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[music]
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Speaker: This video essay will examine the
effects of television toy commercials on
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our society's perception of gender
appropriate toys.
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At a young age, society tells us that we fit
in to one of two categories: boy or girl.
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Playing with children's toys is one of the
ways in which we learn our gender roles.
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Media, specifically toy television
commercials, help relay the message
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to society that there are specific toys
for each gender.
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Before we begin, let's take a look at
how and why gender is constructed.
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By the age of 10, children have formed an
understanding of the personality traits
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that belong to each gender.
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Many people believe that gender
construction is a blend of nature
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and nurture.
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It takes effort to process a lot of
information.
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To reduce this effort, our minds
stereotype and categorize information
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into smaller units.
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Therefore, categorizing things as being
male or female makes it easier for
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us to process information.
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Once they understand the basic concepts
of gender, children remain very rigid
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in their ideas of gendered behaviors,
occupations, and toys.
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Studies have found that male characters
tend to dominate children's commercials.
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Commercial: Thunderbirds are go!
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We've located the distress call.
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We must get there fast!
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Speaker: Many of them have also found that
gender portrayals in advertising are often
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negatively stereotyped in ways that are
restrictive and demeaning.
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Commercial: Baby Alive!
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My baby's first cold!
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Let's use the bear thermometer.
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Good girl!
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I can give you medicine, and change
your wet diaper.
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You're better now, baby!
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Speaker: Segregating toys in this way can
be detrimental to children who are
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still forming their identities.
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Other studies have found that female
toys often encourage girls to focus
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on their looks, whereas male toys
encourage power and strength.
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Commercial: A glitter blowdrier?
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That's so Barbie!
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[music]
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Commercial: The Transformers war is here!
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And both sides can change from vehicle to
blaster in an instant.
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Speaker: Finally, commercials featuring
females are usually for dolls and
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accessories, whereas commercials featuring
males are often for building toys and
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action figures.
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Commercial: It's a great big jet!
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[music]
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Commercial: Want something your way?
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You build it!
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Introducing U-Build Battleship.
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Speaker: Boys are encouraged to play
with cars, trucks, building toys, and
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science toys.
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Generally the toys promote strength
and power.
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Commercial: One system, you can build
up and customize your heavy-duty
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truck with tons of parts and drop the
motor into any mod machine.
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Tonka Mod Machines.
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Each sold separately.
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That's Tonka tough.
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Speaker: Girls are encouraged to play
with toys such as kitchen sets, and
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dolls that promote domestic and
nurturing behavior.
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Commercial: Only you can help shy
little Furberries come out and play!
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Commercial: It's the cake bakery!
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The easy way to make designer cakes!
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Bake your cake in the microwave in
30 seconds!
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Speaker: Let's take a look at some
older toy commercials to see how
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this all began.
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Historically, toy commercials have been
much more rigid in depicting what type of
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toys boys and girls should play with.
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Here are some older commercials for
boys toys.
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Notice the absence of a female model
or voiceover.
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The nature of the toys being advertised,
and the qualities they are suggesting
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boys should have.
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Commercial: This opens up the wild action
world of Port Apache.
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With Indians, Cavalrymen, shell shooting
cannons.
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Commercial: The most action you can
get, from Matel.
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Speaker: Now let's take a look at some
girl commercials from the past.
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Notice how they promote appearance,
and domesticity.
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Commercial: Yes, with Susie Homemaker
you can entertain, wash dishes, clean
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house, launder, iron, bake all this, and
always look lovely.
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Commercial: She keeps herself pretty by
using Sugar Plum.
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Speaker: Luckily, there have been many
positive changes in toy commercials
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in the past 50 years or so.
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Recently, there have been more depictions
of boys and girls playing with toys that
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are typically more geared toward the
other gender.
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Commercial: So much fun, you'll want to
squeal, Little Live Pets, little mice.
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Speaker: There are also more depictions
of boys and girls playing with toys
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together to indicate that the toy is
gender neutral.
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Commercial: Expressive, and unexpected.
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Stewart is up, down, tumbling all
around.
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Speaker: Some commercials have even
resorted to not using a model at all.
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And instead using hands to indicate that
a toy is gender neutral.
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Commercial: Build the shuttle.
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Place the new satellite.
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And prepare for liftoff.
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Speaker: Still not convinced that toy
commercials have an impact on
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society's perception of gender
appropriate toys?
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Studies have indicated that children may
view more than 40,000 advertisements
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a year.
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That means that they are potentially
watching tens of thousands of
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gendered advertisements.
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There's research that indicates that
advertisements do indeed affect
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children's attitudes toward the
brand.
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According to the American Psychological
Association, 50% of children remember
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a toy advertisement a week after seeing
it.
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Furthermore, it is thought that children
may focus more on the advertisements
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than on the television show itself.
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So why should we be concerned?
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Aside from the fact that it is dangerous
to restrict children to one rigid
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identity, research has also speculated
that toy gendering could affect men
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and women's aptitudes and skills for
different professions as adults.
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The toys that boys play with encourage
a freedom of imagination, and teach
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spatial skills that are often necessary
for scientific careers.
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On the other hand, girl toys focus more on
nurturing skills, domestic skills,
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and appearance.
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Many theorize that this is one reason why
there are more men in scientific fields
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than women.
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While there has been some progress with
degendering television toy commercials,
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we still have a long way to go.
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Commercials continue to be gender
restrictive.
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The gendering is simply done in a more
modern way, giving the illusion that
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things have changed when they really
haven't.
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Take a look at these two Barbie
commercials, for example.
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The first is from 1959, and the second
is from 2015.
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Commercial: [music]
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Commercial: It's for you Moschino Barbie!
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Moschino Barbie doll, fabulosity totally
included.
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Speaker: Some may think that having a boy
in a Barbie commercial is progress.
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However, his mannerisms are still very
feminine by our society's standards,
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indicating that Barbie's are indeed
feminine toys.
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In this way, it's not much better than the
Barbie commercial from the '50s.
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We must keep in mind that the
advertisements are not entirely at
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fault, because gender is constructed by
our society.
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Advertisements simply perpetuate gender
stereotypes by attempting to appeal to
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consumers socially influenced desires.
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In other words, society creates gender
stereotypes and advertisements
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perpetuate them.
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In order to make a change, we must figure
out why we haven't made more progress.
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Is it society that is resisting?
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Or are the toy companies?
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Or is it both?
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Whatever the cause, we must not
be discouraged.
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Things are improving slowly, but there's
still much work to be done.
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[music]
