In the words of Newman, children are like “gender detectives”

Young children are often described as sponges. From an early age, they start to observe the world around them and adopt a sense personal identity. In Newman’s “Identity and Inequalities” chapter, he poses the question, “How does one become a male or a female?” and where do “gendered traits and behaviors come from (109)? Take a brief look at commercials, websites, advertisements and catalogs that surround parents and children. Every day, children are being told through the images and messages what gender is and what it may look like. Mostly through social interaction with peers and socialization, they construct themselves as either a boy or girl in their social world. “Decades of research indicate that “girls’ toys” still revolve around themes of domesticity, fashion, and motherhood and “boys’ toys” emphasize action and adventure”” (Newman 112). Imaginary play is one specific area of children’s play; children interact with each other as they use props and create a scenario that models after real life situations. Through an analysis of toys marketed for imaginary play, there is proof that the differences send messages about gender to young children.







This is my pastor’s son, Michael. He is four years old and loves to go to Toys R Us to look at the new toys with his two brothers. Each time he steps foot into the toy store, he will be exposed to sources of gender information. The first imaginary play scenario to focus on is household chores. Michael will have a choice between the weed trimmer and the vacuum cleaner. The online website for Toys R Us includes the vacuum cleaner in both the “boys” and the “girls” section of pretend play. Even though the product is in both gender categories, the image shows a girl doing the vacuuming. Therefore, Michael might assume that vacuuming is a girl’s chore.

“From an early age, they are like “gender detectives,” searching for cues about gender, such as who should and shouldn’t engage in certain activities, who can play with whom, and why girls and boys differ” (Newman 113). The child displayed with the vacuum product is a cue that teaches Michael that he shouldn’t engage in this activity. Instead, the weed trimmer is an activity that he can engage in. Because “boys’ toys” focus on action and adventure, the weed trimmer is for boys. They can use the toy outside the house, on the bushes; it also passes on the idea that holding the power tool is dangerous, hence the goggles, and it requires strength. These images expect men to take care of the house using more “masculine” tools while women are to take care of the house by cleaning and staying inside.


Again, the next set of products defines male and female roles in the house. In the boys’ section of pretend play, there are power tools. Just as the tools suggest, they are powerful, strong, skill and work based. In the girls’ section, there is a kitchen set. Just as Newman described, the kitchen falls under the theme of domesticity and motherhood. The image of a young girl playing with the kitchen set will translate to Michael that girls not only clean, but they also do the cooking. The kitchen is full of colors such as purple, pink, and yellow and blue. But the power tools have colors such as orange, green, blue, red, and black. These subtle differences begin to show Michael his role as a boy is to play with exciting power tools rather than play house. In preschool, many children learn to play with others their age. Imaginary play is powerful because children set up their own roles in everyday situations. Children who start to think that only girls play house will determine the types of interaction between genders.

“On their developmental path, children acquire information from a variety of sources – books, television, video games, the Internet, toys, teachers, other children, other children’s parents, strangers they see on the street” (Newman 108). One of the more significant part of children’s lives is their social world with the peers around them. They spend majority of their time in school than at home with their parents. They spend more time with their peers than with their teachers. According to Newman, socialization is “the way that people learn to act in accordance with the rules and expectations of a particular society” and children start to develop a sense of self through this process” (109). Children go to school to make friends and learn in what ways they are expected to behave in order to make these friends. Through imaginary play, they will learn what behaviors are acceptable and unacceptable. Through simple props such as pots and pans as well as a saw and drill, Michael will learn which ones are labeled for boys and which ones for girls.


The product of the fireman costume is titled as “True Heroes Fireman Action Hero”. In the image, a boy is wearing the fireman outfit. This suggests that firemen are heroes and are to be looked up to. The activity for playing the scenario with the face mask, fire extinguisher and axe is supposed to be full of action and danger. The seriousness of the boy’s face shows young boys that this hero means business and is confident and strong. Let’s take a look at the girls’ product. It is called “Fantasy Vanity” and a young girl sits in front of the mirror, applying make-up and admiring herself. What values of gender does this image portray in contrast to the action hero? Girls are portrayed as delicate people who are vain and spend their time beautifying themselves. This falls under Newman’s theme of fashion. While boys are out fighting risky fires and becoming heroes, girls are sitting in front of a mirror taking care of their faces and dressing up in glamorous outfits. The fantasy vanity mirror is not a product that could be gender neutral. Boys are told they do not put on make-up sitting on a pink and white stool. Children continue to make decisions about what it means to be a male or female.

“In a society structured around and for the interests of men, stereotypically masculine traits (strength, assertiveness, confidence, and so on) are likely to be valued culturally and interpersonally” (Newman 116-117). The traits differentiated between the action hero and the vanity mirror instills values of what society calls the norm to young children. Boys are to adopt the stereotypical masculine traits in order to avoid being called a “sissy”. They learn through socialization, they risk their gender and sexuality identity if they choose to play girl games. “Girls, in general, are given license to do “boy things”” yet boys are ridiculed when they are “suspiciously soft and effeminate” (Newman 116). Therefore, this says a lot about gender values. Softness is a trait girls possess because they are associated with domesticity and motherhood. Society expects boys should be associated with rough and tough play, and avoiding the “girl games”.

The gender roles and values the children learn as they grow up are important in their every day actions and behaviors. The network through which they learn the standards of society’s norms surrounds them in their everyday life. Television commercials, billboards, and peers all help shaping the associations children make with gender. Newman wrote, “Social life is never that simple. Broader values surrounding gender, sexuality, race, and class will always determine how we incorporate those features of our identity into our own self-concept” (143). Children will develop a self-concept when they are accepted by peers and feel they meet up to the social expectations of what it means to be a boy or a girl. Their identity starts when they are born and is nurtured through these values they adopt as they interact with the world around them. Toys R Us is one store that displays gender values and differences in their products marketed towards young boys and girls.

Works Cited
Newman, David M. “Portraying Difference: Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality in Language and the Media.” Identities and Inequalities: Exploring the Intersections of Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality. NY: McGraw Hill, 2007.

Images
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