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Essay / Examining Gender Socialization Through Toys - 1393
Gender socialization plays a big role in a child's life by shaping their femininity and masculinity. Each child is expected to have played with at least one toy of their own. The aim of the research being conducted is now to take a closer look at how toys are sold in stores and played by children. This will then provide retrospective insight into how what is considered the gender norm plays a role in gender stereotypes and the effect these toys have on children's perceptions of gender characteristics. The store in which the research was conducted was the Wal-Mart Supercenter located on 151 SW 184th Ave, Pembroke Pines, Florida. The date of the visit was Thursday March 19, 2014. It was carried out around 6:45 p.m. and ended at 8:12 p.m.; so it lasted about two hours. The research method used to conduct it was to go through each aisle and count the number of different types of toys that represented the following: weapons, dolls, Barbie kitchen accessories, buildings for living or shopping (houses/caravans/ bakeries). , Cash registers, clothing accessories (shirts, shoes, etc.), hair accessories, royalties, remote control vehicles or racing vehicles, animals described as "scary, mean or aggressive", military and animals described as "comforting, cute or aggressive ". affectionate." Then, within these categories, a differentiation between girls and boys was taken into account. The types of toys found in the boys' aisles were mostly a combination of the following: seventy-five weapons, 164 dolls of superheroes/muscular action figures, thirty-nine Blue-collar jobs, 300 building blocks/Legos, 340 remote-controlled vehicles or racing vehicles, twenty animals described as “scary, mean, or aggressive,” twenty-five military personnel and sixty...... middle of paper... ...show both a girl and a girl making a pizza together or baking a cake but in different colors Society is a long way from abolishing sexism. , but teaching children to accept gender-neutral and transgender play can be a first step. From this research examining how gender socialization spreads to children through toys, we have led to the conclusion that to prevent children. do not live according to these stereotypes conveyed by toys, parents should encourage non-sexist and mixed play in children from an early age. Just because their brain is so receptive to knowledge to create and become the person they need to be in life. Give children a chance to not only have fun while playing with their toys and for there to be no pressure on them to be what they should be and for them to have a full mind of options from which they can choose..