Reply on two peer's observation Reports

2/16/2020

Alyssa Bernethy

Introduction: 

My research topic is if children’s toys/clothing play a role in gender culture. The reason why I chose this topic is because I’ve always wondered why people assume women should do the cooking/cleaning and men should do the yard work and or fix things around the house. I am going to do this by going to a local store that sells both children’s toys and clothes and examine how they are portrayed. My research question is, what are the gendered messages sent in children’s toys/clothing. 

Literature Review: 

In Jillian Lauer’s study, “Developmental stability in gender-typed preferences between infancy and preschool age”, Lauer examined the longitudinal association between infants' (N = 51) performance on an object-preference task, administered between 6 and 13 months of age, and their play preferences at 4 years of age. Greater visual interest in a toy truck relative to a doll in infancy predicted significantly greater male-typical toy and activity preferences (e.g., play with vehicles, video games) at age 4 (Lauer 2018). This article is relevant to my topic because Lauer findings suggest that gender-typed object preferences present during the 1st year of life may represent the developmental precursors of gender-typed play preferences observed later in childhood (Laurer 2018). As Laurers study reveals that individual differences in infants’ object preferences appear to have meaningful implications for their later play styles, suggesting that object preferences present during the first year of life represent precursors of children’s later preferences for gender-typed play.

            In Cheryl Laz’s article (1998) article, “Act your age,” Laz discusses Candace West and Don Zimmerman argue that gender is an accomplishment: an emergent feature of social situations that is both an outcome of and a rationale for the most fundamental division of society. This is relatable to my study because West and Zimmerman discuss how there are only two, and only two sexes. (Mclntyre pg 88). 

Methods:

My Method in my experiment was Non-participant Observation. The toys and clothes that I analyzed were from the Snohomish Target. The first thing I did was go to the toy section and I immediately noticed how the aisles were either mostly different shades of blue or different shades of pink. Going through each aisle of the toys, I took notes on my phone and took observations of what I saw. I paid close attention to the colors, imagines, fonts, and writing on the items. I spent around an hour and a half in the toy section. After I finished my observations for the toys I walked over to the clothing section for toddlers and babies. I repeated the same steps for clothing’s observations as I did with the toys. I also spent around an hour and a half in the clothing’s section as well. I made sure that I paid close attention to the colors, fabrics, and patterns of the clothing for the toddlers and babies. Along with observing the clothes and toys, I also took pictures of some aisles so I would be able to look back on them when I declared the results later on. 

Results:  

Girl’s colors (toys): Different shades of pinks, purples, yellows, and baby blue. (Brighter colors)

Girl’s Toys - Light up Cosmetic studio, Deluxe unicorn makeover, Glitter Globe Jewelry maker, Color changing lip gloss maker, Lego friend’s mall, Lego friends treehouse, Lego friends Kitchen set, Pretend cupcake set, Bathaccino Bath mix, Go Glam nail set, Easy Stamp nail set, Blinger, Deluxe hair and glitter set, Face Paints, Cutie Stix jewelry maker, Barbies, Brat dolls, and Minnie cash register

Boy’s colors (toys): Different shades of blues, black, greens, and reds. (Darker colors) 

Boy’s Toys: Legos Airplanes, Legos trucks, Legos City, Legos cars, Legos boats, Captain Marvel action figure, Batman figure, marvel character sets (all boys), Avengers series, Avengers Masks, Spiderman web maker, Toy dragons, Toy cars and trucks of all kinds, PJ masks nighttime avengers, Hero blasts, Nerf guns, water guns, Iron man super set, and Fake swords

Girl’s clothes: 

Colors:  Bright colors. For example, pinks, purples, yellows, blue, mostly summer spring colors. 

Type of clothing: Skirts, dresses, tops, leggings, tang tops, jean shorts, jeans, jean skirts, jackets, raincoats, slippers, socks

Patterns:  Pooka-dots, stripes, tie dye

Decorations: Flowers, fruits, cats, dogs, hearts, dolphins, rainbows

Boy’s clothes: 

Colors: Dark colors. For example, blue, black, grey, red, greens

Type of clothing: Long sleeves, jeans, Pants, button up shirts, sweats, sweatshirts, basketball shorts, socks

Patterns: Solid, stripes, a lot of plaid. 

Decorations: Dinosaurs, cars, airplanes, bugs, sharks, basketballs, baseballs, footballs

Discussions:

Meaning of results:

I have found that toys/clothes for children are separated into two categories based mostly on colors and themes. I immediately knew which aisle was intended for boys and which aisle was intended for girls. Majority of the girl toys have pictures of a girl playing with the toy and the same went for the boys as well. Also, I found that the girls clothing has much more details on them compared to the boys.  A lot of the boy clothing seemed very sporty and simple whereas the girls clothing had different fabrics and more patterns. Next, I noticed that there were many more options for girls compared to boys ' clothing. I didn't have to read any signs that said boys clothing or girls clothing because I could immediately tell by the colors. The boys toys/clothing were dark and more bold in color and the girls are more bright and outgoing looking. When I was observing the textures of the clothing I noticed that the boys clothing looked a lot more comfortable compared to the girl clothing. The boy section had much more sweatshirt and sweats, whereas the girl clothing was leggings and zip ups.  It does seem that toys encouraging certain personality traits or styles of playing, like more aggressive play, will have an impact. In the boy toy section there were a lot of nerf guns, and fake swords. 

Implications:

Through my observations I found that my research question to be true and confirmed that not only do we teach young children their gender role but that society places a gender on by the way they show their clothes and toys. 

Limitations and future research:

I would say that the limitations of my research were limited because I only went to one store. In future research, I would go to multiple stores and compare my notes to see if they are similar so it would make the experiment much more reliable. Also, having someone else's point of view could possibly help as well. Another thing that could be beneficial in this experiment is observing what buyers' gender and seeing what toys they buy as well. 

Word Count: 1108

References

Lauer, Jillian E, (2018). “Developmental Stability in Gender-Typed Preferences between Infancy and Preschool Age.” Developmental Psychology, vol. 54, no. 4, Apr. 2018, pp. 613–620. 

Cheryl Laz, (1998). Act Your Age. In L. J. McIntyre (Ed.) The Practical Skeptic: Readings in Sociology. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Appendix 

Target Snohomish 

Intended items for boys 

Different shades of blues, black, greens, and reds. (Darker colors) 

 Legos Airplanes, 

Legos trucks, 

Legos City, 

Legos cars, 

Legos boats, 

Captain Marvel action figure, 

Batman figure,

Marvel character sets (all boys), 

Avengers series, 

Avengers Masks, 

Spiderman web maker, 

Toy dragons, 

Toy cars and trucks of all kinds, 

PJ masks nighttime avengers,

 Hero blasts, 

Nerf guns,

Water guns, 

Iron man super set, 

Fake swords. 

Intended items for girls 

Different shades of pinks, purples, yellows, and baby blue. (Brighter colors)

Toys: Light up Cosmetic studio, 

Deluxe unicorn makeover, 

Glitter Globe Jewelry maker, 

My look color changing lip gloss maker, 

Lego friends mall, 

Lego friends treehouse, 

Lego friends Kitchen set, 

Pretend cupcake set, 

Bathaccino Bath mix, 

Go Glam nail set, 

Easy Stamp nail set, Blinger, 

Deluxe hair and glitter set, 

Face Paintoos, 

Cutie Stix jewelry maker,

 Barbies, Brat dolls, 

Minnie cash register.