Why?

[pinkneon]

We are supposed to have equality, and women are allowed to do "men" jobs, and men are allowed to do "women" jobs, so why do people insist on not allowing children to just be children and basically teach them that boys can't play with a dolly? The way I see it is this, if a little boy can't push a dolly in a pram then maybe we should tell all the dads to stop pushing their baby in a the pram!
Maybe we should get rid of all the female police officers, the male bakers, the female doctors and the male hairdressers too?! What's the point of equality otherwise? What if my neice wants to be a car mechanic when she grows up? Is society going to stop her just because she is a girl?! Her favorite activity is helping daddy with the car! She has two older half brothers, but that isn't why she doesn't really play with her dolly. She PREFERS boys toys! She never wants anything pink, and only the other day asked for a pirate costume to a party instead of a princess costume the girls were "instructed" to wear. Apparently the boys are meant to be pirates and the girls are meant to be princesses. Well, she is going as a pirate because that is what she chose. Mind you if she'd chosen an octopus she'd probably be going as that LOL

[AmityvilleHams]

I think a lot of the problem with society in general is part of it is just so far in the past that we can't even make the big improvements we need to.This is honestly one of so many issues though,and I think it's terrible that anyone would want to completely shut down a child's creativity for the sake of it being "proper" especially in a modern society

[pinkneon]

Yeah my little neice was so sad when the lady in the shop told her to play with girl's toys! Even her pre-school tried making her play with a dolly but a little boy came in one day dressed as Belle from Beauty and The Beast, so they soon stopped!

[Fluffagrams]

I worked in a toy shop for three years and we weren't allowed to label the toys as being boys toys or girls toys, we just used to give them category headings such as 'Adventure' and 'Lets Pretend' and even though we had a fair few products in a pink option as well as blue/green/red we weren't ever allowed to push a particular colour on a customer.

I remember during my training when we were being taught to ask questions about the child to recommend suitable options, we were always encouraged to ask what the child liked to do before automatically assuming that a boy would want cars and a girl would want a doll and in three years, I came across plenty of girls who liked playing with cars and boys who wanted a dolls pushchair.

There's a couple of campaigns on the Internet about the genderisation of children's toys. Some of it can be a bit OTT but some of it makes a very valid point.

[AmityvilleHams]

It is definitely nice to see that there are of course good shops with the bad It is to be expected though,but it does make things feel much better.

I love the idea of figuring out the right things for individual children though,since so many kids are completely different and you'd never know unless you knew their personality and preferences.

I don't think I'd ever really see much of a positive side to forcing gender labels onto a toy meant for children but I guess some people would There are going to be extremists in any situation though,whether you're talking about things relating to children or fashion or pet care or anything really.

[zak]

I can remember a time not so long ago when my mam was babysitting her friends son who was around about five or six at the time and he wanted to play games on my laptop. I tried to encourage him to play games where he was a makeup artist etc since I noticed half way through that he would only play the stereotypical boy games to which he responded by shouting: "Ewww no! That's gay, (insert name here). Get it off now or I am going back downstairs.". As soon as those words came out of his mouth, I didn't know what to do or say due to how shocked I was. My mam found out a few weeks later that his dad kept drumming it into him that everyone will think he is gay if he likes anything girly. I mean how messed up is that?! Why do some people feel the need to teach children that ignorance and hate is okay when in fact its not and that liking things that aren't stereotypical of their genders is considered gay? I just wish people would let kids be kids and allow them to play with toys they like.

[pinkneon]

Wow, Fluffagrams I wish EVERY toy shop was like that!

Originally Posted by zak

I can remember a time not so long ago when my mam was babysitting her friends son who was around about five or six at the time and he wanted to play games on my laptop. I tried to encourage him to play games where he was a makeup artist etc since I noticed half way through that he would only play the stereotypical boy games to which he responded by shouting: "Ewww no! That's gay, (insert name here). Get it off now or I am going back downstairs.". As soon as those words came out of his mouth, I didn't know what to do or say due to how shocked I was. My mam found out a few weeks later that his dad kept drumming it into him that everyone will think he is gay if he likes anything girly. I mean how messed up is that?! Why do some people feel the need to teach children that ignorance and hate is okay when in fact isn't it and that liking things that aren't stereotypical of their genders is considered gay?

I know of a little boy who's dad confiscated the new dolly he got for Christmas one year from his Auntie. The Auntie had bought it as he had loved playing with one at their house, but the dad confiscated it! Then the little boy came out with "will you take away my babies when I grow up too?" His dad was shocked! Then his mom had a new baby, and he wanted to "help" and wanted his dolly back so he could "feed" it, but his dad only gave it back when the little boy asked why his dad was allowed to push the baby in the pram, but he wasn't allowed a dolly. Now though, he and his sisters are allowed to play with anything they want

[Sunset_Melody]

My dad has such an issue with my nephew having a doll and a pram. Like he was like "He should have a bb gun and stuff." not the play kitchen and the dollies and stuff he has. But he is still a rough and tumble boy he just also likes "girl" things too.

[pinkneon]

Most preschools encourage children to role play and play with everything! One in my home town takes the view that the boys may have their own kids one day, and will want to look after them so there is nothing wrong with them having a dolly and pretending to look after it! Sadly some parents I know refused to let their children go there because of it, and now the children are older they go to all girl's or all boy's schools ...! One little boy I used to babysit always wanted to be "mommy" in the home corner, and one of the girls was "daddy"! Very imaginative in my opinion! I think the "baby" then turned into a baker or something LOL

[hammy2]

There's a lot of boys that like 'girl' toys. Children don't grow up knowing about what boys should be like and what girls should be like. It's something that is taught and comes with puberty.