Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Boy/Girl Toys

I definitely think the GI-Joe toy and the doll have psychological effects on children. Personally, I grew up playing with barbie dolls and I can relate my body image issues to the body of the barbie. No, I don't have an eating disorder, but Barbie's lack of body fat in the love-handle region makes me question my own figure. This link was really interesting:

http://www.teen-beauty-tips.com/barbie-body-image.html

I wondered during our class discussion what kind of toys I played with as a child and how my mother chose toys for us. I remember playing with barbies, other dolls, dress-up clothes, and a truck that had a controller so I could change the speed and direction from far away. So, I asked my mom how she decided what toys to buy us. Her response was that she just bought toys that looked fun to her. I couldn't remember many masculine toys in my childhood, but she brought up my love for hot wheels. Also, she reminded me of these big cardboard blocks I used to build up as high as I could and then knock down, which is a relatively gender-neutral toy.

1 comment:

  1. I really believe that the type of toys we play with have much less impact on us than most people believe. Going along with what was said here I also thought of toys that I grew up with and what I remember was mostly remote control cars, ghost buster figures and Nerf and water guns. I never really thought any of these toys had an impact on my growing up and acting more/less masculine. I think most of all parents should try and worry about whether toys are too violent and sexual/what educational value they have for their child before they worry about which gender they want to impose.

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