Are gender specific toys a hazard to children? | FACTUAL FEMINIST

[@TanaNanner]

I'm a female gamer with a degree in Computer Science. I also like stuffed animals and cute clothes. I grew up with two brothers. I had Barbies and a toy kitchen, but I also had my brother's cars and video games (which soon became MY video games as well) that I played with often. And my younger brother played dress up and Barbies with me. I think we all turned out alright. The solution, in my opinion, isn't gender neutral toys, but just encouraging boys and girls to play with whatever toys they want. If your little girl wants some hot wheels, get them for her! If your little boy wants a doll house, get it for him! Encourage kids to be who they are. You don't need to make toys gender neutral to do that. I know that if I had seen "girly" Legos when I was a kid, I would have wanted them. Not because regular Legos weren't "for me," but because they would have been better for imagining the things I was interested in. Let the children decide. Have lots of options, of course, but then just let kids be kids. They'll gravitate towards what they'd prefer. I did and I didn't have gender neutral toys to save me.

[@mephistopheles4910]

It doesn't seem like these activist want choice. They want their opinions forced on others without a say. I agree with you though. Encourage kids to play with what they want.

[@TanaNanner]

Which is so very hypocritical. They don't want opinions and beliefs forced on them, but they would force them on others. Forcing children to play with gender neutral toys instead of letting them choose what they want to play with is just as bad as forcing a little girl to play with dolls when she would rather play with dump trucks. Gah.

[@mephistopheles4910]

Exactly. Some how it's fine when they do it.

[@summushieremiasclarkson4700]

It's actually surprising how strict we are when it comes to boys being feminine. I for instance, cannot help but cringe inwardly at the idea of a boy buying a barbie set or whatever, even though there's nothing wrong with it. GEnder programming works both ways, but I hadn't really thought about it that way. You make good points.

[@mephistopheles4910]

UltimateXtreme It's funny because I've played with barbies, action figures, videogames for girls and boys as a child and I still maintain strong stereotypical female traits. For example, I'm training to be an e-sports competitor. When I practice with characters, they have to have more than one outfit color because I love looking through the colors. I don't see the big deal in indulging in gender stereotypes. I mean if that's what you wanna do that's what you wanna do. Maybe the people who are wanting gender neutral everything are people who don't like the gender they are. By enforcing gender neutral everything, maybe they feel they are getting back at the demons of their past.

[@burningisis]

As usually very good points. What I dont understand is that if a little girl wants to play with a dump truck, her parents can still purchase her a dump truck. The stores dont say "you're going to give this dump truck to a little girl, you're not permitted to buy it". Same with legos. If a girl wants to build a star wars ship, her parents can purchase the ship for her. As with little boys. The boy's parents can purchase a pink doll for the boy and if he likes playing with that doll, more power to him. When I was a little girl, I wanted to play with transformers and legos. So my parents bought transformers and legos for me. However I would create living stories around my transformers and legos and invited the transformers into Barbie's house. I was never ostracized for wanting a transformer toy or praised when I wanted the barbie. I preferred the color blue over the color pink and never got any blowback from my peers or from my parents for wanting the truck over the doll. What aisle in the toy store didnt matter to me, as long as the aisle had the toy I wanted.

[@KM-hv1jg]

"Starscream, thanks for coming to my party!" "NO PROBLEM, SKIPPER!"

[@burningisis]

That's pretty much the way it happened too.

[@burningisis]

