Now I understand some of you might be thinking "what's the big deal?" Well the big deal is gender stereotyping is not okay. Blondie Boy loves trucks and cars but he also loves giraffes, hearts, puppy dogs and fairies (specifically one Miss Abby Cadabby but more on her another time). I hear you 'no big deal' folks saying "Fine just get him the girl's book." That isn't the point. Why do the books even need to be "boy's" and "girl's"? I know Blondie Boy has colouring and sticker books called "big book of cars" or "animals" so why the need to define with boy and girl?
In playing into culturally constructed norms of what either sex should like or be these books are subtly chipping away at our children's identities. Yes, I'm going to take it THAT far because there will be some little boy who goes to get a sticker book and reaches for the copy with giraffes, fairies and ponies only to be told, no that is the girl's book. That little child will have to compromise who they are and what they like because some marketing genius has decided what is for boys and what is for girls and slapped the label on sticker books accordingly.
In my opinion there are no such things are girls things and boys things as far as toys and playthings are concerned. Yes our external and internal genitalia do differentiate male from female but last time I checked most children's toys don't actually require a penis or a vulva/vagina so really why are toys marked as boy and girl? Physically and mentally boys and girls can play with the exact same toys so there is no need to market them as sex specific. Let children choose on their own what they want to play with and enjoy.
I like to buy toys that Blondie Boy would like but as much as he might like either of those colouring books I will not buy them. We have to buck the "snips and snails" versus "sugar and spice" dichotomy or it will just continue.
At Cybher last Saturday I said to me being a feminist blogger means not shutting up. So I'm not going to shut up. I'll rant about sticker books and anything else that pisses me off and if even one person reads my rants and it makes them think differently then I think I've done my job. Things can't change if you don't let anyone know things are wrong.
