I think it is time for a change...

...to the toy aisles!

I recently went shopping for my younger daughter's birthday present. She is a bright and intelligent young girl who likes to do what all toddlers like to do: Get into EVERYTHING!
She loves animals and especially horses. My wife, her mother, works with a veterinarian - so she likes to take care of the animals too.
I went to the store with the intention of buying an animal related toy or maybe a doctor-like toy but was I surprised when I got there.

I was given two options: Blue or Pink. My conditioned mind chose the pink aisle thinking they would have everything that I would need for my daughter. There was about 2 fully pink aisles for me to walk down but somehow, both seemed to have the exact same thing.
Dolls Dolls Dolls.
The few animals, which were horses, I happened to find were designed to be fashionable and flamboyant. Nothing in the toy aisles stood out to me for something that I would want to buy my child, regardless of their gender. I want to buy a toy for her that will encourage her to develop hobbies/skills or something that might lead to being useful in the future.

So I decided to see what was in the Blue aisle. The first thing that I spot, when I come around the corner, is a bucket full of miniature farm and safari animals. Why? My daughter would love this as a gift (which she did, I bought that for her.) Then I continue down the aisle and come across all the legos and blocks.
I started to get excited. I loved playing with blocks and erector sets and building all sorts of things; like forts for my army men or race tracks for my cars. But my daughter likes to build things too? And we play with cars that need race tracks. Why isn't this in the girl section too?

Well, I bought her those blocks and she plays with them every day. She has 7 baby girl dolls that her relatives have bought her over the last few years. They sit at the bottom of the toy box because she is interested in the things that we, her parents, are doing.

I think that it is time for all stores to end the Blue and Pink aisles. I think it is time society demands that we stop trying to condition children at a young age to fill certain roles that only seem acceptable due to their gender.

What do you say?

a reply to: imnotanother

I totally agree but....

Retail stores are designed for maximum profit. Time and motion studies, shopper profiles, indeapth inventory analysis all go in to floor design; especially in chain stores.

I own a small retail operation and buck all the trends in favor of knowledgeable sales people and total service.

I'm sorry that 'useful in the future' line kinda made me cringe.

But yeah you're gonna have to find something online to get the kind of toys you're looking for.

Yes pink is for girls and blue for boys, how stupid is that. When is was a baby my parents refused to dress me me in pink, I had two older brothers so I got the hand me downs which back in the early 70s were lots of browns orange and greens. I remember getting a big doll for Xmas and I put it in the rubbish bin on rubbish collection day. Then when I turned 19 until I was 31 all I wore was pink my hair was pink too, then I thought I had to get a real job so I started to tone my self down and wore other colours. Now I have two daughters and they are both not into girlie stuff teddy bears rather than dolls. I do not push any particular colour or kind of toy,. You could try shopping online for UN pink toys. reply to: imnotanother

a reply to: imnotanother

I totally agree! I don't understand why stereotypes continue. It just irks me.

I bought my daughter and niece, legos for Christmas. They make them now with girls in mind. They were farm oriented with animals.

a reply to: imnotanother

LEGO now has a line specifically for girls, the LEGO "Friends" line. They even have a farm/barn with horses:



Although, a lot of the Lego City sets are pretty non-gender!

If she likes realistic horses, Bryer was always my little sister's favorite:



I have to admit, I'm an AFOL (adult fan of LEGO) -- In fact, I just put together the double decker couch a few minutes ago:



I have way, WAY to many LEGOS...

originally posted by: Hoosierdaddy71
I bought my daughter and niece, legos for Christmas. They make them now with girls in mind. They were farm oriented with animals.

I will have to keep an eye out for them next time. Did you happen to find them in the girl aisle?

It would still be hard to find them in the sea of pink. My daughter doesn't like pink. She likes purple.

Huh, well I would be glad to have the toys divided that way. After all there is a bright side to this. Now when you go into the toy department you will know which isles to look at to find your presents.
This might decrease the amount time you spend shopping by up to 50%.

To be brutally frank, when I hear the word 'pink' my mind has now been conditioned to think of breast cancer fundraising which is big where I live. So yeah, let's get away from that sappy blue-pink stuff.

a reply to: imnotanother


Yes, in the girls isle.
Check out mystic mushrooms post.

a reply to: imnotanother

They'd be with the other LEGO...at least they are at Toys R Us. I'm not sure how other stores divide them up...

a reply to: MystikMushroom

I know that not every store or toy brand is guilty of the whole "Pink and Blue" labeling but it just seems that a majority of them are designed that way. I, as a parent, feel like my child is being conditioned with that method and just wish there could be a change.

a reply to: imnotanother

Yeah, it was always that way when I was growing up and I don't have a problem with it now either. I think it makes it easier for kids to find toys they might be into, instead of having all the toys just mixed together. I mean, there's nothing stopping a girl from going into the "boys" isle to find a squirt gun or nerf ball.

I also like how the toy isles are now organized by kids age. As an adult with no kids of my own, it makes buying presents for other people's kids a lot easier. All I need to know is the age and gender and I'm pretty much set.

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
a reply to: imnotanother
As an adult with no kids of my own, it makes buying presents for other people's kids a lot easier. All I need to know is the age and gender and I'm pretty much set.

But that would be the conditioned, gender role gift many parents may want to avoid. Like I said, I have 7 dolls my daughter doesn't play with but the toys she plays with most are in the blue aisle.

Maybe that's why i find the color blue unappealing lol im bearing with it tho i love all colors but yeah blue and pink is defently shoved down our collective throats.

It's like girls love red but don't wanna be dressed like blood so go for a lighter color typically found in flowers or pork
Personally i prefer dark green.

a reply to: imnotanother

I agree completely! What's funny is that when I was a child in the 70's toys were all colors and play tools and household items were usually realistically colored for girls and boys. Now everything's either that in your face Pepto Bismol pink or purple. Here's an article I read a while back and it's pretty much spot on. Thought we were going to get more progressive, but marketing has nipped that in the bud.
msmagazine.com...

There are studies that show for the most part, male newborns focus on objects while female newborns focus on faces. Hence truck toys vs. dolls. There is, however, no correlation between gender and colours such as pink and blue.

originally posted by: corvuscorrax
I'm sorry that 'useful in the future' line kinda made me cringe.

But yeah you're gonna have to find something online to get the kind of toys you're looking for.

I went back to read the line that made you cringe and I'm guessing you sensed a sexual overture? It didn't hit me the first time but wanted to know what you meant by that? and the question above is about the only thing I can come up with. Anyway your right about Online. eBay is always a great place to find non traditional / mainstream toys / unique toys.

originally posted by: imnotanother
So I decided to see what was in the Blue aisle. The first thing that I spot, when I come around the corner, is a bucket full of miniature farm and safari animals. Why? My daughter would love this as a gift (which she did, I bought that for her.) Then I continue down the aisle and come across all the legos and blocks.
I started to get excited. I loved playing with blocks and erector sets and building all sorts of things; like forts for my army men or race tracks for my cars. But my daughter likes to build things too? And we play with cars that need race tracks. Why isn't this in the girl section too?

There's a pretty systemic issue in our culture to not interest girls in science, math, and engineering... these fields are overwhelmingly male dominated. A lot of this starts with their childhood toys that spark interest in other things.

If she likes those things, then get them for her and buck the trend just be aware that it means occasionally going into the boy toy aisles.