So the issue you have then is with the advertising of the toy, and that there should be both girls and boys playing with the toy in their marketing. Would that also not force a non gendered norm upon children if the marketing then directs both boys and girls to play with the pink doll or the blue dump truck? It has been the toy manufacturers experience like in the Lego example that girls prefer nurturing toys, while boys prefer aggressive toys. This was performed without gendering the toy, it just happened to be what the girls and boys gravitated to. If we market the pink doll to boys, is that not dictating that boys should play with the pink doll and that pink dolls are "boys toys"? Would little boys instead be confused when the marketing is dictating that they be nurturing when their nature dictates more aggressive behaviour? Would that not just have a case like myself, where my transformers toys were having tea parties with Barbie? Or in the boy's case where Barbie would be laying siege to a castle of "gender neutral blocks"? I believe it would be basic psychology that a gender would prefer to play with a toy of their own gender. The toy would be like them, or their ideals of themselves. By forcing boys to play with a female character, the boys lose that identification (same with girls) with the toy. So by that logic, should Mattel create more male toys? I mean they have Ken dolls, the boys are definitely able to purchase the Ken doll but Ken doesnt sell as well as Barbie. Now, why is this? Could it be that Ken is marketed more towards girls and Ken is the companion of Barbie? A Mr Woman trope as it were. Now this is possible. Could Mattel call Ken an "Action figure" and have Ken instead of having tea parties and going to the beach and driving a pink car... perhaps Ken could be flying a fighter jet, or being a knight in shining armor (I'll hold my breath for the mysogeny post that would make Barbie a damsel in distress trope). There are options out there that boys are offered to play with dolls, and there are options for girls to play with building tools. It seems as though the beef with gendered toys is the marketing. But its a slippery slope. If it is said that marketing dolls to girls and action figures to boys is dangerous for the development of children and forces a gender stereotype upon the children, then conversely it should be able to be said that marketing action figures to girls and dolls to boys should also be forcing a gendered norm upon these children as well. Let the children choose. This is done by parenting. If the boy picks the doll, fine. If the boy picks the action figure, he should not be shunned and demanded to buy the doll.

[@hikarikimikokiyoko6592]

Shhhh... Dont question pony... Just accept the religion... All hail this madness...

[@okaro6595]

Should same mixing apply to clothes also? How about mixing adult clothes with children's ones. The separation is to help the customer to make choices. Boys and girls have different wishes so it makes sense to target both separately instead of making some average product that does not fit well either sex. There is also an underlying theme about attacking the boy's toys and games. Especially anything relate to war or fighting. The idea is that everyone should p´lay with dolls. There is a strange have eat the cake and have it too attitude where masculinity is constantly under attack but they want its fruits (all the wage gap talk for example)

[@LOUDMOUTHTYRONE]

Why would the white house be telling kids what they can, or can not play?

[@KaleSerpent]

They aren't. They are just making it harder for them to play with what they want to play. I'm sure, if you made your own, they won't come to your house to tell you or them that they can't play with it. 3D Printing all the way!

[@yeetman4953]

jews

[@freespace771]

There is a saying "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world." There are forces that have been trying to shape minds from as young as possible in order to shape the society of the future. Indoctrinate someone young and you will have them for life.

[@Cam-dn9ed]

Obama is a left wing authoritarian who spergs out at the sound of disagreement, that's why. And, indeed, 3D printing all the way!

[@verylost34]

Complaining about lego being gender divisive is odd. People want a gender neutral Lego? Just get a box of regular blocks.

[@ajzeg01]

Not to mention more and more sets have been released recently that prominently feature female characters, Ghostbusters 2016 or the latest Star Wars sets, for example.

[@pollysshore2539]

This is something I have not understood. My brothers bought Star Wars sets in the 70s & early 80s but 99% of their Lego were standard sets. I played with those and Lincoln Logs.

[@itsabe90]

Even as a child I always thought Legos for both boys and girls.

[@tenacioustubbs8358]

I was a member (still am, presumably) of an online skeptics forum. When the Lego female scientist set was released, it was released on an interim basis to gauge popularity before going into full production. There was a thread posted urging people to upvote/purchase the set to inflate the popularity figures. I said no, because I didn't think we should be deliberately imposing our own ideological biases on children, and that if the children really did want these sets then they would be popular anyway. I think I was called a misogynist...

[@okaro6595]

Sounds like that is very adult thinking. Do kids rally even know what a scientist is? If you look at small boys their views of professions are very physical They often see desirable professions those where large requirement s are handled. They do not have a similar view of professions as adults do. Kids are kids and should be allowed to be kids.

[@Azmodeus87]

Definitely sounds more cynical then skeptical, to me. They pushed for an agenda, thinking that it will make their ideal come true. Meanwhile, the skeptical (at least, those that i know of) would be concerned of what stereotypes and values a kid would get from a set of toys, if any.

[@Chasee445]

Children are often gifted toys, and they are led into different sections of stores. So why would they chose something neutral? I think the scientist legos is awesome. I would like to gift it to a niece and nephew.

[@CandorHispanus]

As a leftist (skeptic, socialist) I find it most abominable that feminists drove skeptics out of the Left. They needed to, how else could they impose their new religion?

[@yummyjackalmeat]

i cant believe the government is wasting time with this shit....let the market deal with it.

