YouTube, I Tube, We All Tube: Gender Stereotypes in Toy Commercials

The first video I found was a commercial for a Barbie Gourmet Kitchen and it depicts the stereotype that women are homemakers. I chose this one as an just one of many commercials for toys that use this stereotype. This commercial is meant for young girls and uses a lot of stereotypes, which can be harmful because of how prevalent they all are. All of the toys that are deemed acceptable for girls are generally pink and deal with either playing with dolls, taking care of babies, or being a homemaker. This video depicts a young girl in a dress that makes her look a 60s housewife and making a big "home cooked" meal with her Barbie Kitchen. The kitchen itself is a bright pink and can even turn into a play dishwasher.

The other video I found is also for a toy, but this one takes all of the stereotypical toys for girls and makes them into a Rube Goldberg project to show that girls can also build and engineer things. The commercial was for Goldie Blox and advertised toys for future engineers. The video begins with three girls watching a video in which girls are dancing and dressed up in pink. They are extremely bored and go and grab goggles, a tool belt, and a construction hat to start building. Their creation uses many stereotypical "girl" toys and culminates with their project switching the channel to a commercial that depicts girls as future engineers. Throughout the entire video all of the "girl" toys were being thrown around and destroyed as a visual to show how Goldie Blox breaks the mold. The girls in the video showed curiosity and creativity as they worked together which is a great thing for young girls to see. The girls were excited to be creative and build something of their own and this creates a positive model for young girls. It is perfectly alright for girls to have a Barbie Kitchen, but I was happy to see that there are commercials that provide a different option for girls. It is a positive example and breaks many of the gender stereotypes brought up by the first video.

Barbie Gourmet Kitchen

Goldie Blox and Rube Goldberg "Princess Machine"