Toy Commercials: Playing with Gender
Summary
TLDRThis video essay explores the impact of TV toy commercials on gender perceptions in children's toy choices. It discusses how commercials reinforce traditional gender roles, with male toys often promoting power and strength, and female toys focusing on appearance and nurturing. The script also highlights historical commercials that rigidly categorized toys by gender and notes a shift towards more gender-neutral advertising. However, it argues that despite some progress, commercials still subtly perpetuate gender stereotypes, suggesting that societal attitudes and toy marketing need to evolve further for genuine change.
Takeaways
- 📺 Television toy commercials play a significant role in shaping children's perception of gender-appropriate toys.
- 👶 By the age of 10, children have formed an understanding of gender-specific personality traits, influenced by societal norms and media.
- 🔍 The human mind categorizes information into stereotypes, including gender roles, to simplify the processing of information.
- 🚼 Children's commercials often reinforce rigid gender stereotypes, with male characters dominating and female characters being portrayed in nurturing roles.
- 🚫 Gendered toy advertisements can be restrictive and demeaning, potentially limiting children's identities and aspirations.
- 🎨 Female toys tend to focus on appearance and domesticity, while male toys encourage power, strength, and spatial skills.
- 🔄 There has been a historical shift in toy commercials, with more recent ads showing boys and girls playing with a wider variety of toys and together.
- 📈 Studies indicate that children are exposed to a large number of advertisements, which can significantly influence their attitudes and preferences.
- 🧩 Advertisements can affect children's memory, with a significant portion recalling toy ads even a week after viewing.
- 🚀 The gendering of toys may impact adults' skills and career choices, with male-oriented toys fostering spatial skills linked to scientific careers.
- 🔄 While progress has been made in degendering toy commercials, they still perpetuate gender stereotypes in more modern ways, suggesting only superficial changes.
Q & A
What is the main focus of the video essay?
-The video essay primarily examines the effects of television toy commercials on society's perception of gender-appropriate toys for children.
How do children learn their gender roles through toys?
-Children learn their gender roles through toys as they are exposed to media, specifically toy commercials, which relay messages that there are specific toys for each gender.
What is the impact of gender construction on children's understanding of personality traits?
-By the age of 10, children have formed an understanding of personality traits associated with each gender, and they tend to be very rigid in their ideas of gender behaviors, occupations, and toys.
How do toy commercials stereotype and categorize information for children?
-Toy commercials stereotype and categorize information by promoting the idea that certain toys are meant for boys and others for girls, making it easier for children to process information by categorizing them as male or female.
What negative effects do gender portrayals in advertising have on children?
-Gender portrayals in advertising can be restrictive and demeaning, often negatively stereotyping toys for boys and girls, which can be detrimental to children who are still forming their identities.
How do female toys differ from male toys in terms of the messages they convey?
-Female toys often encourage girls to focus on their looks, whereas male toys encourage power and strength, reinforcing traditional gender roles.
What types of toys are boys typically encouraged to play with, according to the script?
-Boys are encouraged to play with cars, trucks, building toys, and science toys that generally promote strength and power.
What types of toys are girls typically encouraged to play with, and what behaviors do they promote?
-Girls are encouraged to play with toys such as kitchen sets and dolls that promote domestic and nurturing behavior.
How have toy commercials historically depicted the types of toys boys and girls should play with?
-Historically, toy commercials have been more rigid, clearly depicting certain toys for boys that suggest qualities like action and adventure, and toys for girls that promote appearance and domesticity.
What changes have occurred in toy commercials over the past 50 years?
-In recent years, there have been more depictions of boys and girls playing with toys typically geared toward the other gender, and more commercials show children of both genders playing together, indicating a move towards gender-neutral toys.
How do advertisements potentially affect children's attitudes and future career choices?
-Advertisements may affect children's attitudes toward brands and reinforce gender stereotypes, potentially influencing their aptitudes and skills for different professions as adults.
What is the role of society and advertisements in perpetuating gender stereotypes?
-Society creates gender stereotypes, and advertisements perpetuate them to appeal to consumer desires, reinforcing these stereotypes for commercial success.
What message does the video essay convey about the progress of degendering toy commercials?
