Alice Robb's Argumentative Research

“Children use toys to try on new roles, experiment, and explore interests.” (Susan Linn) The toys being sold in the US have clear gender discrimination. Gender stereotypes are more of a problem now than in the 1970’s. “By the mid- 1990’s, however, gendered advertising had returned to 1950’s-levels, and it continued to grow in the 2000’s.” (Alice Robb) America has grown over the years, but we still have a problem with gender stereotypes. The toy industry stereotypes children by peer pressuring them to conform to society.
Gendered colors that advertisements and toy stores use affect children in their formative years because what they learn stays with them for their entire lives. According to Jo Paoletti, “girl’s preference for pink is learned, not innate; cognitive research suggests that all babies actually prefer blue.” (Alice Robb) Children pay a lot of attention to their surroundings because that is how they learn. Sometimes it is hard for them to form their own opinions, especially when their guardians and role models are not letting them find themselves. For example, when an advertisement shows a little girl playing with dolls, or wearing the color pink, the child watching is going to think that that is normal for their gender, or the opposite gender. Megan Fulcher, a professor

For example, boys play with cars and blocks, and girls usually play with dolls or have a dollhouse. “Gender preferences for toys only show up after children learn about their gender.” (theguardian.com). Children at the ages of 3-5 really start to focus on what's right for their gender because of what is advertised on TV and on social media. “Dolls for girls in the 1960s had traditional women’s roles at the time – like homemaker and mother – while boys’ action figures had professions like scientist, engineer or cowboy.” (Olga Oksman) Instead of telling a child what to believe in, teach them to form their own