[@jmcenanly1]

Given that Lego mini figures tend to use the same body, there has to be some cue as to whether the figure is male or female. Hence the wigs and lipstick.

[@Alexandra-fz7lk]

An SJW would whine that it reinforces the idea of binary gender--they'd want the characters to be gender-nonconforming or whatever crap they spew.

[@ZedrikVonKatmahl]

+Alexandra You can put a lipstick head on a construction worker body with whatever hair you want. You can put a bearded head on a bikini body with whatever hair you want. So, seriously, feminism can go die.

[@montycantsin8861]

I suggest this compromise to "typing" lego heads: The happy faces are all kinds of people, and the faces with angry, sneering or sarcastic looks, those are feminists.

[@XaadeTheBlade]

There is no way to depict non-gender-conforming. There is no neutral. Every image of neutral I've seen looks like one of the two genders.

[@MrFro89]

These idiots just want to get rid of gender altogether.

[@williamgoboff1772]

this is stupid kids will choose toys they want regardless if labeled for boys or girls why is it so hard to accept the fact yes boys and girls are equel were just diffrent with diffrent interests and that's ok

[@georgegeller1902]

I agree, but some are more equel than others.

[@destroyerblackdragon]

yeah because you see a lot of boys playing with Barbie dolls do you even remember what it's like being a kid

[@williamgoboff1772]

I have three kids two boys one girl they play with all toys my girl will play with trucks and cars and sometimes my boys will play with baby dolls they play with what they want to

[@IsomerMashups]

I played with Polly Pockets, Lego blocks, and Tamagotchis a lot as a kid. Those are the only toys I can really remember liking. I eventually found video games and that was the end of those for the most part.

[@MCHellshit]

Did you seriously ask for the Polly Pockets? Did you have some intense desire as a child to play pretend with little girl toys? Or were they foisted on you?

[@TheSilverPhoenix100]

I put a blue toy and a pink toy in front of my 1 year old nice...she took the pink one every time. Are they really trying to tell me that a 1 year old understand social stereotyping and forcing of gender roles, cause i just think my niece likes the color pink

[@ohthestoopid4962]

Yes, feminists are retards.

[@DarkAngelGuyver]

Why only blue and pink!? Why not yellow, or red, or orange? What if she liked the colour fuschia more!? God you're so privileged!

[@Dresdenstl]

Damned colorists!

[@がに-k6n]

There's a test on 9 month old babies with deformed genitals, where they put down a few boy's toys and girl's toys on the ground and let the baby make its own way towards the toys it likes. Despite them having deformed genitalia, the doctors can very accurately identify the baby's gender by observing whether it chooses to play with boy's toys or girl's toys. Some other studies have observed differences in the behavior of one day old boys and girls.

[@James-ep2bx]

you'd be surprised how much a one/two-year old pickup on. there's a legitimate possibility that you niece choose the pink one because she felt it was the one you'd most approve of her choosing due to subconscious signals you may have been giving

[@TheDarkladywolf]

I played with both boys and girls toys when I was little. And that was in the '70's. Social justice warriors need to get over themselves.

[@LordBaktor]

Instead of gender neutral toys just do gender neutral ads. Show that it's okay if a boy wants to play with dolls or a girl wants to play with action figures. And then let each child play with whatever they want.

[@TheAnnoyingGunner]

I demand an exactly equal air time of this ad showing girls and boys. If the girl wears anything pink, the ad is automatically sexist because gender stereotypes.

[@LordBaktor]

Oh, I know that, I was just talking of an ideal world.

[@Redrosewitch]

Absolutely. Though ads are always going to be aimed at a target audience. It's up to us as parents to not care who it's aimed at. If that toy is right for your child, then that's all you need to know.

[@MrZZsharka]

Unfortunately marketers and advertisers rely heavily on stereotypes to sell their products, hence market research etc.So thy like to keep stereotypes alive as the more predictable their target is the easier it is to sell. A lot of Marketers on Facebook also like to keep stereotypes alive and post stereotypical posts to spark controversy/clicks, even if they are damaging and that they themselves may not believe, but it gets them their target audience to sell to.

