Raising Three of a Kind: The Female Kind
My husband and I often turn to each other and ask, "do families with all boys deal with this?" We have three girls and we are a household of high emotion, large quantities of toilet paper and several baths in one weekend because well, baths are more fun than toys.
A lot has been said about the gender-specific toys on the market especially when it comes to girls. The issue being they stereotype girls into one category. Having all girls, I feel the need to respond to this point. Here are the top three girls toys typically criticized and having all of these toys in our house, my responses:
Society's View of Girl Toys:
1. Friend's Legos: I have heard several people say that there should have never been a spin-off of regular Legos for girls. These Legos consist of hair salons, juice bars and pet salons to name a few. My view is our girls like little miniature hair brushes, pets and the little figures (mostly little girls)that come in these sets. Just like regular Legos, I think playing with these Legos teach creativity and allow for imaginary play whether they are marketed as female or not. Plus, our girls will often dismantle these sets and build their own just like the original Legos were meant to do.
2. Barbies: While I understand that Barbie has an unrealistic body and the criticism here is teaching girls to be happy with who they are, when our girls are playing with Barbies, it is more about playing make believe and coming up with different plot lines than about body image. Plus, Barbie now has a new make-over with more realistic body types.
3. Princesses: Disney movies are often criticized as being unrealistic and people do not want to give the wrong impression to young girls. At least from my viewpoint, I think our girls like watching the movies more because they like playing dress-up, make believe and like to sing and dance along. I am not sure the story line is even part of their conversation. Plus, our two older girls are now over this princess stage, so it doesn't last forever.
I was recently talking to another mom who also has all girls and she commented that whether you agree with it or not, toys are marketed toward one sex or another. I tend to agree with this statement since everything we own is a shade of pink down to our soccer balls.
My take on raising all girls is I'm okay with them playing with "girl toys," but I am also raising them to have a sense of self-worth and a voice of their own.
Do you have only girls? What is your take on the subject of gender-specific toys? Or do you have all boys and notice this when buying "boy toys?" Please comment below and let me know your thoughts. I'm interested in your feedback!