-While there has been some progress in degendering television toy commercials, there is still a long way to go as commercials continue to be gender restrictive, often in more modern ways that give the illusion of change.
Outlines
📺 Impact of Television Toy Commercials on Gender Perception
This paragraph examines the influence of television toy commercials on children's understanding of gender roles and the types of toys deemed appropriate for each. It discusses how society categorizes gender and how children's commercials often reinforce stereotypes, showing male characters in dominant roles and female toys focusing on appearance and nurturing. The script also touches on the potential negative effects of such gendered marketing, suggesting that it can limit children's identity formation and perpetuate traditional gender roles in toys, such as action figures for boys and dolls for girls. Historical commercials are contrasted with more recent ones to highlight the persistence of these stereotypes, despite some apparent progress towards gender-neutral advertising.
🧠 The Psychological and Societal Effects of Gendered Toy Advertising
The second paragraph delves into the psychological impact of gendered toy commercials on children, noting that children are exposed to a significant number of advertisements that can shape their attitudes and preferences. It references data from the American Psychological Association that indicates half of children remember a toy advertisement a week after viewing it, suggesting a strong influence on their memory and behavior. The paragraph also explores the broader societal implications, such as the potential for toy gendering to affect adult career choices and skills. It points out that while there has been some movement towards degendering toys in commercials, the progress is slow and the underlying stereotypes are often still present in modern advertising, as exemplified by the comparison of Barbie commercials from 1959 and 2015.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Gender Roles
💡Stereotype
💡Gender Construction
💡Toy Commercials
💡Gendered Advertisements
💡Rigid Identity
💡Spatial Skills
💡Degendering
💡Gender Stereotypes
💡Consumer Socially Influenced Desires
💡Progress
Highlights
The video essay examines the effects of television toy commercials on society's perception of gender-appropriate toys for children.
Children's toys are a way in which they learn their gender roles, with media and toy commercials relaying messages about specific toys for each gender.
By the age of 10, children have formed an understanding of personality traits associated with each gender.
Gender construction is a blend of nature and nurture, with children's minds categorizing information into male or female to process it more easily.
Studies show that male characters dominate children's commercials and gender portrayals are often negatively stereotyped.
Segregating toys by gender can be detrimental to children's identity formation.
Female toys often encourage girls to focus on their looks, while male toys promote power and strength.
Commercials featuring females are usually for dolls and accessories, while those for males are for building toys and action figures.
Historically, toy commercials have been rigid in depicting toys for boys and girls, with a clear absence of female models or voiceovers in boys' commercials.
Recent changes in toy commercials show more depictions of boys and girls playing with toys typically geared toward the other gender.
Some commercials now use hands instead of models to indicate that a toy is gender-neutral.
Children may view more than 40,000 advertisements a year, potentially influencing their attitudes toward gender-appropriate toys.
The American Psychological Association reports that 50% of children remember a toy advertisement a week after seeing it.
Toy gendering could affect men and women's aptitudes and skills for different professions as adults.
Degendering of television toy commercials has been slow, with commercials still being gender restrictive in a more modern way.
The gendering in commercials is perpetuated by society's stereotypes, and advertisements appeal to consumer desires influenced by these stereotypes.
Despite some progress, there is still much work to be done in changing societal perceptions and toy commercials' portrayal of gender-appropriate toys.
