Gender Pens

[Jonas]

While some of this is obvious marketing, the problem (if you choose to see this situation in the OP that way) goes beyond marketing I think. Caught up in this is a pretty obvious nod to the materialism gods and goddess of reality television (e.g. Kim K and her cohort) and all the other popular role models for kids (and quite possibly their parents) in this age group. In areas of the world that enjoy (or suffer) large amounts of television, I think those societies have declared their value systems. "Pink equals fashionable female" is seen quite often in these shows that young girls grow up with. It shouldn't surprise us when young girls begin to behave like pink wrapped mini-Snookis because in the absence of other direction, girls think this is how girls behave.

 

As troubling, to me, is the pretty obvious phallic symbolism and the female reaction to it. But I really won't go into that.

 

edit - Fabulous topic by the way.

[michellem]

[Raena]

Source

 

Public humiliation done right.

 

 

Took my little sister toy shopping today. After much browsing, she chose a pack of Hot Wheels cars. She wanted to pay so I gave her the money. As we were waiting in line, some dude waiting behind us asks:

 

“Buying those for your brother?”

 

My sister gives him a weird look, “No. They’re mine.”

 

“You sure you want those, sweetheart? Those are for boys.” He says.

 

Before I can say anything, my sister yells, like truly yells at the top of her lungs, “MY MOMMY IS A GIRL AND DRIVES A CAR EVERY DAY! GIRLS CAN HAVE CARS TOO!”

 

The people in front of us in line turn around. The cashier actually stops what she’s doing. Everyone stares at this guy and he just sort of turns red, grabs his kid, and disappears into the Lego aisle.

 

Ha.

 

Edit: hahaha, realized Kate had already posted this. Oh well, it's a good one, so it can be posted twice!

[Kathleen]

I they on my own to break this stereotype on my house. I say over and over there is no such thing as a boy thing or a girl thing. There are no boy colours and girl gcolours. There's no buy cups and girl cups. There's no boy shows and girls shows ect. Then we go to McDonald's an they bloody well ask if we want boy toys or girl toys. It makes my blood boil and I hav to spend ten mins every trip reteaching the kids to share and that boys an play with any toy they want and girls can play with any toy they want.

[bhskeeper11]

Raena - but you posted the source! I looked for it, but tumblr gave me a few different "sources" so I left it out completely.

 

Kathleen - that's awesome. I remember refusing the "girls" toy as a kid going to McD's. I always wanted the "boys" toy because they were cooler (a plastic doll that sat there vs. hotwheels car I could launch off the end of the table at breaking speeds?) Fortunately, I also remember clear as day that my parent's would turn and look at me (as we were in the drive-thru) and ask, "Do you want the boys toy or the girls toy?" So, it wasn't an assumption forced upon me as much as me learning that girls had to sit there with their do-nothing dolls and boys got to run around making car noises and have cars zoom at lightning fast speeds.

 

Of course, that sort of stereotype could be a discussion of its own. Why did the girls' toy seem to require nothing but sitting there while the boys' toy seemed more "interactive"? The grasp of gender stereotypes goes a lot deeper than just names.

[Elgee]

Raena - but you posted the source! I looked for it, but tumblr gave me a few different "sources" so I left it out completely.

 

Kathleen - that's awesome. I remember refusing the "girls" toy as a kid going to McD's. I always wanted the "boys" toy because they were cooler (a plastic doll that sat there vs. hotwheels car I could launch off the end of the table at breaking speeds?) Fortunately, I also remember clear as day that my parent's would turn and look at me (as we were in the drive-thru) and ask, "Do you want the boys toy or the girls toy?" So, it wasn't an assumption forced upon me as much as me learning that girls had to sit there with their do-nothing dolls and boys got to run around making car noises and have cars zoom at lightning fast speeds.

 

Of course, that sort of stereotype could be a discussion of its own. Why did the girls' toy seem to require nothing but sitting there while the boys' toy seemed more "interactive"? The grasp of gender stereotypes goes a lot deeper than just names.

 

I think you have awesome parents.

 

I too preferred "boy" toys when I was a child. My dad made the fatal error of buying me a doll once - I screamed at the sight of it and ran away.

Mind you, this was just a few days after my one older nephew had taken me to the drive-in to see some horror movie that featured dolls :P

But yeah - I enjoyed cars and things much more than "girly" stuff.

[Senexx]

Yes Pink for girls is silly.

 

I think we had a thing not long ago that explained blue for boys and pink for girls came out around the 50s (?) clothing wise before that it was pink for boys and blue for girls & before that it was dresses for all babies and toddlers until a certain age whether boy or girl.

