Boy, Girls and Toys--Oh My

I never really thought of how toy stores are set up and just toys in general are gendered, which is terrible because the children can be affected by that. I've worked at a daycare for five years now and children don't really care what they play with as long as they can use their imagination, that is until they are told what to like. Most young children don't care what it is they will play with it all the same. It is the way toys are packaged and what parents and adults present to the children that continue these gendered ideas. Many of the children that come in to where I work are under five years old and there are many little boys that play with the dolls and dress up with no issue. They also play with the trains and superheroes too. It is crazy because young children just don't care but once they start going to school everything changes. There are specific things for boys and girls and it puts a limit on the young children. Watching the youtube video of the young girl talk about how crazy it is everything is separated because some girls want superheroes and some want princesses! Its great to see a young girl understand what many adults don't seem to. It shouldn't matter what children play with and by gendering the product by having it be pink or blue closes down half of the market. I think if everything is gender neutral you will still have more girls buying dolls, but at least boys can play with dolls without playing with a "girl" toy. Below I found some pictures and the first one is of a toy store and it is so cray how divided the two sections are. I never cared about it or realized it as a kid, but it needs to change. The other two pictures I found are advertisements that include both boys and girls to sell a kitchen (a typical "girl" toy) and nerf guns (a typical boys toy). Children seeing these will see themselves playing with the toys. It makes sense to have gender neutral toys, I don't know why advertisers and toy companies haven't done it yet.