Why are children's commercial entities trying to unsex boys?

Amanaki said:

Why so obsessed with the "man" thing?

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Because it's easier to blame external perceived "enemies" like evil toy companies and feminists for your problems than engage in self aware self reflection, at a guess.

HonestJoe said:

So why are you complaining that they’re not being treated in the same way by the toy industry?

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they are not being treated FAIRLY

I say give each sex equal representation but preserve the unique identity of each sex also.

For every product on the market labeled GIRL there should be one labeled BOY.

I feel the later is grossly underrepresented.

Don't treat the term BOY as if it were taboo or forbidden. Do girls fear that word like they are scared of snakes and frogs? Does new-age society fear the mere sight of the word BOY even will get their underage daughters pregnant?

Jonathan Bailey said:

they are not being treated FAIRLY

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But you’ve already said you don’t see the point of having the label “Girl” on toys. If there is no point, why is it harmful either way? Wouldn't there be no point adding the label "Boy" to toys either? To establish the distinction between fair treatment and blind equal treatment, you need to demonstrate why the differences are wrong.

Jonathan Bailey said:

Don't treat the term BOY as if it were taboo or forbidden. Do girls fear that word as they are scared of snakes and frogs?

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Nobody is doing that. Others have shown examples of the word “Boy” being used on recent products and marketing. The fact “girl” and “boy” aren’t used in exactly the same way or with the same regularity doesn’t necessarily indicate anything bad, and certainly doesn’t automatically indicate the specific reasoning you’re attributing to it. I already explained what I think some of the reasoning behind the differences you’re seen in my initial reply and I certainly think it’s more complex and nuanced than the simplistic social politics you’re trying to apply.

HonestJoe said:

But you’ve already said you don’t see the point of having the label “Girl” on toys. If there is no point, why is it harmful either way? Wouldn't there be no point adding the label "Boy" to toys either? To establish the distinction between fair treatment and blind equal treatment, you need to demonstrate why the differences are wrong.

Nobody is doing that. Others have shown examples of the word “Boy” being used on recent products and marketing. The fact “girl” and “boy” aren’t used in exactly the same way or with the same regularity doesn’t necessarily indicate anything bad, and certainly doesn’t automatically indicate the specific reasoning you’re attributing to it. I already explained what I think some of the reasoning behind the differences you’re seen in my initial reply and I certainly think it’s more complex and nuanced than the simplistic social politics you’re trying to apply.

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The thing is, boy was used about as much as girl when I was nine years old and in the third grade. Equality of gendered term usage is what I know from an early age.This was in 1973. It seems as the times have shifted the dynamics (nuances?) of gendered word usage and in a biased fashion. The female sex seems to be put in the spotlight these days.

Kangaroo Feathers said:

He-Man [/thread]

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You called for me?

Jonathan Bailey said:

they are not being treated FAIRLY

I say give each sex equal representation but preserve the unique identity of each sex also.

For every product on the market labeled GIRL there should be one labeled BOY.

I feel the later is grossly underrepresented.

Don't treat the term BOY as if it were taboo or forbidden. Do girls fear that word like they are scared of snakes and frogs? Does new-age society fear the mere sight of the word BOY even will get their underage daughters pregnant?

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There are tonnes of toys labelled for, and marketed towards, boys, as has been amply demonstrated. Stop whining about nothing.

Jonathan Bailey said:

The thing is, boy was used about as much as girl when I was nine years old and in the third grade. Equality of gendered term usage is what I know from an early age.This was in 1973. It seems as the times have shifted the dynamics (nuances?) of gendered word usage and in a biased fashion. The female sex seems to be put in the spotlight these days.

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Nonsense. There are tonnes of toys named for and marketed towards boys, as has been amply demonstrated. Do you even have kids?

Kangaroo Feathers said:

There are tonnes of toys labelled for, and marketed towards, boys, as has been amply demonstrated. Stop whining about nothing.

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If all such things so "amply demonstrated" here all boiled down to gravy, there wouldn't' be enough to cover a biscuit crumb let alone a whole biscuit.

There's more of amps in my 9-volt transistor radio than amply here.

Jonathan Bailey said:

The male sex is totally deprived of everything. It makes me very mad. I want justice.

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Deprived of everything?

That's way over the top. Where the girls are getting favours, surely they deserve them after so many millennia of oppression?

We do need to adapt to the new world.

Jonathan Bailey said:

If all such things so "demonstrated" here all boiled down to gravy, there wouldn't' be enough to cover a biscuit crumb let alone a whole biscuit.

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Rather than sticking your fingers in your ears and denying reality, maybe go look in a toy section some time. There are tonnes of toys labelled for and marketed towards boys, IMHO, more that there are toward girls. I really don't understand what you think the problem is.

Kangaroo Feathers said:

Rather than sticking your fingers in your ears and denying reality, maybe go look in a toy section some time. There are tonnes of toys labelled for and marketed towards boys, I really don't understand what you think the problem is.

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Anyway, I'm all tuckered out from typing. Good morning to all here and to all here a good morning. It's time for my beddy bye before the first sun rays of dawn. I'm a vampire, you know!

Jonathan Bailey said:

Does the word GIRL even need to be printed on the box of a female doll in a pretty pink dress?
Apparently in 1915, a certain magazine press, The Sprague Publishing Co. of Detroit, Michigan from November 1899 to August 1941, thought the word BOY was important in the title
of their periodical, The American Boy. Pictured on the covers were men and boys doing various male things like hunting, boating, fishing, playing baseball, playing football, playing horseback polo, beating a drum dressed like a soldier, playing fetch with big dogs, being dressed like business executives in suits and ties, riding horses in cowboy hats, and flying in spaceships.