 

And as a child I enjoyed girl toys. Barbie, etc. and not for decapitation purposes either. I also used to enjoy this cartoon

[Ryrin]

Basel, I imagine the ink is probably still black.

 

I get the marketing thing (after studying it for the last three years), but it still shocks me sometimes. It was just such a blatant ploy to show young women that they will be unhappy with man pens.

 

:hatespink:

 

I love pink, but as a professional woman I would not be seen in a meeting with a pink pen no matter what the color of ink.

[Ryrin]

Raena - but you posted the source! I looked for it, but tumblr gave me a few different "sources" so I left it out completely.

 

Kathleen - that's awesome. I remember refusing the "girls" toy as a kid going to McD's. I always wanted the "boys" toy because they were cooler (a plastic doll that sat there vs. hotwheels car I could launch off the end of the table at breaking speeds?) Fortunately, I also remember clear as day that my parent's would turn and look at me (as we were in the drive-thru) and ask, "Do you want the boys toy or the girls toy?" So, it wasn't an assumption forced upon me as much as me learning that girls had to sit there with their do-nothing dolls and boys got to run around making car noises and have cars zoom at lightning fast speeds.

 

Of course, that sort of stereotype could be a discussion of its own. Why did the girls' toy seem to require nothing but sitting there while the boys' toy seemed more "interactive"? The grasp of gender stereotypes goes a lot deeper than just names.

 

I think you have awesome parents.

 

I too preferred "boy" toys when I was a child. My dad made the fatal error of buying me a doll once - I screamed at the sight of it and ran away.

Mind you, this was just a few days after my one older nephew had taken me to the drive-in to see some horror movie that featured dolls :P

But yeah - I enjoyed cars and things much more than "girly" stuff.

 

I had dolls when I was little. I'd cut their hair and make my mom buy little boy clothes.

 

I now have two sons. Random? I don't think so.

[Lessa Nikia]

I had barbie's...sorry, still have them because my mother runs a dayhome(like daycare) and I have to say, they were so much cooler in the 90's then they are now. But not only did I have barbie's, my brother had G.I.Joes and I played with them more than he did. I also still have my Harry Potter and adventure lego :biggrin:

[Daruya]

My sister and I played mostly with boys. We built forts, played in the woods, climbed trees, played "cowboys and Indians" and had mock fights (pretending we were soldiers from different branches of the military), played with matchbox cars and hot wheels (we had a sandbox and would built mountains with roads for the cars and caves to park them in). We'd go sledding and hiking and in the once place we went camping (Bundenbach, Germany), we'd go spelunking (our parents never knew; they thought the older boys were looking after us but they were with us, leading the expedition! LOL!). We had Barbies, too, but didn't play with them as often.

[bhskeeper11]

My sister and I played mostly with boys. We built forts, played in the woods, climbed trees, played "cowboys and Indians" and had mock fights (pretending we were soldiers from different branches of the military), played with matchbox cars and hot wheels (we had a sandbox and would built mountains with roads for the cars and caves to park them in). We'd go sledding and hiking and in the once place we went camping (Bundenbach, Germany), we'd go spelunking (our parents never knew; they thought the older boys were looking after us but they were with us, leading the expedition! LOL!). We had Barbies, too, but didn't play with them as often.

 

Mock fighting while pretending to be soldiers from different branches of the military... this statement... it's so full of win I don't quite know what to do with myself.

 

>.>

 

What is spelunking? O.o

[Elgee]

My sister and I played mostly with boys. We built forts, played in the woods, climbed trees, played "cowboys and Indians" and had mock fights (pretending we were soldiers from different branches of the military), played with matchbox cars and hot wheels (we had a sandbox and would built mountains with roads for the cars and caves to park them in). We'd go sledding and hiking and in the once place we went camping (Bundenbach, Germany), we'd go spelunking (our parents never knew; they thought the older boys were looking after us but they were with us, leading the expedition! LOL!). We had Barbies, too, but didn't play with them as often.

 

Yes! Same here! Well my sisters were all much older than I so I played with the farmboys or the neighbouring farmer's sons (whilst we were living on the farm) and with the village boys whilst living in the village. Cowboys and Indians was our favourite game :P

[Daruya]

Spelunking = exploring caves.

[Wren of the Brown]

Her name was Itzpapalotl and her name meant "clawed butterfly." Around her waist, she wore a belt of the heads of her enemies and she was the guardian of Tamoanchan, the paradise of infants who suffered. Look upon her thighs and weep, mortal.

 

[Rekinu Alasayaar]

actually, funny you should mention this, my daughter found my cars last night, as it was bed time I told her no, but I promised to play cars tonight when I get off work... lol!

