and let him play with water he wants.

[onlylove]

I am a 29 year old woman and all my childhood i played with boys and girls toys . I am a mother of 5 girls and they play with anything as well. Toys are toys . As long as they are having fun who cares !

[elenasullivan]

As a girl with two brothers, I found their toys to be way more fun. Things to build with, cars, trains, tracks, legos, linkin logs, they’re really more physically creative materials. Dolls and most other toys marketed towards girls are more mentally creative as you often use your imagination with them like playing house with barbie’s. Both can have stories around them but from what I see toys marketed towards boys are generally more engaging for the mind. I think it’s dumb. Hot wheels and tracks were the shit.

[nixienooo]

I work with pre-school aged children. I recognized that the girls wanted to play with dinosaurs and the boys wanted to play with My Little Pony toys, kids do not give two shits what you think if it's a "boy" or "girl" toy.

[acdcjor]

It would be more credible if they'd just let the babies choose the toys. You can't put a toy in front of their faces and say "they play with it, they like it" rather than what they prefer.
There's a Norwegian documental that talks about it, "the gender equality paradox", a little long but very interesting.

[superlamenick]

I'm the oldest of 3 boys and my parents dressed me in unisex and gave me toys that stimulated my brain without thinking about gender. They proceeded to have 2 more boys that got all my old stuff. Now that we're 17, 14 and 11 they give us stuff we want, still with no thought of gender. I believe that's what all parents should do.

[athenatatnell]

Man I tried so hard to get my son into toys other than cars and tools but he has a keen interest in things requiring his fine motor skills, that being said he LOVES teddies and is starting to show interest in baby dolls. I lost my ability to stereotype when my younger brother was accosted by my family for playing with dolls. The devastation in his eyes has haunted me since and I encourage boys or girls who ever to play with what ever they want. Toys are toys.

[adria]

When i was little, i outgrew the girl's toy section in a store very quickly and would often go to the boy's section because that's were all the electronics, pokemon stuff and t-rexs were.

[kellabdjfoo]

I remember my mom telling me I liked ponies because it was part of my personality. But now I realized she only did that because of the stereotype.

[wendyroithner]

A little over 20 years ago before Christmas my 1st child came to me crying because of the toy catalog for Toys R Us. I asked her why she was so upset. She told me that there was something that she wanted but it was for boys. I had her show me. She wanted Hotwheels or Matchbox cars and a parking or mechanics garage. I told her that just because there are only boys in the picture doesn't mean it is just for boys and that she can ask for whatever she likes. I don't like that advertisers depict gender roles for their toys.

[LexitaMai]

A lot of people in the comments are saying this isn't credible because the children aren't being allowed to pick their own toys.

Keep in mind, that's is NOT the question. They aren't testing which toys the kids prefer. They're testing to see if the adults have biases in the toys they give to the kids based on the gender of the children

[vcvoolg]

Even that young babies are forced to play with certain toys. Toys in this vedio are not just toys. Im surprised how many these people dont understand what it actually means.

[robotenfaffa]

My sister likes all kinds of toys. She likes dolls but also lightsabers.

[mscrise]

I used to work at a toy store (i know, dream job) and it was really common to see some parents forcing their kids to choose certain toys. One day a little boy started crying because he wanted a Barbie doll and his mom didn't buy that, but got an even more expensive toy (a set of three little trucks). As a worker I wasn't allowed to say anything, in fact my boss made that pretty clear at first.
This is a real problem, everything starts at home, and exposing kids to this stereotypes is a terrible move.

[PossibleBat]

Really interesting.
I find this to have similarities with the concept of learning a language.
I've always been told that it's easier for kids to learn new languages, that they are sponges.
I now wonder if being more with boys as young as toddlers gives them advantage later on in their lifes at learning all those concepts better, and girls, on the other hand, aren't shown all those things, perhaps giving them a disadvantage.