Thursday, February 9, 2012

Gendered Marketing?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CU040Hqbas&feature=related

Riley, the little girl in this video wonders why boys and girls toys are in different sections at the store. It is interesting to think about a different point of view about how toys are marketed to children and parents of these children because most people don't even notice there is motive behind the advertisements. Riley brings up a good point because what if girls like to play with "boy's toys" and boys like to play with "girl's toys"? Are they supposed to feel obligated to play with toys aimed at their gender only? I understand that it may be easier to find certain things if they are all grouped together by gendered colors and toys but it just puts expectations on young children to like princesses and dolls if you're a girl and action figures and trucks if you're a boy. It makes me question the values that we teach children in today's society and whether we are telling them what toys they should and shouldn't like. A lot of marketing is targeted towards males or females and very rarely it is to both. So if people go out of the social norm and choose to buy or play with the other gender's products then they are probably more susceptible to judgement and bullying from their peers.

*Is is right to market things only to specific genders?

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