Toy Store Sociology

Toy Store

For the first time in a long time, I went to the toy aisle to observe what was available for today’s children to play with. It has been a while since I actually walked down the aisles and browsed at what exactly there was for our younger generation today. However, it doesn’t look like too much has changed from when I was a younger girl and shopping for toys. The girls are still offered, what you would think: Barbie dolls, princesses, babies, kitchen-aide stuff, princess costumes, make-up, arts and crafts (e.g. sewing), stuffed animals, etc. In addition, the boys are offered your hands on building toys (e.g. Legos), guns, army men, transformers, trains, trucks and cars, tools, etc. I also observed that the girls had your typical bright pinks and purples, whereas the boys were your bolder, blues, greens, reds, and blacks. It just so happened while I was in there, a mom and her son, maybe the age of five, were shopping in the girls’ section and the boy says to his mom, “Mom I want to go and look at the transformers, not these baby dolls for sissy.” I thought that was interesting enough, seeing as we are writing about gender differences and what boys may prefer over girls or vice versa.

The article discusses how typically the children’s parent will determine what they think is appropriate for their child to be playing with. For example, a parent would buy their son: trucks, guns and tools. In contrast, they would buy their daughter: baby dolls, makeup, or cooking kits. Interestingly, the article discusses how the marketing media is trying to influence not only the children but the parents of the children. It says that the marketing executives admit to putting on their websites what they think parents will prefer to see, as well as the