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Toy Store Exercise 2

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Toy Store Exercise 2
Toy Store Exercise

For this social experiment I chose to go to the Ponderay Dollar Store and Wal-Mart Chains. In these stores I found that there was a big difference in the separation of genders between aisles in their respective stores. In Wal-Mart there were two aisles of boys and two aisles of girl’s toys with one mixed in the middle of both. They were separated based on the beginning color of the end of the row, either blue or pink and purple. It is also noticeable that the toys of the respective sexes that are assigned by the gender roles are set at the end of each aisle signifying what can be found in the aisle itself. For example some of the toys I found in Wal-Mart were: a bolt action dart blasting predator©, Lego creator sets©, R/C Sport Car©, Sparkle Girls: fashion doll©, and a Baby alive interactive doll©. As an overview of the difference in toys, boys tend to put violence and action first and girls tend to lean towards child care and fashion in their toys. What our media and culture is trying to tell boys is that they need this bolt action dart blasting predator© to learn the skill of shooting accuracy and I noticed a lot is that military references can be found throughout the boys aisles. Almost as if they are trying to make boys proficient in military skills so eventually they will become soldiers. There is however a second option for boys though and that is Legos© which teaches them creativity and thinking so if a boy doesn’t want to be a stigma in society they can go and play with Lego’s©. Girls in their toys are taught to conform to be caring, loving, and accepting in society. The Sparkle Girls: fashion doll© teaches females to be current with their fashion and to dress according to what is accepting in society. The Baby Alive interactive doll will teach them basic mothering skills which may or

may not help them later in life. Previously I said that the girls are taught to be accepting in society and what I meant by that is what will lead us

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