Word Cloud: How Toy Ad Vocabulary Reinforces Gender Stereotypes
Preamble (Added April 12, 2011). Thanks so much to everyone who has weighed in on this post. I am adding this preamble to address two main points of criticism that I should have discussed in the original post.
First, there is the point that the ads use vocabulary to reflect the nature of the toys and not necessarily gender, that regardless of the target audience a toy about fighting will naturally include words about battling while a toy like an Easy Bake Oven will not. While this is absolutely true, my intention here was to use the toy vocabulary to show the nature of the toys marketed predominantly to boys. The inclusion of the girls’ list was just to show contrast. My real focus is the boys’ toys and what they say about how boys are viewed.
This leads to the second question/criticism: how did I determine which toys were “boys’ toys”? It was a distinction I was hesitant to make because I don’t like to draw that line, but as anyone who has shopped for toys knows, the line is there. I followed the lead of toy sellers when I categorized the toys on these lists. The toys I deemed “boys’ toys” are listed in the boys’ section of the Toys R Us website (and other vendors); they are also the brands featured in the boys’ sections of the toy catalogues that come out periodically; the ads for these include only boys; and the voiceover features male voices.
I would also like to stress that this was a simple exercise, not a rigorously researched academic study. It is not an exhaustive list, just a very small sample. I focused only on brands that I have seen featured in after-school cartoon blocks, since they are seen repeatedly and have the potential to reach a large audience. I will be continuing to look at language and gender in kids’ pop culture, but this post was just an initial glance at some preliminary results.
With that background information in mind, I invite you to read the original, unedited post below. Thanks.
–Crystal
————————————————————————————————————————
I’ve always wanted to do a “mash-up” of the words used in commercials for so-called boys’ toys. I did a little bit of this in my book, but now, thanks to Wordle, I can present my findings in graphic form. This is not an exhaustive record; it’s really just a starting point, but the results certainly are interesting.
A few caveats:
- I focused on television commercials alone (not web videos or website toy descriptions).
- The companies represented here are the big ones who can afford TV advertising. I looked most closely at the kinds of toys I have seen advertised during prime cartoon blocks on TV. (For example, Teletoon in Canada runs an Action Force block of shows in the after-school time slot and a Superfan Friday on Friday evenings.)
- I included toys targeted to boys aged 6 to 8.
- If a word was repeated multiple times in one commercial, I included it multiple times to show how heavily these words are used.
- I hyphenated words that were meant to stay together, like “special forces” and “killer boots.”
- For the record, my boys’ list included 658 words from 27 commercials from the following toy lines: Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Kung Zhu, Nerf, Transformers, Beyblades, and Bakugan.
- By way of comparison, I also looked at girls’ toys. The girls’ list had 432 words from 32 commercials. Toy lines on this list include: Zhu Zhu Pets, Zhu Zhu Babies, Bratz Dolls, Barbie, Moxie Girls, Easy Bake Ovens, Monster High Dolls, My Little Pony, Littlest Pet Shop, Polly Pocket, and FURREAL Friends. (I have a full list of references for both list, with links, if anyone would like to see it.)
The results, while not at all surprising, put the gender bias in toy advertising in stark relief. First, the boys’ list, available in full size at Wordle:
Now the girls’ list, also available in full size at Wordle:
No further comment needed.
Trackbacks & Pingbacks
- The Words We Use « Inspired Alliance
- We Love Infographics: Even old Victorian ones | The Ultraspeed Blog
- indi.ca » McDonald’s Adding Apples To Happy Meals
- How Would You Describe Your Child in Just One Word? | Family Style
- Of Bigotry, Children And Culture « shattersnipe: malcontent & rainbows
- Cultural Tsunami | The Natural Parent Opinion
- Nem Tão Óbvio Assim
- Girls are to Wrestling as Boys are to Pink Nail Polish » Team Kenan
- The Alarming Ways We Continue to Stereotype By Gender « Vicky Ayala
- Boys, Masculinity, and gender Stereotypes « Mediajockeys Pro
- The Gift of Pink | Athene Donald's Blog
- De Gereedschapskist: discourse analyse « De Zesde Clan
- LEGO Has Messed With The Wrong Mothers - Page 3
- A Sundry Supplement for the week ending 10/04/2011 | Assassin's Cloak
- Witnessing gender violence in India | BellBajao
- How to drive me crazy: Write another trite article about how boys are so rambunctious « MoreCompassion
- OS BRINQUEDOS EDUCATIVOS: e a Questão de Gênero | Psicoviver
- Pink v. Blue: FIGHT! « Skeptopia
- War for boys, love for girls |
- Head in the Word Clouds « Girls Heart Books
- The Cycle of Gender Segregation « Superhero Princess
- Cultural Tsunami | Live With Purpose
- Big Data On Campus Is Like A Keg Stand For Your Brain | The Communicator
- Big Data On Campus Is Like A Keg Stand For Your Brain | Fast Company
- Toy Advertisement Vocabulary Reinforcing Gender Stereotypes | Reed Linguistics
- Free to be…you and me: 40th Anniversary | (Making / Being in / Staying in) TROUBLE
- Porc Therapy 2012-12-21
- Porc Therapy 2012-12-21 - Unofficial Network
- Angels of the House & Lady Audley’s Secret | Victorian Literature & Globalization
- Blog Assignment #12 – Tough Guise | Media Literacy
- Words | Bionic Teaching
Why not let Oprah decide and tell us what toys should kids have? That will solve it.
