Tiffany Addison
Assignment #2
Professor Franklin
February 14, 2011
TOYS
Roland Barthes talks about how toys, French toys in particular are the “microcosm” of
the adult world. Meaning a miniature replica of the world shrunken down to a size in which kids
can develop their own way of what society is like. He says they’re to show kids what is socially
important and culturally validated by their society. Through toys they learn their own meaning
of roles that is accepted for each gender by their society. He tells how toys have a significant
meaning like blocks which allows children to be creative in play. Barthes says that toys prepare
children for their roles; for example: dolls which urinate condition the female child to learn
house-keeping as her future role of motherhood. As for boys, he says they do not have to
discover anything from the start; they’re supplied to him and he has only to help himself. He
makes sure to state a couple times that French toys are based on imitation and are meant to
produce children who are users, not creators.
They say Toys describe how children should act. Research says that there has been a
major issue on gender roles and how boys should get trucks and cars and girls get dolls and teasets. There tends to be no issue with a girl switching roles to play with trucks but if a boy is seen
playing with dolls, he is perceived as homosexual. Now that it’s been looked at more critically,
they say it is just children exploring and they’re not yet old enough to understand the labels
society forces on each other. They say the studied implication of girls’ tendency to play with
dolls and boys with cars developed the girl with communication skills and emotional literacy,
while boys’ toys helped them to grow up with better technical knowledge. They say toys are
more androgynous these days but then why do toy shops still have separate aisles and or floors
for girls and boys? In doing this, they say it portrays the impression that certain toys are just for
boys and others just for girls. Now that over the past few decades women have been entering
the workplace, they say Americans are making improvements to accept the new definitions of
gender roles. They say “even if they work full-time outside the home, women are still perceived
as having the primary responsibility for taking care of home and family.
I don’t know French toys in particular to be talking about but toys in general mean the
same thing to me whether they were made in USA, China or France because they go all over the
world meaning more similar things to all cultures than different. I say, toys are not just
something for kids to play with, they’re the adult world on a micro level to shows kids what
their upcoming roles are like in society as they get older. When you go to a birthday party,
you’re likely to give a boy an action figure, blocks, or cars because they’re suppose to be the
everyday hero’s and working majority. You give a girl a doll, Barbie, and books because they’re
supposed to be the house-keeper and care-taker. The man goes out and makes the money
while the woman takes care of everything at home including the children. Boys are learned
through toys to be strong and work; such toys like soldiers, cars, movies, etc portray this idea.
While girls on the other hand are taught to be care-takers; the dolls show this step of learning
to care, how to feed your baby, put him/her to sleep, and change the diaper when he/she
urinate. Also, girls are often giving house’s to go with their toys in which they learn to cook and
clean while their husband works all day. I agree that toys are becoming more androgynous but
the impression still remains the same as to what society expects of each gender. We have been
conditioned these roles growing up that we still condition are children in the same way, one
way or another. Girls still like dolls and may play with boy toys and boys still like action figures
and may want to play with girl toys but are conditioned more strictly by their fathers to sustain
to technical things. They want them to be strong and have no emotional standings. Although
our society has changed a lot in terms of men and women roles, we are taught that men are
our providers and we are there care-takers. This is what we are taught, and this is what we
must change!
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Gender Roles and Toys." HubPages. Web. 14 Feb. 2011. <http://hubpages.com/hub/Gender-Roles-andToys>.
"Gender Roles, Information about Gender Roles." Internet FAQ Archives - Online Education Faqs.org. Web. 14 Feb. 2011. <http://www.faqs.org/health/topics/8/Gender-roles.html>.
Lepkowska, Dorothy. "Dorothy Lepkowska on Gender and Toys | Education | The Guardian." Latest
News, Comment and Reviews from the Guardian | Guardian.co.uk. Web. 14 Feb. 2011.
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/dec/16/play>.