Remember, the magazine was called The American Boy, not the American Kid or the American Child.

Its seems like the male sex was more connected with HIS maleness back in older times. These times are cutting off our manhood parts and making our voices higher apparently.

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I don’t work at Mattel, so I don’t know why the line is called that. Perhaps because it’s an American company and their biggest brand (Barbie) just so happens to be a girl??

Is it needed? I dunno, I don’t work in marketing. But I can tell you now, there are plenty of lines that cater specifically for boys. That never really went away. The very vast array of Boys toys are certainly not magically vaporised just because there’s like one line (who have been catering to femininity for literally generations now) that is called American Girl. Who cares if there’s a line with the word girl in it?
Most people grow out of the “eww girl equals cooties” stage at around 8-10 anyway, so why do you care? Are you in grade school or something?
Grow up.

There are plenty of boys things that have the word boy in the title.
Hell one of the best selling children’s books is literally called
Stories for boys who dare to be different.

There are plenty of gender split and even gender neutral toys flooding the market. The existence of one with the word girl in it is no cause to go full freak out mode. Like come on now.

Liu said:

I feel rather weird when I see children's toys being marketed towards girls only or boys only. Seems discriminating to me towards those children who do not like the toys which are stereotypically attributed to their sex.

I mean, I'm a bit of a special case anyway due to being transgender, but also cisgender people to whom I brought this up in real life agreed.

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Agreed. I had like one Barbie doll. And I outgrew my mothering playtime when I was like 5.
I was often more interested in “guys toys” as a kid.
Cars, tanks, superheroes, soldiers, the aforementioned Teenaged Ninja Turtles, this weird knockoff called Streetsharks lol, transformers etc
Luckily no one around me cared enough to interfere and just let me be me.

Jonathan Bailey said:

The thing is, boy was used about as much as girl when I was nine years old and in the third grade. Equality of gendered term usage is what I know from an early age.This was in 1973. It seems as the times have shifted the dynamics (nuances?) of gendered word usage and in a biased fashion. The female sex seems to be put in the spotlight these days.

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Our rose-tinted childhood memories aren’t really evidence. Again, I’m not convinced the patterns you’re talking about were or are as clear cut and unconditional and you'd really need to establish some concrete evidence of all the relevant ways the toy market environment has evolved over the years.

You also continue to ignore my points about why the differences we see exist and how it might not be explicitly “anti-boy” and could even be “anti-girl” in underlying (if subconscious) motive. You’re basically just blindly repeating a conclusion rather than discussing a topic here.

Kangaroo Feathers said:

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That brings back fond memories of melting them,
impaling them, & blowing them up with firecrackers.

It was right.
God made them out of flammable plastic, ya know.

I'm going to make sure my son has plenty of plastic guns and ninja weapons to ensure that he doesn't become gay or impotent.

Jonathan Bailey said:

I am disheartened because the word BOY itself is grossly underused commercially while the word GIRL is shoved in my face constantly.

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If true, I suppose that means that you have detected a commercial opportunity ripe for attending.

That said... are you truly complaining that you have too hard a time finding toys for boys?

Somehow that sounds unconvincing.

Jonathan Bailey said:

The thing is, boy was used about as much as girl when I was nine years old and in the third grade. Equality of gendered term usage is what I know from an early age.This was in 1973. It seems as the times have shifted the dynamics (nuances?) of gendered word usage and in a biased fashion. The female sex seems to be put in the spotlight these days.

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I have noticed that vichy pattern, glen plaid and pied poule have been increasingly easier to find in fashion in recent months. Is that an indication of bias against plain colors?


Do you also crusade for more equalitary production of pirate, alien invaders, red scare and far-west movies?

All of those genres have diminished in popularity. Could it possibly be due to market forces?

Or, if I may be so bold, maybe your perception is not entirely accurate?

Even if it can somehow be demonstrated that there is a bias towards female representation in toys these days... how and why is that even a problem?

Are you paying some sort of "male toy tax"? Are male-oriented toys somehow clandestine or hidden? Is anyone somehow imposing a maximum quota on those toys upon you?

Jonathan Bailey said:

There is a big toy outfit, Mattel, I think, that has a line of dolls and other things called American Girl. They never thought to have any line of male toys and stuff named American Boy, oddly.

I wonder why.

Why is being born with manhood anatomy so hated, so "evil" these days?

Is women's lib trying to "get even" with us fellows?

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The line is over 3 decades old. A lot of toys for decades were outright for boys due to culture. Guns, GI Joe, Violence related toys in general. American Girl seems more of a holdover from that era thus cultural ideas. Perhaps basic interests of the parents and child in the sense that a girl wants a doll over something else.

For myself I buy toys which can be used by both sexes. Lego is a good example especially the bulk contains which have no theme. The kids will build cars, houses, planes, etc. Minecraft when they get older. I do not do this because of some "women's lib" but to promote sharing and frankly costs. I can combine Xmas gifts into a family (kids) gift thus reduce costs. Toss in no kids feels ignored when a sibling or cousin gets a special gift most will never play with.

I will also be following my brother's example by having them in co-ed sports until puberty. Two of their cousins are in the same age range sports up here. So they will be playing with family and friends without sex being an isolating factor in the sport itself. Hockey and Baseball for the most part, soccer in school. Football isn't connected to schools up here.