The problem I have is that parents tend to reinenforce images children see on television and where they live in general. But stereotyping exists because it’s easier. It’s easy to buy your daughter a barbie doll, and your son a toy trunk. Also – many people who become parents are indoctrinated with gender stereotyping as well and parents tend to project onto their kids. So if a mother was a very girly-girl, she’ll probably treat her daughter in a similar way, even if the child isn’t one per se. The same with boys. And with gender restrictions comes homophobia, particularly in the case of boys. Boys are aggressive and enjoy power, and those who don’t act like women. Toy advertisements are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
Agreed that toys and the marketing around them are just one part of the issue. Stereotyping is pervasive and often parents don’t even recognize them because they are so ingrained in society, hence their tendency to perpetuate them. It’s a vicious circle.
Some pretty broad strokes you’re making here, I almost don’t know where to begin… First, marketers spend billions of dollars on targeting children with their ads. They employ armies of child psychologists to analyze children’s every wish and whim and then do their best to appeal to those desires. If they seem to think that girls like pink, that belief actually has a base in reality. 80% of the 5-year-old girls I know can’t simply love pink just because they see it on tv and in stores. Isn’t it possible that they actually do like pink? The problem lies however in marketers thinking every girl likes pink, resulting in the green-loving girls not finding the same plethora of merchandise in their favourite hue.
Next, children are people. They have their tastes, their likes and dislikes, and they rarely coincide entirely with their parents’ likes and dislikes, even at a very young age. Let me offer up myself as an example. I am pretty much the least girly mom I know. I am not blindly dishing up frilly, girly clothes and toys to my daughter – I buy sparkly, pinky things because she LIKES them, WANTS them, PREFERS them at every turn. She has a mind!
That said, I LOVE these word clouds, they are very thought provoking on a lot of fronts. I look on them as similar to re-xeroxing the same image: the reflection and re-reflection of words and concepts lose their detail and nuance in the clamour of all those ads. Fantastic work.
Thanks very much. I agree with much of what you are saying. Children do have minds of their own and should be encouraged to follow their own interests. It’s true that some will naturally gravitate to what can be called “traditional” toys for their sex and there is nothing wrong with that. But it is also true that toy commercials exert an influence over kids and the adults who buy their toys, especially if those children are male. Boys are not often encouraged in cross-gender play the way girls are.
The word clouds are certainly thought-provoking and that is the primary goal of this blog and my book–to get people thinking and talking about the issue of boys and gender, whether or not they agree with me. Thanks again for your comment.
Yes, children are people with their own tastes. But if there’s literally nothing out there for the girls who want to play with strong, empowered, female characters, how can they ever develop their true tastes?
The tastes we express are limited by the availability of what’s been decided (by marketers) is appropriate for our gender.
When asked, aged 24, by the therapist to name a strong female role model that I wanted to be like I was clueless.
A friend, a teacher, a colleague? I couldn’t name someone who was:
Strong but not overwhelming
Comfortable in their own skin but not always showing it off
Opinionated but not argumentative
Forceful but not angry
I still struggle to find these women in my life, in public life or in mainstream media.
Where are they? Who are they?
Excellent questions. Strong female role models are few and far between in the kids’ pop culture that I have been watching over the past couple of years. There are lots of people raising these issues (see my blogroll and links for examples.) Hopefully their work will lead to change!
You’re better off looking at science fiction for strong female characters: Ivanova from Babylon 5; Sarah Jane Smith, Romana, Martha Jones, Donna Noble from Doctor Who; Kira from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; Scully from X-Files. And that’s just off the top of my head. For American kids’ shows, all I know is Phineas & Ferb; Isabella has no problem being girly and being endlessly competent at the same time, and while Candace is the primary antagonist (not the villain, though), she is shown to be very talented and is actually a basically decent person. Then there’s the mad scientist’s beautiful daughter, but she’s a little morally ambiguous for a role model.
This is supposed to be in reply to Kate Cunningham but apparently I fail at using this blogging software.
I’ve just had an ah-ha moment! I’m a big SciFi (and fiction in general) fan and your post just gave me a little insight as to why. My favorite shows consistently feature strong female leads. While that’s not to say there aren’t strong females in other genres of tv/film/other media, I find the attitudes in sci fi a little different. No one considers character x “FEMALE and strong” (at least not in a way that suggests that these two cannot co exist) but more often I see “a PERSON and strong”. I often find a lot of other tv/film too gender stereotyped for me to enjoy…
Sorry if it doesn’t make much sense. PS – Don’t forget about Xena, Gabrielle, and Buffy! Especially Buffy. She’s almost too “girly” for me to handle, but she is in a role that would be more traditionally male.
I know exactly what you are talking about. As far as kids’ programs, the reason I am such a fan of Star Wars:The Clone Wars (although I don’t like the violence) is the very strong female characters. And it’s like you said, there is no sense that they are token females. They are strong characters who just happen to be women, and their gender is never an issue.
Wandered in late on the discussion, but here’s my $0.02.
I remember the Sci-Fi movie, Alien, with Sigourney Weaver as the main protagonist, Ripley, the civilian officer that turned into the story’s hero.
