“Boys play cars, girls play Barbie” toys are divided into genders, which makes sense…

Some mum says,  

My daughter has never played with dolls. She likes cars and dinosaurs, and likes to play pirates and such fighting games. She will definitely be a tomboy in the future!

And some other mum says,

My son likes plush toys, to play house game. These are all girls love to play, and no boyishness at all, what should I do? How to guide?

In fact, these worries are totally unnecessary. An experiment at Kent University and Weston university has proved that children who can accept typical heterosexual toys are more inclusive.

Toy preference

Men and women are born different

Some psychologists have summarized the characteristics of boys’ toys / girls’ toys in everyone’s impression:

Generally, girls’ toys have “high appearance value”, tend to parenting themes and show domestic skills, such as dolls, dolls’ supporting houses, beds, clothes, necklaces, jewelry and kitchen toys;

Boys’ toys are “powerful”, competitive and can bring excitement and even danger, such as all kinds of cars and planes, weapons, football, superhero clothes and so on.

Toys are divided into men and women because boys and girls have different natural preferences for toys. But for individuals, this is not absolute.

UCLA School of medicine and Chicago School of medicine have conducted similar experiments on boys’ toy / girls’ toy preference for boys and girls aged 3 ~ 8, and counted the interaction time between boys and girls and toys of different genders.

The experimental results show that boys generally and obviously prefer boys’ toys, while girls are involved in the choice of two types of toys, and a large proportion of girls will also like the so-called boys’ toys. Therefore, we will find that many girls will also like excavators and Altman, which are traditionally regarded as boys’ toys

Finnish children’s clinicians have found that children’s preference for boys’ toys and girls’ toys is related to their hormone testosterone level

The researchers tested the hormone levels of 38 full-term newborns (22 men and 26 women) every month until they were six months old. A toy preference test was conducted at the age of 14. During the test, three kinds of boys’ toys, girls’ toys and neutral toys (such as keys, picture books, etc.) will be provided for the babies, and the interaction time between the babies and each kind of toy will be recorded.

The final statistical results show that the higher the testosterone in the body, the more inclined it is to boys’ toys. If the testosterone is low, it will also love girls’ toys. In the experiment, boys with low testosterone levels will also interact with dolls.

Gender stereotype influence

Children’s toy choices

In the choice of boys’ and girls’ toys, in addition to natural factors, the influence of the acquired environment can not be underestimated. People choose toys for children according to their gender stereotypes.

The BBC has an experiment on gender differences: Boys’ toys vs girls’ toys.

In the experiment, two babies of different genders exchanged clothes. The boy put on a small skirt and the girl put on a plaid shirt, and temporarily took the name opposite to the gender. Now, in the eyes of adults, male baby Edward becomes female baby and female baby marine becomes male baby.

When the volunteers selected interactive toys for the two babies, the traditional female toys such as dolls and plush toys were prepared for male treasure Edward; Similarly, the volunteers chose traditional boy toys such as robots and cars for the female treasure marine.

Boys should play with boys’ toys and girls should play with girls’ toys. Many times, this is the “gender stereotype” that parents inadvertently impose on their children. This gender stereotyped behavior of adults will also affect children’s choice of toys, which is particularly evident in girls.

In an interview with children aged 3 to 5, the staff asked the children what they wanted most for Christmas. It was found that 75% of the gift lists of boys of all ages were boys’ toys. However, the choice of girls varies greatly. At the age of 3, only 29% of girls choose girls’ toys. At the age of 4, the proportion is 51%. By the age of 5, it has reached 75%, just like boys.

What’s worse is that when some parents choose toys for their children, they are often accompanied by the output of stereotypes. For example, boys are men, can’t cry and should be strong; Girls should be clever, better at taking care of others and so on.

Oregon State University and the University of California have conducted a study on the impact of different toys on girls’ future careers (Sherman & zurbriggen, 2014). From the research results, the output of gender stereotypes will limit children’s development.

In the study, seven girls aged 4 ~ 7 were randomly divided into two groups and assigned different toys to interact for five minutes: one group was the girl toy Barbie with obvious gender differentiation, and the other group was the potato head doll with less obvious gender differentiation. Then, girls need to answer what they think they can do in the future.

The researchers classified five female dominated occupations: teachers, librarians, day care workers, flight attendants and nurses, and five male dominated occupations: construction workers, firefighters, pilots, doctors and police.

Combined with the parents’ questionnaire on their children’s Barbie games at home, the results are as follows: girls playing Barbie generally believe that they can engage in fewer types of occupations in the future, but boys can engage in any occupation; Girls who play with potato head dolls think they are no different from boys.

It can be seen that parents stereotype their children’s toys according to their children’s gender, which may also limit the possibilities of their children’s future development and narrow the road in the future.

Let the children choose their toys on their own

Is the best way to raise

The cooperative experiment between Kent University and Weston university has proved that adults’ tolerance of children playing with heterosexual toys will also affect children’s judgment and character.

When 82 children aged 4 to 7 were grouped to see a series of pictures, in one group, the children were playing with their own gender toys, and in the other group, the children were playing with each other’s gender toys (Spinner, Cameron & Calogero, 2018).

After that, the researchers will show the toys to the children one by one. These toys are highly boy / girl toys. They will ask the children whether they like the toy and score the degree of like or dislike. Also ask the children who will come with the toy, boy or girl.

The experimental results show that the children who watch or play with each other’s gender toys are more inclusive in the choice of toy types and playmate gender. If children live in an inclusive environment and can accept themselves or others playing with heterosexual toys, it is also conducive to the inclusive development of children themselves.

In other words, the best way to choose toys for children is to prepare a variety of toys for children and let children choose their favorite toys.

Not to interfere with children’s choice of toys by sex is a wise way of raising children.

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