Most of us have a pretty strong opinion on whether or not our little girls should be showered in "princess stuff" from the moment they enter the world. Whether or not they should be encouraged to play with princess dolls, watch princess movies, dress up like princesses in sparkles and pink, etc. I've heard plenty of women pledge that their little girls will be decked out in all things princess; cultural or gender stereotyping repercussions don't factor in to their plans. But what happens if your daughter ends up feeling trapped and suffocated by all things pink and princess?
One adorable and brilliant little girl named Riley seems to have figured out the "tricks" toy marketers are using to trap her. Her dad caught her on video having an epiphany about this and giving a little speech right there in the doll aisle of a toy store ...
Check it out:
It is a good question, right? As she said, some girls want superheroes and "pink stuff," and some boys want superheroes and princesses! So why shouldn't they be given a choice from the get-go, instead of feeling like they're limited to one or the other?
But let's face it: The solution isn't going to begin in that toy aisle where Riley had her wise-beyond-her-years realization. The beast that is gender stereotyped merchandise marketing is not exactly something we're going to solve overnight.
But what we can do is just make sure our little girls know they're not limited to all things "pink" and "princess." Maybe get them a train set or superhero costumes. There are also tons of gender-neutral toys that can make up a kids' collection -- like the Goodnight Moon game my boyfriend and I got our niece ... which, I confess, we gave her in addition to a princess memory card game. She loved the Goodnight Moon game a lot more, and she's also chosen to play with a race car toy over her baby doll on many occasions. I can't help but think it's because she's been given a variety of options over the years.
It's awesome that Riley is aware of the gimmicks being played on kids these days, but at the same time, who says she -- or any other little girl or even parent out there -- has to fall for them?
What do you think about little Riley's epiphany? What do you think should be done so that kids don't feel painted into a corner to play with gender stereotypical toys?
Image via YouTube
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Comments 62
I love that she's getting it at such a young age. I think way too many boys feel like they aren't allowed to play dolls or house because there aren't any kinds of things like that marketed to boys. And way too many girls think they have to play with princess stuff and like pink and unicorns because we say that's the "girly" thing to do.
Personally, my boys love cars and trucks. But they also love puzzles and legos, and I love watching when my four year old plays with a doll and pretends he's the daddy. I encourage that. Now, I don't encourage him to pretend he's a princess, but I tell him he's a handsome prince. So maybe I'm a horrible gender-stereotyping mother there.
We're having a girl in March, and there's going to be a fight with my MIL and SIL, who think all girls should be "girly" and be into all of the things they are into. If my daughter chooses to be "girly," that's fine. But I'm not going to push her any more than I would push my boys to get into wrestling and gun play.
Staging much?
Fruit loop parents.
Boys don't buy anything pink around here.......
And everybody's just fine.
Grief.
coached.
I think it's helped my kids that we don't have regular TV. We do have netflix watch instantly. So when they do see TV they don't see the constant stream of ads telling them this is for boys and this is for girls. They still seem to gravitate more to their gender sterotyped toys but they do like toys targeted to the other here and there.
While she is cute and adorable, I wonder how much of that she picked up from listening to her parents? Little kids are quite bright at picking up conversations mom and dad have. But who knows, she might have come to this conclusion on her own. Some girls just don't like pink and princess. I was one of them! WHen I was growing up I wanted hot wheels, and legos and I had a few baby dolls and a few barbies. I loved my hot wheels, blocks, and ninja turtles! My daughter we did all neutral stuff with until she turned like 3 and a half and suddenly she wanted the pink stuff and the princess stuff, but even with that she isn't totally obsessed. She LOVES playing super hero and wears her cape (which has some pink on it but not a lot), she has a spider man bike that's black and red and she LOVES her bike, she did NOT want the pink one! SHe plays with legos with her little brothers, and LOVES to play race cars and dinosaurs. She loves watching Heman and Ninja Turtles with her brothers she also enjoys Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella. She has Princess Dresses and dress up shoes and asked Santa for lip gloss and finger nail polish. But she loves her fire fighter costumes too!
It sounds to me as though she's just repeating what she's heard her parents or someone else say. No kid that age would "get it".