I dug her as a kid – she took no crap, and turned out to be the ship’s last survivor.
Funny thing happened on the way to casting…Ripley was originally written as a male character – it was through casting and thinking outside the box that made Ripley’s character a female.
Not bad for the mid 1970′s.
You can look to Gloria Steinham, who demystified the Bunny Club, you can look to the inventor of Kevlar, or you can look through your favorite Google search to find strong women, but for me…I wound up, in my younger years, looking at the justifiably angry Ripley – in Alien, the ship and the android had one primary goal: bring the alien life form back, “…all other priorities rescinded”
Ripley, on trying to undo the self-destruct sequence, was yelling at “Mother”, the ship’s AI computer, for not responding to the key-code sequence entered in the control panel. “Mother” continues with the repeating warning, ‘The ship will automatically destruct in “T” minus…” as Ripley, infuriated, smashes the computer monitor and takes matters into her own hands, growling, “You..B**CH!”.
Yes, this is MovieLand, where nearly everything has a shiny ending…and in the end, Ripley – a non-commissioned officer, and female, to boot…untrained for battle, on a freight carrier, supposedly to mine ore or something…winds up being one of two last survivors [the other being an orange cat, can't remember its name].
The movie didn’t Try Too Hard for a strong character – instead, it was an assumed future that yes, a woman, can be the strong character.
There was no real highlight to her plumbing, other than the wearing of the tank top and panties on her way to stasis sleep, and the one time of the slap and being called “b***h”.
The movie zeroes in on the android’s white “blood” and its body more than it targets Ripley’s form.
The actors are believably late-twenties – to – fifties…the EveryFolk you’d meet in the walking world.
Kids want for heroes without the focus being on hair, lipstick, heels, and what-not.
There’s plenty to find…just have to dig a little. Mme Curie. Others.
Thanks for your comment. I remember loving Alien when it first came out.
As for there being plenty of female heroes, there are many in history but very few in the pop culture aimed at young kids today. I have talked to my son about some of them, but the average boy watching TV or browsing the shelves at a bookstore would be hard pressed to find any. It’s unfortunate. I’ve tried to help parents find books by listing some on my site that talk about some of the women in history, like Wicked History, but those books are a bit intense for young boys. I also make some suggestions in my book of books about female athletes, astronauts etc.
The fact that toy marketers spend a lot of money on marketing to children does not undermine Tatiana’s point… it reinforces it. What sells better and more reliably than things that cater to ingrained behaviors? You are assume one cause and one effect rather than looking at the issue more broadly to discover when and why certain beliefs and behaviors exist. I think you are being over simplistic.
“Ingrained” behaviour? Try “hardwired.” If you want to see disruptive or damaging parental behaviour you might start by examining why people are trying so hard to turn their little boys into little girls.
The blank slate has been thoroughly debunked. Read Pinker’s book on the subject …. or if you require a female author try:
The Woman That Never Evolved …. Sarah Baffer Hrdy
Why Sex Matters ….. Bobbi S Low
Anatomy of Love ….. Helen Fisher
Survival of the Prettiest …. Nancy Etcoff
Sex: A Natural History ….. JoAnn Ellison Rodgers
That should keep you busy for a while, but I’ll give you a hint of what has come out of Socio-biology, Behavioural Ecology, Evolutionary Psychology, Genetics, Game Theory, etc., etc., in the last three decades …. newsflash …. males and females are different, and the notion that society creates those differences is bullshit.
I find it disturbing that so many people seem intent on feminizing little boys and masculating little girls. I suppose the memes from the sociology departments of the early 1900s are going to be hard to kill … particularly when they play so well to political agendas.
I wouldn’t expect you to wade through all of the comments on this post, but the subject of nature vs. nurture has been discussed at length here. I won’t go into it again, but I will address your point about turning little boys into little girls. Nowhere have I said that boys should be “feminized.” The point of my book and blog is, first, to point out how boys are pushed into narrowly defined, stereotypically masculine behaviours and, second, to encourage parents and caregivers to let them explore the world without arbitrary boundaries based on gender.
If a boy wants to play with toy soldiers and trucks, so be it. But that same boy should not be discouraged from playing with a baby doll, tiara, or doll house. It is not about forcing boys to become girls, but letting them be who they want to be without disparaging their choices as “girly” or “emasculating.”
agreed.
Mr. Hilde, you’ve cited some sources, some of which I’ve read, that are pretty clearly valid, at least from where I’m sitting.
But when you say,
“If you want to see disruptive or damaging parental behaviour you might start by examining why people are trying so hard to turn their little boys into little girls.”
you’re kind of pulling it out of hat. Nowhere is the idea being presented that “little boys” should act like “little girls,” and that’s what you seem to be implying, at least in some sense. Whether intentionally or not, you’re basically saying (again, from where I’m sitting) that the idea of nurture over nature basically leads to teaching little boys to act like little girls.
First of all, I don’t even need to believe in nurture over nature to point out that when you say “little boys” and “little girls,” you’re invoking specific–and overall, very narrow–images of masculinity and femininity. I’d agree that some things are inherently masculine and some things are inherently feminine (that is to say, for instance, some arising from testosterone and some from estrogen), but there’s got to be a hell of a lot more to it than the idea that little boys play with trucks and little girls play with dolls.