Transcripts
[Music]
this video essay will examine the
effects of Television toy commercials on
our society's perception of gender
appropriate toys at a young age Society
tells us that we fit into one of two
categories boy or girl playing with
children's toys is one of the ways in
which we learn our gender roles media
specifically toy television commercials
help relay the message to society that
there are specific toys for each
gender before we begin let's take a look
at how and why gender is constructed by
the age of 10 children have formed an
understanding of the personality traits
that belong to each gender many people
believe that gender construction is a
blend of Nature and
nurture it takes effort to process a lot
of information to reduce this effort our
minds stereotype and categorize
information into smaller units therefore
categorizing things as being male or
female makes it easier for us to process
information once they understand the
basic concepts of gender children remain
very rigid in their ideas of gender
behaviors occupations and
toys Studies have found that male
characters tend to dominate children's
commercials Thunderbirds Are Go we've
located the distress call we must get
there
fast many of them have also found that
gender portrayals in advertising are
often negatively stereotyped in ways
that are restrictive and
[Music]
demeaning my baby's first cold let's use
the bear thermometer good girl I can
give you medicine and change your wet
diaper you're better now baby
segregating toys in this way can be
detrimental to children who are still
forming their
identities other Studies have found that
female toys often encourage girls to
focus on their looks whereas male toys
encourage power and strength a glitter
blow dryer so
[Music]
Barbie the Transformers war is here and
both sides can change from vehicle to
blaster in an
instant finally commercials featuring
females are usually for dolls and
accessories whereas commercials
featuring males are often for building
toys and action figures it's a great big
jet want something your way you build it
introducing H build
Battleship boys are encouraged to play
with cars trucks building toys and
science toys generally the toys promote
strength and power one system you can
build up and customize your heavy duty
truck with tons of parts and drop the
motor into any mod machine Tonka mod
machines each separately that's Tonka
girls are encouraged to play with toys
such as kitchen sets and dolls that
promote domestic and nurturing behavior
only you can help shy little furberries
come out and play It's the cake bakery
the easy way to make designer cake bake
your cake in the microwave in 30 seconds
roll out let's take a look at some older
toy commercials to see how this all
began historically toy commercials have
been much more rigid in depicting what
type of toys boys and girls should play
with here are some older commercials for
boys toys notice the absence of a female
model or voiceover the nature of the
toys being advertised and the qualities
they are suggesting boys should have
look this opens up the wild action world
of P Apache with Indians cavalrymen
shell shooting cannons the most action
you can get from Matel now let's take a
look at some girl commercials from the
past notice how they promote appearance
and Domesticity yes with Susie Homemaker
you can entertain wash dishes clean
house launder iron bake all this and
always look lovely she keeps herself
pretty by using sugar plum luckily there
have been many positive changes in toy
commercials in the past 50 years or so
recently there have been more depictions
of boys and girls playing with toys that
are typically more geared toward the
other
gender there are also more depictions of
boys and girls playing with toys
together to indicate that the toy gender
neutral expressive and unexpected
Steward is up down tumbling all around
minions some commercials have even
resorted to not using a model at all and
instead using hands to indicate that a
toy is gender neutral build the
shuttle place the new satellite and
prepare for liftoff still not convinced
that toy commercials have an impact on
society's perception of gender
appropriate toys Studies have indicated
that children may view more than 40,000
advertisements a year that means that
they are potentially watching tens of
thousands of gendered advertisements
there's research that indicates that
advertisements do indeed affect
children's attitudes toward the brand
according to the American Psychological
Association 50% of children remember a
toy advertisement a week after seeing it
furthermore it is thought that children
may focus more on the advertisements
than on the television show itself so
why should we be concerned aside from
the fact that it is dangerous to
restrict children to one rigid identity
research has also speculated that toy
gendering could affect men and women's
aptitudes and skills for different
professions as adults the toys that boys
play with encourage a freedom of
imagination and teach spatial skills
that are often necessary for Scientific
careers on the other hand girl toys
focus more on nurturing skills domestic
skills and appearance many theorize that
this is one reason why there are more
men in scientific Fields than
women while there has been some progress
with degendering television toy
commercials we still have a long way to
go
commercials continue to be gender
restrictive the gendering is simply done
in a more Modern Way giving the illusion
that things have changed when they
really haven't take a look at these two
Barbie commercials for example the first
is from 1959 and the second is from
2015 gloves and
[Music]
all it's for youo Barbie mosino Barbie
doll fabulosity totally included some
may think that having a boy in a Barbie
commercial is progress however his
mannerisms are still very feminine by
our society's standards indicating that
Barbies are indeed feminine toys in this
way it's not much better than the Barbie
commercial from the ' 50s we must keep
in mind that the advertisements are not
entirely at fault because gender is
constructed by our society
advertisements simply perpetuate gender
stereotypes by attempting to appeal to
Consumer socially influenced Desires in
other words Society creates gender
stereotypes and advertisements
perpetuate them in order to make a
change we must figure out why we haven't
made more progress is it society that is
resisting or are the toy companies or is
it both whatever the cause we must not
be discouraged things are improving
slowly but there's still much work to be
[Music]
done
[Music]
oh
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