Doing Gender....

A Message From Yours Truly: This was a current event I wrote for my Women's Studies 201 class, on the social construction of gender. The social construction of gender is basically the theory that gender is developed through social interaction. You are not born "feminine" or "masculine", but conditioned to become that way by your parents, friends, peers, etc. I believe that there are truths as well as fallacies to this. 

If you want to read the article I wrote this on, go HERE!
And HEEEEEERE is Debbie Sterling's fabulous TEDx talk that also hugely contributed to this current event article:

While I was playing with Barbies, baby-dolls, and makeup kits as a child, my younger brothers were playing with Lincoln Logs, Legos, and construction kits. I was learning how to be poised, pretty, and nurturing while they were learning how to use their spatial intelligence. I was learning how to be a socially acceptable young lady while they were learning how to be socially acceptable young men. What kinds of long term effects did these gender-specific toys have on me and other young girls who played with them? Recently, I watched Debbie Sterling’s (2013) TED talk, Inspiring the next generation of female engineers, on this very subject. Sterling, a mechanical engineer, spoke on how boys and girls are not born with the innate instinct to be engineers and housewives, respectively, but conditioned, from the time they are very young, through their toys.

Thankfully, one very prominent toy company, Toys “R” Us, has done away with gender labeling on toys in an effort to discourage the social construction of gender, at least in the UK. HuffPost Parents’ article on this exciting development states that the push to make this change was inspired by a campaign called “Let Toys Be Toys”. This groundbreaking campaign demanded that toy companies cease advertising certain toys as socially acceptable for only boys or socially acceptable for only girls. It is believed by many that gender labeling of toys puts limits on children’s creativity. Megan Perryman, quoted in this article, said, "Even in 2013, boys and girls are still growing up being told that certain toys are ‘for’ them, while others are not. This is not only confusing but extremely limiting, as it strongly shapes their ideas about who they are and who they can go on to become. We look forward to seeing Toys 'R' Us lead the way to a more inclusive future for boys and girls." (HuffPost Parents 2013).

One may think, “That’s great for the United Kingdom, but what about ending gender labeling on toys in the United States?” Companies such as A Mighty Girl and GoldieBlox are in the process of stomping out social gender construction, especially for girls. A Mighty Girl is a website devoted to inspiring young girls to achieve through various platforms including music, movies, clothing, and toys. They formed an online petition on Change.org, which anyone can sign, encouraging Toys “R” Us here in the states to hop on board with the UK! Also, GoldieBlox founder Debra Sterling began a campaign asking mothers and daughters to invade toy stores and take pictures of them playing with GoldieBlox engineering toys for girls.

As stated by Simone de Beauvoir (1953) in The Second Sex, “One is not born, but rather, becomes a woman [man].” Or as Judith Lorber (1991) puts it in her article The Social Construction of Gender, “Everyone ‘does gender’ without thinking about it.” Curtis Sittenfeld (1995) paints an elaborate picture of the way a girl transforms throughout the course of her life in response to what is expected of her, due to her sex of female, as she ages, in his short story Your Life As A Girl. These are all examples of  the social construction of gender, the main issue that the above article dealt with. Gender is constructed socially, sex is constructed biologically.

As babies, girls are clothed in pink as a symbol of femininity while boys sport blue to show they are masculine. An example of this is the story Lorber (1991) told in The Social Construction of Gender of a small child she saw on the train who, at first, she could not tell whether it was a boy or girl. Lorber decided that the child was a girl after seeing her feminine shoes, lacy socks, and earrings. Toys, of course, tend to be very gender specific and, as we grow, boys often put us in our place and show us their dominance. Sittenfeld’s (1995) tale Your Life As A Girl, followed the immense pressure a girl named Anna felt to “shut up” and be a proper young woman from boys her age.  Again, “Everyone ‘does gender’ without thinking about it.” (Lorber 1991).

In conclusion, the mindset that girls and boys should play with certain toys for the sole purpose of it being more masculine or feminine is harmful. Why? Because it is limiting our potential to go beyond what is expected of us. It is encouraging to me to see that the future generations may see more girls with engineering minds and girls who bust through the barrier of what was once a social norm…..girls who shake things up. There are many areas in which gender is “constructed”, as discussed above, but a great start to putting an end to these stereotypes is from the very beginning - children’s toys!