Nobody’s trying to feminize boys or masculinize girls. Clearly, what makes one fetus develop with ovaries and another develop with testes is a force over which society has no control; and clearly that force must remain in play throughout lives of a male or female.
By equating the limited (I stress, *limited*) attribution of a child’s sexual development to emasculation (or the female equivalent–I’m not sure there exists such a word that corresponds to “emasculation”)…..enh, pardon my overused parentheses. I’ll try again.
By equating the limited attribution of a child’s sexual development to emasculation, you are telling me that there are certain traits males and females respectively are *supposed* to have. That if a boy shows signs of being socially feminine, there’s something wrong with him.
Which, I do believe, is the starting point for homophobia, oppression of women, etc–basically a host of ancient problems we still haven’t eradicated.
Thanks for adding your comment here. Very nicely said!
I think that no one is trying to turn boys into girls or the opposite. I can tell you from my own experience. I remember vividly when I opened a present containing a doll with a ponytail that moved as i pressed her tummy. I loved the adds and I wanted that so arbad… I think I was 3 yo. I did this once, twice and then I told my mum.. That is it??? What do I do with that??? and cryed a lot because I wasted my Xmas gift. My mum gave the doll to another girl. But I never liked dolls or toys that represented domestic work. NEVER. I loved puppets, teddy bears, and board games. That is it. And I am not masculine, I like men, I am married, I am a mom. I only hd the liberty to CHOOSE and when I was a child advertising wasn’t so opressive, and there were feer choices, while today there are plenty of choices revolving futile concepts that makes children stop thinking outside the box and reinforcing old roles. Of course men and women are different but, till today, I have two boys and I love to play videogames and creat stories with them. YES, they like videogames, cars, dinossaurs, animals… besides cars and sports, for me the others are much more interesting for me than, Barbies, pots and pans, food, brooms etc….. What can I do???
My daughter’s favorite color as a child was red. Until she went to school. Then it was (and still is) pink. Do I think she was influenced by her peers? Hell yes!
My sons favourite colour was pink until he started school and although he’ll still admit to me he likes it as far as his friends are concerned its his guilty secret
That’s too bad, but who can blame him? I’d rather keep it secret too then have to deal with taunts. It shouldn’t be that way but, sadly, it is. I see a lot more talk about this kind of thing online, so hopefully it will change. Thanks for your comment.
And by the way, My mom said when she was a child that the “official” color for boys was red and for girls, “blue”…. so…. It doesn’t matter at all…
Just my 2 cents worth; I am 52. I loved pink when I was little, my dad painted my room pink when I asked him to. No one I knew then had a pink room. But, I also asked for a GI Joe for my birthday, Ken was too pretty to go with my Barbie. I didn’t like baby dolls at all or other things considered girlie. I loved to hang out with my dad because he and his friends always had more interesting things to do than my mom did. I wanted to take apart cars and change the oil in them. But, I didn’t like to be around boys because the were too rough and loud.
I didn’t learn to cook a thing before I married because my mother couldn’t get me to stay in the kitchen long enough. I detested all things domestic, and I stayed outside when ever I could. Also I should point out, we did not have a TV, we live several miles from a small town, no malls or shopping areas to hang out in.
Today I am a mother and grandmother, I am a very good cook and love all things domestic. I sew, quilt, make bread and jam, and the list goes on. Did my enviroment influence my present life? I’m sure it did. I did a 180 degree turn as an adult in what I liked and wanted to do.
What most seem to fail to remember is that every day I can make my own choices about what I see is right, wrong, what I like and don’t, and what I want to do with my time. Advertise all you want, tell me anything you want. I can choose to believe it or not. BUT our children are absorbing all that is around them. I think we need to turn OFF the TV’s and give them time to just be themselves with out being bombarded with some one elses agendas.
I guess this all comes back to the old nature / nurture debate. In regards to the preference for pink (for girls) and blue (for boys) I find it difficult to accept that there should be a biological basis for colour preference. A long time ago (and I can’t remember the reference, sorry) I read that the potential biological association with pink for girls is linked to an affiliation with the womb and menstruation. I don’t know – it seems a stretch to me (by corollary, boys association with blue was linked to a desire for the outdoors and adventure…). What is undeniable is that the process of naturalisation for colour preference begins at birth (with pink and blue toys, clothing, bed linen etc) and hence a child learns to naturally associate that colour with comfort, parents and acceptance. By the time a child is old enough to choose their own toys, colours and so on the preferences for particular colours are probable well-entrenched in the child’s psyche.
Some thing I find a bit sad about this, is the fact that it is somehow seen to be better playing with fighting toys than with ‘girly’ toys. As if being seen to want to be play with classically girly toys in some way makes you less intelligent.
The point of all of this talk I guess it to prevent sexism (which I am all up for), and for children to grow up with a balanced gender view.
However, it is just coming across to me that being seen to be girly is bad! Seems a bit sexist don’t you think?
Some girls might want to play with planes, but let’s face it, most just don’t. They want to play with dolls or fairies or ponies.
And that is totally fine!!
You are quite right. Part of having a balanced view is not judging kids for what they genuinely like. If a girl likes pink (or not) or a boy likes trucks (or not), it really doesn’t matter, as long as they are happy with what they are doing and are not being pushed in a particular direction because of their gender.
