By SharperIron on
Society & Culture
Gender Roles
Social Ethics

Top Toy (Toys R Us) in Sweden caves to government pressure to avoid gender stereotypes.

Discussion

Mon, 12/10/12

Upper left corner… Call me a neanderthal, but it makes me want to rescue the poor lad, put him in camo, strap some weapons on him and turn him loose in the woods.

Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.

Mon, 12/10/12

I wonder what Sweden will be called after the neighbor boys, who grew up playing with guns, invade and take over the country.

Why is it that my voice always seems to be loudest when I am saying the dumbest things?

Tue, 12/11/12

http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/celebrities/183032971.html

Some well-known male chefs are getting behind a New Jersey girl’s call for Hasbro to make a gender-neutral Easy-Bake Oven.

Chefs including Manuel Trevino of TV’s “Top Chef” and Michael Lomonaco of Porterhouse New York are featured in a YouTube video applauding McKenna Pope’s online petition, which had reached about 40,000 signatures as of Tuesday on the website Change.org.

The 13-year-old 8th-grader from Garfield, N.J., started the petition when she went to buy an Easy-Bake Oven for her 4-year-old-brother, Gavyn Boscio, but discovered it comes only in purple and pink. She wants Pawtucket, R.I.-based Hasbro to feature boys on the box of the toy and to make it in gender-neutral colors.

Twitter

Jim's Doctrinal Statement

Tue, 12/18/12

I find it interesting that there is a definite asymmetry when it comes to gender expectations. If a girl does traditionally boyish things, like play sports or ride a tractor (per the advertisement above) or shoot guns, people don’t mind, as long as it doesn’t go way over the top, say, steroid-enhanced bodybuilder women. In fact, having a little tomboy (a fairly neutral term) in a girl can actually be an attractive quality.

On the other hand, there is no fairly neutral term for a boy who embraces traditionally female gender stereotypes. There is no tomgirl, only sissy, or wuss, or some far more biting terms. A boy who wears lipstick or plays with dolls is going to get a lot more flak than a girl in overalls shooting guns.

This seems to indicate to me that in our culture, female is still identified as inferior. There may be something desirable about a boyish girl, but there is nothing but scorn for a girlish boy.

My Blog: http://dearreaderblog.com

Cor meum tibi offero Domine prompte et sincere. ~ John Calvin

Tue, 12/18/12

why can’t a boy have a nice “stainless steel” stove and Easy Bake just like Mario Battali, Bobby Flay, and (my current fav) Robert Irvine.

Hoping to shed more light than heat..