1 Hot Wheels Judging from the images seen on television, one might assume that all racing activities, whether on foot, on bikes or in vehicles, originated with and remains exclusively the property of the male half of the human population. This is despite the fact that women have been involved in each one of these activities for many years. Yet toys like the line of products produced by Hot Wheels remain exclusively associated with boys. To examine how this is so, a series of commercials available for viewing on the company’s website were analyzed for content. It was discovered that while the products may be equally attractive to boys and girls, marketing for the products remains exclusively targeted to boys based on images used in advertising and the types of products produced. The Hot Wheels website offers numerous video advertising spots depicting products such as an attacking octopus racetrack, a racetrack that purposely brings cars together to crash, skateboarding figures, a working radar gun and a racing timer. Each of these activities may be equally attractive to girls as they are to boys. Go to any cross country meet and you will find usually more girls running than boys – a fact that indicates girls may be just as interested in toys such as the racing timer to stage their own competitions or the radar gun to clock their speed. BMX and skateboard parks are usually populated with a relatively even mix of female and male participants, yet there isn’t even a hint of them associated with the skateboarding toys. Women are now even able to race in NASCAR. 2 All of the commercials available illustrate that the toys are intended to be used by boys only. In each commercial featuring children, the children are invariably all male. Even in the octopus racetrack, when a crowd of people is shown at the end of the pier, there are no recognizable female figures among the children and adults fleeing the scene. These commercials are so exclusively male that there aren’t even any girls watching the action, such as standing at the sidelines of an impromptu race. Some of the commercials, though, such as the monster truck replica of Grave Digger, don’t feature identifiable human characters (perhaps showing a genderless hand operating the toy). Despite this, voiceovers remain exclusively male or the products themselves indicate male users are expected. When boys aren’t present within the actual context of the commercial, the products themselves portray the concept that they were intended for use by boys only. A prime example of this can be found in the skateboarding figures. Each one of them is a male skateboarder. Not one female skateboarder is seen in the commercial nor is it expected that there might be such a thing. It is no wonder little girls wandering out to the skateboard park or even just the playground continuously hear scornful comments about ‘girls don’t skate’. Through the products offered and the way in which they’re offered, companies such as Mattel, who owns the Hot Wheels line, continue to reinforce traditional gender roles and placing limits on half of the human population. The message sent is that girls must be involved in less active pursuits, perhaps sewing or playing with dolls, while boys retain exclusive property of such exciting games like crashing cars or holding races. 3 Works Cited Hot Wheels, Beat That! Mattel Corp. (2007). September 19, 2007 <http://www.hotwheels.com/videos/index.aspx>