That’s something very insightful a lot of gender debates miss. It’s not just about giving the girls trucks. It’s about letting children play with what they want…
Yes! Well said, Anna! I often find that when critics of children’s books or movies refer to ‘strong girl role models’ they are actually talking about ‘girls who like sports’, or ‘girls who are willing to battle alongside the boys’. A strong girl in my opinion (and I live with one) is someone who knows her own mind and will stand up for herself… in a tiara and sparkly shoes if need be!
Anna,
You make an insightful point about girls toys being looked down upon. It’s true. This is because masculinity is prized OVER femininity. When a boy or man begins assimilating anything within the female/feminine realm, be it a toy, an accessory, even a female-domainted JOB (nurse, preschool teacher) he is seen as taking a step down. Conversely, when a girl or woman ventures into the world of the masculine, be it playing with a toy truck or joining the military or police-force, she is seen as taking a step UP.
Example: Think of the movie Meet the Fockers when Ben Stiller tells his in-laws he is studying to become a nurse. How is he received? With laughter and derision. Now no one would argue that nurses do not play a vital role within the health care field–they are hard-working and oftentimes garner more respect than doctors!! But because he is a MAN taking on a traditionally female* role, he is taking a step DOWN and thus, his decision is frowned upon. Masculinity is much, much more tightly controlled than femininity. Case in point: Flip this scenario. Imagine if his fiance Pam had announced she was going to be a doctor. Would she have been laughed at? No, quite the opposite. Her decision would’ve been received with excitement and pride.
Excellent point. I talk about this double standard in the introduction to my book. Thanks for sharing!
I think it’s interesting that the word ‘fun’ only appeared in the girls’ toys ads – you would think that one would have been in both – isn’t the whole point of toys to be fun? Yet, the only similar word that was big enough for me to see without my glasses in the boys’ graphic was ‘beat.’ I guess when boys play they’re supposed to be competing instead of having fun…?
While I think the dream of unisex toy selection will always be just that, a dream, I would like to see some flexibility between those word clouds. I don’t foresee “babies” making it into the boy’s cloud, but I think marketers could do something so that friendship and cooperation are more valued by boys.
Similarly, I’d like to see more analytical and strategic oriented words appearing in the girls cloud.
Marketing needs to lead this, since kids are strongly motivated by peer pressure i the toy selection area.
How interesting! I read the book “Inside Toyland” as an undergrad – really opened my eyes to the genderization of children’s toys. It’s a fabulous read if you haven’t come across it yet.
Gender is a continuum, position on it is a standard item on psychological tests. A significant percent of babies are not “typical” males or females when you consider chromosomes, hormones, plumbing, not to mention psychology.
So true. When is society going to quit pretending that there is only male and female genders.
There are a lot of nuances, but I think that not all gender stereotypes are socially created (meaning they are not all super-artificial marketing ploys), and even if so, stereotypes in and of themselves are not harmful per se, but become so when they are perceived as absolutes- these “girl toys” are only for girls etc.
Kids can understand more than we think sometimes, and explaining to them that there are “boys toys” and “girls toys” simply because they are marketed that way and have traditionally been seen as such (for whatever reason- inherent, social, or a combination), but that there is nothing wrong with boys playing with girl toys and girls playing with boy toys and that we wish they would change the marketing so it was less divisive can probably do a lot for a kid.
I don’t have any children of my own (yet), but I taught preschool in a montessori type school, and this is the general idea I taught my 3-4 year old class. I had a boy who wore a tutu and painted his fingernails pink in my class. You would think that with all the stereotypes, he would have an overtly feminine personality, and be shunned by the other kids. He actually was not, and had a very strong leadership personality (stereotypically male characteristic) and was very popular.
Incidentally, toy guns or any object used as a toy gun and making shooting sounds, for example a block pointed at someone while saying “bang! bang!” or “pew! pew!” was not allowed. The above mentioned boy tried to get around this by making a finger gun (“but I wasn’t holding anything” he says), and shouting “shoot! shoot!” (“I wasn’t making shooting sounds, I was just saying what it was doing.”)
kids…
Also, girls who play with “boys toys” don’t necessarily do so all the time and vice versa. Girls who like “boy toys” can like “girl toys” just as much (and vice versa.) The “tomboy” or equivalent label for boys who like “girl toys” can be just as limiting. Just because a girl likes a monster truck doesn’t mean they want a black one with flames (stereotypically masculine) maybe they want a pink one, with prancing unicorns (stereotypically feminine) or a gender neutral one. Even further, just because a girl does in fact want a black monster truck with flames doesn’t mean they don’t like makeup and dresses and “being mommy” as well. Just because a boy likes tutus and tiaras doesn’t mean he doesn’t like “battle, power, and heroes.”
Even if the advertisements are horribly limiting, it is not impossible to change the way adults and children view the ads, and thus change how the ads influence us.
Similar correlations can be seen with words used by people when talking to/describing infants. When using the phrase “Look how ___ you are!” Words used for boys tend to be things like “big” and “strong”, whereas for girls they tend to be words like “cute” and “little.” People are exposed to gender stereotypes since birth.
When children are older, there’s also the issue of the different types of verbal feedback we give girls and boys. Girls with higher IQs are more likely to throw in the towel for difficult tasks, possibly because of the type of feedback received.
From:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-science-success/201101/the-trouble-bright-girls
“Girls, who develop self-control earlier and are better able to follow instructions, are often praised for their “goodness.” When we do well in school, we are told that we are “so smart,” “so clever, ” or ” such a good student.” This kind of praise implies that traits like smartness, cleverness, and goodness are qualities you either have or you don’t.
Boys, on the other hand, are a handful. Just trying to get boys to sit still and pay attention is a real challenge for any parent or teacher. As a result, boys are given a lot more feedback that emphasizes effort (e.g., “If you would just pay attention you could learn this,” “If you would just try a little harder you could get it right.”) The net result: when learning something new is truly difficult, girls take it as sign that they aren’t “good” and “smart”, and boys take it as a sign to pay attention and try harder.”
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-science-success/201101/the-trouble-bright-girls
I feel I am raising my daughter and acknowledging other kids in a completely different way than what you are saying, as well as seeing things in a completely different light. As a women who has been a single mother who works full time and goes to school full time, I’m so excited to not only marry the man that I love (that’s not her father, obviously) but am so excited to get to spend more time with her to teach her all sorts of things. I’ve been called a smart girl and have indicated throughout my studies in high school that if I just applied myself, I could be an A student – whereas I just settled on a B because I had an attitude like I was “better than this”. Never do I or have I felt like I’m somehow am restricted because I’m a female… I’m so baffled that somehow, females are somehow not overcoming these stereotypes since statistically becoming the majority who obtain bachelors degrees.
If anything I’m seeing more men being walked all over because more women have a sense of entitlement. I’m seeing more men being questioned on why they do gentlemen gestures – such as opening doors. Where is the teaching women the grace and modesty in their actions, but still having pride that she achieved a goal? My fiance stopped pursuing his degree and has a moderate level job while I am working full time and attending school full time. I will make more money than he does, but I don’t rub it in his face. I’m not anti-female here; however, I think that there is the world as the media portrays it and there is the world as it is – whether oblivious or not.
More and more little boys are being raised by just single mothers. And yet, somehow, the younger generations seem to be getting worse. You would think this would be a time where women influence would circumvent that.
Thanks so much for your comment. I apologize for the delay in posting it. Sometimes I fall behind.
As a culture we are still trying to achieve balance on gender issues, as your comment about men being walked all over implies (if I’m understanding your intent correctly). There is still a view in some quarters that a woman’s success is a threat to men and I don’t happen to believe that. If we are striving for equality, then we need to allow women to be successful without a backlash against them and all “feminazis” as some would call us. I’m very happy to hear that your personal situation is so positive, but that is not the case for a lot of women. To use a recent example from the U.S., look at the horrible comments directed toward a college student by Rush Limbaugh (he called her a slut and prostitute). Would he have made the same comments about a man who was seeking legal redress? Not likely. And how many women in powerful positions have been belittled because of the way they look or dress (Hillary Clinton being a prime example)?
As for the world getting worse or people resenting having doors held for them and other similar gestures, I hear you. I am continuously shocked by the rude behaviour I see. I don’t consider it a gender thing though. I think it is just a general descent into incivility, the causes of which are many.
While it’s concerning that the two clouds are such polar opposites, it’s a fallacy to think that boys’ and girls’ are interested in the same things deep down. Generally speaking (and that’s the essential caveat), they just aren’t.
Such thinking was common-place in the late 70s / early 80s, when I was growing up. And it certainly often left me confused and frustrated.
Now, I have a wife who’s not at all interested in make-up, women’s fashions etc., and a six-year-old daughter who’s the opposite, and very much interested in the kinds of things that this second group of adverts are promoting.
A surgeon friend has two daughters – one ‘girly’, the other a so-called ‘tom-boy’. Before becoming a parent, she had always protested that girliness was a product of nurture, not nature – until her second daughter’s arrival brought with it an explosion of pink fluff – with no encouragement from her parents.
Meanwhile my young son – a sensitive soul – is very interested in toy guns and engineering. Yet both my kids are have always had access to the same toys. (Both are interested in science.)
There’s a whole lot of nature influencing these stereotypes. And I write as what used to be called a ‘new man’.
My children — a boy and a girl born 5 years apart — had the same set of “baby” toys. My daughter used to push the push toy and pull the pull toy and spin the spin toy. My son threw the push toy and threw the pull toy and threw the spin toy. He made his first gun (I wouldn’t let him have weapons) out of a plastic Big Bird. On the other hand, when he got older, even he couldn’t understand his friends’ obsession with Power Rangers. He loved to hang out with the girls at recess and do the hand-clapping games while his male friends kicked and wrestled each other.
Oh, what fun it is to be a parent. It’s one big constant joyous experiment and observation experience!
“A surgeon friend has two daughters – one ‘girly’, the other a so-called ‘tom-boy’. Before becoming a parent, she had always protested that girliness was a product of nurture, not nature – until her second daughter’s arrival brought with it an explosion of pink fluff – with no encouragement from her parents.”
Oh. So this little girl never watched TV, read books or magazines, had friends, or had any type of contact with anyone other than her parents?
