For [insert gender here] babies only!

From the time they are born, children are taught that their gender determines how they should behave, what they should enjoy, and what they should be when they grow up. The products below are meant for very young children, who probably don’t actually care whether they are playing with a rattle shaped like a diamond ring or one shaped like a saw. Yet these products are labeled as being for a specific gender of baby only: a “sweet baby girl” should play with a diamond ring, and a “busy baby boy” should play with a saw. This is implying that at a mere 3-18 months of age, girls are materialistic and just want to find men who will buy them diamonds, and boys are macho dudes who are pros at using sharp tools for manly-man construction work. Girls cannot enjoy playing with tools. Saws are for boys. Boys cannot want to wear pretty jewelry. Jewelry is for girls.

The adjectives used to describe the babies are problematic as well, because it perpetuates the stereotype that girls should be adorable and should work to please those around them with their sweetness, while boys are supposed to be energetic and athletic. In my very limited experience, there isn’t much difference in appearance or behavior between male and female babies. But if a young child is only given toys, clothing, and other products that are advertised as being for his or her gender, that child will start to believe that he or she has to follow the gender norms our society has created.

I dislike this next product even more. Apparently, boys and girls have to learn the alphabet in a different way. Can girls only comprehend the meaning of letters if they are written in hot pink and are surrounded by floating hearts? Is a dolphin is feminine animal, while an octopus is a masculine animal? Many of the words seem to be nonsensically assigned as “boy words” or “girl words,” but the way “astronaut” and “firefighter” are used on the boy’s alphabet and “nurse” is used on the girl’s alphabet is not good at all. These posters are teaching more than the alphabet—they are teaching children that their job opportunities are limited to the conventional “woman jobs” and “man jobs.” This gender divide shouldn’t still exist in the 21^st century, but it does, and these toys aren’t helping.

Source: http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/08/31/end-of-the-month-gendered-kids-stuff-roundup/