 

I think my parents asked us as well what kind of toy we wanted when we were growing up, and though most of my sisters asked for dolls and such, my youngest sister still is much more tomboyish.

 

I do not care what my kids want to play with, as long as they are happy, and if that means getting out the cars to play with my daughter, Im cool with that! I even have a car mat that my grandma drew for me on some fabric... dont know where it is as most of our stuff is still boxed up, but i let Kylie play with it before we packed it up.

[Tamerya]

I was a total tomboy growing up, and it's only recently that I've found I might have a TINY girly streak in me. I hate pink..even though it was forced on me at every opportunity - or maybe it's because it was!!!

 

Growing up, yes, I had my barbies and My Little Ponys...but more often than not I was playing with my brothers GI Joes or Transformers. When it came to toy cars...when my grandma passed on, she willed all the toy cars to me... not my brother..but me. Cuz I played with them way more :)

 

I am all for non-gender stereotypes.

 

That being said.. I love purple pens... and green ones.. and orange ones... and red ones... but keep the pink far from me :)

[michellem]

I love pink (not in obscene amounts, but I do think it's a pretty color used right), I played with dolls, but I also love blue, played war-games in the forest, and had both girl and boy friends. My husband is a "un-manly" man; when we met, he wore girls clothing, make-up and had long hair (no, he didn't dress in drag, but he was a goth and put on whatever suited his fancy). He cries when he's sad or upset, he can get teary-eyed over a movie, he can be vunrable and talk about things that hurt him. And I detest those who say he's not a man because of those things. Just like I detest those who say that girls act "manly" if they don't wear make-up, or high heels, or even dare to be over 5'7" tall! Gender stereotyping is worse now than it has ever been in many ways.

[Colin al'Caar]

I love pink (not in obscene amounts, but I do think it's a pretty color used right), I played with dolls, but I also love blue, played war-games in the forest, and had both girl and boy friends. My husband is a "un-manly" man; when we met, he wore girls clothing, make-up and had long hair (no, he didn't dress in drag, but he was a goth and put on whatever suited his fancy). He cries when he's sad or upset, he can get teary-eyed over a movie, he can be vunrable and talk about things that hurt him. And I detest those who say he's not a man because of those things. Just like I detest those who say that girls act "manly" if they don't wear make-up, or high heels, or even dare to be over 5'7" tall! Gender stereotyping is worse now than it has ever been in many ways.

 

Sounds like a good guy to me...a keeper.

[Jonas]

Gender stereotyping is maddening. But it's also maddening when people refuse to like anything that is associated with "normal" gender roles, e.g. a girl liking pink

 

You and your husband sound like very well-adjusted people!

[michellem]

Thank you, Jonas! I like to think of us like that :P If we ever get children, I hope to not influence them either way; I want them to play with exactly what they like and if a boy wants a pink shirts, that's great, and if we get a girl who hates dresses, that is fine, as long as the child is happy and we don't pressure it into something "just because it is that way".

[Liitha]

ok on the razor thing dont know if its still true but some years back they tested them, and the panel conclusion was buy the female razors and male blades, the male blades are better, but the female razors are shaped better, for the big brands doing both like gillette they often use the same attachement solutions which means this is posible, so its what i did for a while till i just descided to go get an electric racor with detachable options for blades because it was meant for beard trimming on men which meant it came with several styles of equipment to trim it in different types and such

 

works wonders and i can just charge it rather then having to buy new blades all the time

 

as for toys we got a selection which included a lot of gender neutral learning toys like puttyboxes, rubics cubes and the like, but basic gist we got variation we had both cars and dolls...what we didnt have was noisy toys and such, but oddly enough i never felt i lacked for squeeky toys, space pistols, whiny cars, crying dolls or the like...our imagination could make up the sounds we needed at an indoor voice level rather then polluting the whole house with noise

[coldestcaress]

Did anyone read some of the jokey Amazon reviews for the "for her" pens? Some of them were absolutely hilarious. Some of them are here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2012/08/bic-for-her-pens-bombarded-with-sarcastic-reviews.html

 

Personally, I'm not into enforcing gender roles and stereotypes and neither were my parents. My brother and I just liked what we liked, and that was that. We both seem to have a pretty excellent mix of 'girl' things vs. 'boyish' interests. It's neat. I'd do the same if I had kids.

 

I like girly crap, but actually saying THIS IS A LADY PEN is going a little far, maybe. Because... it's... a pen. Marketing totally unisex items for men or for women is silly. Pastel pink writing instruments for all, I say!