I really like this simple project, and I think the toys marketed to boys does have a wider impact on what we tell children it mean to be male. I recently looked through my 2 yr old nephew’s toy box and was struck by the fact that all of his toys are connected to real life situations, practical, task-oriented. Things like tractors, trains, tool kits, farms, diggers, a kitchen ect. It makes me wonder where he will learn about the joy of fantasy, the magical, storytelling. It seems to me that a lot of boys’ toys are focused more on the practical and it makes me wondering if we’re telling boys their role is to be practical and productive.
Kellie,
Regardless of the effort of society to try and tell the genders that role reversal or just trying out certain opposite-gender activities or thinking is ok, the bottom line is that the psychologically hardwired programming that has gone on for centuries (albeit in different forms related to the then-current technology) and is still going on (even though women have been a part of the workforce for roughly 40 years) and being reinforced in many different ways, will never be stripped out of our psyches until we decide that there is a reason to do so. Which we have not even come close to deciding yet. Which is why our children’s toys, most of the literature they read, and anything that could be, or is used for educating them as to how they are supposed to be as males or females, hasn’t and won’t change for many a year to come. Your toybox experience was simply telling you that even though most women these days work, men (and of course little boys being programmed about how to become men) are still the breadwinners (in the minds of both women and men), and will continue to be expected to perform that function until we decide for some reason that it shouldn’t be that way. As a boy, I had no problem finding my fantasy in the King Arthur tales; and as long as children are not limited in exploring what they find interesting, I don’t think it’s a problem. If they are encouraged to be open minded, they will eventually find what suits them, and continue on searching and enjoying (hopefully as adults, too).
Thank you for this neat overview!
It really supports my opinion that most gender role aspects are society-made.
As I am not very familiar with US toy commercials, I would like to have a look at your reference list, because I am a bit curious about the context of some of the words.
Could you please publish it?
Thanks for your comment and question. I published the source material in a blog post that followed this one. Here is a link. Let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks.
Did anyone else notice how “girl” is quite prominent in the girl cloud, but “boy” is no where to be seen in the boy cloud?
I think there’s something to that with regard to teaching little girls to know their place in the world, to define us by our gender more so than with boys.
It’s a constant annoyance to me that the word “girl” is used so frequently to describe a female who is an adult. However, in the case of males, to use the word “boy” for an adult is insulting or even just odd sounding. If we don’t want to use the word “man” then there is an acceptable substitute of “guy”, “dude”, whatever. But you wouldn’t use “boy”. Women do this just as frequently as men do. But I feel that it’s degrading to a woman to reference her by an immature word so freely.
I have a problem with people trying to make everything gender specific because I don’t fit in anything. I love to play mortal kombat, God of War and I like magic. As far as movies go I loved Die Hard, Lethal Weapon and Ninja Assassins, but in the same note, When Harry met Sally, Prelude to a kiss, and Forget Paris. I like to be loving to my friends and family. So, where do I fall into society’s category as far as boys and girls. It’s utterly ridiculous. I wish that society would allow children to express themselves.
WOW! I wrote my undergrad sociology thesis on this in 2004 “Girls ages 6-11, their toys and the way they understand them” I interviewed several girls, their parent (s) and asked them to show me their favorite toys (interviews done in home), what they liked about their toys if they thought there was a difference between girls toys and boys toys and asked them to define those differences…the results were shocking. The girls would discuss color packaging and stereotypes. A hot button topic was Bratz dolls, either families loved them for their diversity or saw them as oversexualized little dolls their child could not touch.
You’ve been XX Factored!
I’ll guess that if advertisers use different targeted words at the two genders it’s because they work and that children respond to them.
This would be good for an English Language class.
To the people saying it’s nature as much as socialization, or that the companies are responding to different genders’ actual natural desires …. get real. Yeah, little girls just LOVE to clean house, don’t they? It’s just an innate desire within most little girls …. to want to clean house. We sell kids with penises or vaginas different toys because those are what we see their different values as, according to our capitalist patriarchal society. I guess those little Incan girls were just so deprived cuz they didn’t get to have makeup toys or read about their natural innate love of fashion. Please. Get some perspective.
Wow … this is shocking. It shouldn’t be, I suppose, but that’s the power of the image. Good job utilizing Wordle for this. It really helps reality hit home.
I am the mother of 3 boys and 1 girl ( my daughter was last which caused a Toy Story moment when I first went down the “pink isle” Hey I’ve never been down here!!!! It’s pink!!”
Girls toys are also tend to be passive as do girls games, my daughter had a nintendo game and all the characters did was go shopping!!! No where near as interesting as going on a quest!!!
My older boys were not allowed any ‘war toys’ but by the time I got to the third I was a bit tired!!! They all made guns out of sticks played shooting games with each other and physically fought with each other. The youngest one is in real life a very gentle soul but LOVES nerf guns. My daughter is a terror and torment to her brothers in a very “girly” way sulks and cries when they dont do what she says- Alone you cannot stand against the powers of advertising and peer pressure. Despite my strongly held feminist belief my house copntains the odd Barbie, toy guns and an outrageous number of littlest pets!!!! They wanted them,it made them happy I caved.
