The wonderful world of toys : playing with gendered identities

Abstract

This research was carried out to explore what type of toys parents and other adults choose for their children and whether this choice of playthings was based on gender stereotypes. We wanted to investigate how different perceptions influence the formation of gendered identities. We used qualitative research methods to collect the data. These consisted of in-depth semi structured interviews with a sample of twenty parents coming from different aspects of life. This enabled us to discuss gender issues with the parents involved in our research. The findings demonstrate that parents select toys according to certain criteria and features. This selection is widely influenced by stereotypical factors, which include culture and the parents' upbringing. However, there are some parents who are trying to challenge stereotypes and allow cross-gendered play. From our research we concluded that although some parents want to confront gender stereotypes, they find it hard because they have to face society's boundaries. The majority of parents are allowing cross-gendered play, although this tends to favour girls rather than boys. Moreover, most of the parents involved in the research do not want to purchase girl's toys for boys and boy's toys for girls. This is a clear indication that the majority of the parents believe that they are protecting their offspring's gendered roles to match society's stereotypical ideas. This study gives recommendations of what can be done to reduce gender stereotypes in the home environment. Moreover, it gives suggestions for future research in exploring gender issues.