Toys Are Us

The media, games, even our family are all part of the social structure that “shape our gender roles.” It was so fascinating to me of how these four games were popular! I’m assuming because this mentality, these expectations are embedded into our minds, that it does not really become visible until we finally see the bigger perspective. I know I did. Thinking back now, I remember how many toys I carried to my neighbor’s house to play and show off. I remembered bringing my barbies and laying them out to show which one was my favorite and which one was not. These dolls I played with had blonde hair, blue eyes, pink lips, and were thin. I didn’t have any of those qualities and even still in my mind I classified that as what was “normal.” It’s true, when reaching adolescence we want to be like our toys, we don’t see anything but to desire to be “average.” I even had a barbie “truth or dare” board game, and everything was about shopping, marriage, career, and boys. I laugh at it for realizing how it affected me even as I grew up.

I recall when stepping into a “Toys R Us” store and walking through each different aisle. The girls were always pink, florals, hearts, and mostly barbie related. The boys had most of the cars and action figures. It’s interesting that I remember the boy’s aisle as gloomy and dark, I was afraid to even walk through it. It seemed to me that girls were to be angels, perfect and boys were to be animals, or in my mind, they were “free”.

Not only did toys but family and friends have affect on our gender as well. I would watch my mother put her make-up on and practice it on myself. My mother would teach me how to be polite, how to serve food on the table, how to sit up right, how to keep a lady-like manner in front of adults. I remember my parents jokingly ask me, “who will ever marry you?” due to my tomboy personality. When watching old Disney movies, I can also see how the princesses are represented as being swept off their feet; they are to be rescued by their prince. It was such a change from then and now.

Both genders are slowly drifted into the world’s expectations and yet we don’t fully comprehend what is going on.