I wouldn’t call that caving
I think it’s about balance and not limiting your kids. My sons have light sabers and toy soldiers, but they also have baby dolls, lots of stuffed animals who are very precious to them, and a toy kitchen. As far as books, they read stories with male and female protagonists. As a result I think they have a far more balanced view of the world. I wrote a post on International Women’s Day that talks a little about how my sons view gender: http://www.achilleseffect.com/2011/03/a-memorable-international-women%E2%80%99s-day-thanks-to-my-two-sons/.
I think as long as you are aware of the issues and strive for balance, you’re doing just fine
That’s absolutely fascinating. I could stare at those word lists for hours and draw all manner of conclusions from them. It makes me wonder how I (or my parents) were affected by these words when I was little. Actually, it would be interesting to see if wordles created from toy ads of ten or twenty (or fifty) years ago would be markedly different from these ones.
Two things:
First, I love how the marketing industry has made up a whole new word to replace “gun” — “Blaster”. I know that was first suggested by Lucas, but consider the pantheon of gun words that do not appear on commercials enough to make the chart: rifle, pistol, revolver, colt 45, long gun, shotgun, laser pistol.
Second, what a great example of the the self-reinforcing nature of the marketing industry. Kids don’t buy toys, parents buy toys they enjoy imagining their kids playing with. Kids don’t write ad copy, adults write ad copy to make parents have positive images of their kids playing with the toy. And who do the Adult writers use as a reference? Themselves. So these lists are really about what makes ad men excited about being men (power!) and what makes them melt toward women (Love, magic).
These are very thought-provoking graphics, so thank you! One commenter noted that little is done to encourage cross-gender play, and boys playing with ‘girl’ things have a far rougher time of it than girls playing with ‘boy’ things. Homophobia was mentioned, and I don’t think we should ignore that trajectory.
My son (now 6) was happy playing with ‘girl’ toys as much as ‘boy’ toys, until he started school and got bullied because some days he wanted to play with trucks, and others with dolls. Through heavy encouragement from us (parents) and support from the teacher, he is now confident enough to stand up to the rougher boys and play with what he damn well likes. But what if kids don’t get this encouragement? What if boys’ dads call them sissies for wanting to play with toy kitchens and the like? Yes, boys and girls are different, but they’re not polar opposites. Where is the balance?
Long-run prediction…niche marketing will solve much of this. Advertisers will get better and better at targeting kids with non-traditional gender preferences and sell to them. In fact, many non-traditional kids probably already self-select towards the programs and ads they like, so they probably aren’t seeing the same ads as other kids in their gender.
Keith Brown
509 New York Avenue
Norfolk, VA 23508
In the end of the day, boys have words like “BATTLE” and “POWER” in their minds where girls have “LOVE” and “MAGIC”.
The boys really get more sickning words than girls!
We would like to use material from your website within our International Examination Papers. Can someone please contact me about this.
Many thanks.
Diane Hudson
Copyright Administrator
1 Hills Road
CAMBRIDGE
CB1 2EU
Hello, I’m a college student, and I’m currently writing up a large paper on gender stereotyping and it’s influence on children’s play, which is going to be submitted as my main piece of coursework next year. I’ve been following this blog for a while, and it fascinates me, and it’s also coming in very useful for my research. The word counts above especially is very interesting. And so I was wondering, would it be okay for me to use some quotes and information from the site in my paper? I’d also really like to include the word counts, as these really are a fascinating piece of research, and are incredibly relevant to what I am looking at. I will of course always reference you and the site for anything I use. If that was to be okay, I would be really grateful.
Hello. Feel free to use anything here, with credit. If you would like copies of the images used in the word clouds or have any other questions, feel free to email me at crystal at achilleseffect dot com.
Thank you very much! I really appreciate it.
I found growing up (on a small farm on a little island of 500 inhabitants, that is) that me and my two brothers swapped toys quite frequently and without worry. I would play with their Tonka Trucks and the youngest would run around in my tutu while the oldest would play with my fairy wand.
It wasn’t until we moved into a large town that my father started to discourage our ‘toy swaps’. The neighbours thought that is was peculiar and they would gossip about my father and how he was raising us. I wasn’t teased at school (the other boys on the playground loved it) but when it got out that my brothers dressed up as princesses with me they were teased and bullied mercilessly.
It still has an impact on them today (My younger brother is 14, the oldest 19). They fight harder to show how macho and masculine they can be, and will completely deny the games we used to play.
I don’t know if this is mainly a city/town attitude because there is more exposure to advertisements, or if it just depends on how the parents were raised, but I thought that it was interesting how different the attitude was in the town that we currently live in as opposed to the island we were raised on.
What a shame that your neighbours were so judgmental. I feel for your brothers and hope that they can overcome those people’s prejudices and be themselves. Thanks for sharing.
I am in the process of designing a museum exhibit on toys. One of the issues that is addressed is Gender Issues. We would like very much to use these word clouds in the exhibit. Like a good toy, they immediately communicate their intent. While an interpretive label and citation will be included, it is nearly a stand alone graphic. I will be happy to provide more information about the museum and project.
I hope to hear from you soon. This would make a very good addition to the exhibit.
Thank you.
Hi, this is great! I hope to use this for my thesis. Do you still have the original list in text form?
Thanks for your comment and sorry for the slow reply. For some reason I didn’t get a message that anyone had commented recently. I have the files in this post, if this helps…http://www.achilleseffect.com/2011/04/the-numbers-behind-the-word-cloud/.