gender socialization
Gender: Forced Upon American Society Growing up, many Americans ' childhood consisted of playing tag outside, having cooties, and experimenting with as many toys as possible. Hundreds of thousands of toys flood kid stores such as Toys R ' Us, Baby Depot, and KB toys. With imagination, kids are able to become doctors, presidents, and princesses during the contents of one day. Television shows such as Barney or Blues Clues encourage having such imagination, thus inspiring kids to want to become one of the many options stores can transform them into. Walking into a regular toy store, people generally do not dissect the sexism that lays within the aisles, however, when walking in specifically to compare and contrast boys and girls toys for a sociology assignment, I was able to see how society commonly forces gender roles on little girls and boys. In the book Choices In Relationships Tenth Edition, it is stated that "Gender discrimination beings at about 30 months.(87)" This was clear immediately upon entering the store, in which you generally see pink and blue. This was a quick and easy way to separate boy and girl toys, also an evident sexism factor. I wondered, what about the boys that are drawn to pink? Are these boys socially lost simply because stores force blue and green on to boys? In contrast, If a girl likes blue, that does not necessarily mean she wants to play with Tonka Tanks and guns. During these ages, kids are not aware enough to know that they have a right to like what they want, rather than being obligated to go certain gender sides of a store. The boys side did not come as a shock. The aisles where stocked with inventory such as guns, military toys, cop and firefighter costumes. Personally, it seems as if Toys R ' Us wants to force little boys to be what society calls "manly". From the early ages, little boys are to be raised to be tough and non emotional (hence the guns). The cop and firefighter costumes indicates that a male is
Cited: Knox, David, and Schacht, Caroline. Choices In Relationships: An Introduction To Marriage and the Family.Belmont: CA, Author, Unknown. "Angelina Jolie: Shiloh Wants to be a Boy" 28 JUNE 2010 page 1 Angelina Jolie 's daughter Shiloh, often confused for a boy. Blue and green and dominant colors in the boys aisles. You and me, Referring to the baby doll and the child buying it. Pink is forced upon girls, and seeing a boy engaging in these aisles has been marked "unusual" by society, Young girls are taught to play mommy by feeding and caring for a pretend baby.