[@dannytourigny9403]

I agree with the idea of trying to market toys in a more gender-neutral way that doesn't shame boys or girls for not perfectly fitting into some cookie cutter idea of normalcy, however, I am also okay with toy companies leaning in a certain direction with their advertisements at least to an extent if their market research shows that a certain toy will be better received by a particular demographic. To me, I feel that it should be about finding a reasonable balance between not perpetuating stereotypes about what is or is not acceptable behaviour and interests for boys and girls in the one hand, and also still being able to have an effective profit-driven marketing campaign in the other hand.

[@elenah1828]

"Why are the Legos wearing lipstick"?Seriously, feminist will ALWAYS find something to complain about.

[@orusandornots1915]

you can never please a professional victim. Otherwise they might have to find a productive way to make money.

[@kronasoosanork]

For all they know that is a transgender lego man and by wearing lipstick he is actually smashing gender norms. The irony that they gendered a lego figure based off its appearance I am sure will be lost on them

[@KawaiiStarFairy]

I can tell exactly why With simple characters lipstick/ribbons= genitals it's simple.

[@Sannidor]

I played with bulky half nude He-Man toys and never had homoerotic thoughts about them. Boys look up to male role models, in their early development they never think: "I wish I was like this brave, talented lady when I grow up". I doubt making boy toys more 'sensitive' and girl toys more 'emancipated' will ever change that.

[@HerrMisterTheo]

You can't win with feminists. A while back there's been a bit of a controversy surrounding those little humanoid depictions on traffic lights here in Germany. Super sexist that it's always a man, right? So they added a girlish one with pigtails and a skirt. Now they're perpetuating gender stereotypes. I mean, honestly, what do these feminist/SJW people want? Who even said the existing one is a man? It could be a short haired woman wearing pants. They're so trapped in their gender stereotypes and heteronormativism that they'll go out of their way to project it onto others. They're the only ones making it a point to address the gender of some stupid manikin with a less than minimalistic design on traffic lights, yet everyone else is sexist and obsessed with gender? Yeah, I don't think so.

[@Sines314]

"Why are they wearing lipstick?" THEY'RE LEGO MINIFIGS! MOST OF THEM ARE GENDER NEUTRAL! IF YOU DON'T HAVE LIPSTICK OR LONG EYELASHES OR BEARD STUBBLE THEN THE MINIFIG HEAD WILL BE GENDER NEUTRAL AND YOU'VE ALREADY CLAIMED THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU! Dear lord I hate these people. Those LEGO Friends sets? Those weren't appealing to girls, per se... they were appealing to the girls for whom the existing LEGO sets weren't. Girls still had every opportunity to buy the existing sets. I wish they'd makeup their minds. When LEGO isn't selling pink pony playsets, they're shutting girls out of their products. When they do make pink pony playsets, they're gender stereotyping. They claim to want gender neutrality, but somehow they think that you can't be gender neutral if a little girl is 'forced' to enjoy a Star Wars LEGO set.

[@isletoflangerhans8281]

I'll bet the women who asked that were wearing lipstick.

[@ApesAmongUs]

Wearing lipstick? I bet the woman who asked that had make-up caked on with a trowel.

[@chriscormac231]

i bet you her neck was stuck in her trough, I'd say it behind her back, but my car has only half a tank of gas!

[@hvrtguys]

When I was a kid (almost 50 years ago) I thought girl toys were boring; with one notable exception. The EZ Bake oven. Jesus Christmas........ the girls can make brownies and cup cakes. None of my super hero action figures could do that.

[@Padruig9]

I wanted one of those too.

[@pollysshore2539]

Had one in late 70s. It was a double easy bake oven that came with brownies and they were horrible. Horrible! After trying their brownie and cake mix I refused to buy more. I would help my mom stir up batter and reserve a little extra for my tiny pans. 8 hours later... Haha

[@JonathanRossRogers]

When I was a kid, I learned to bake from my mom using a real oven. I also played with Legos a lot, mainly Technic.

[@dianesoltis2982]

Why do they find it so wrong for girls to be girls. And boys to be boys. My daughter loves the lego sets for girls, no interest in the boy sets. I think it is the colors. Nothing more, nothing sinister.

[@Arroway2357]

"WHY ARE THEY WEARING LIPSTICK?" My God, these people are never happy! That's it. Can we please stop pretending that they're interested in actually improving anything? All of this is nothing but a power play. They will never be satisfied. The only winning move is not to play. Henceforth, the only appropriate response to these shrill harridans is, "Piss off. If you want to see different toy/entertainment options, pool your resources and produce them!"

[@psychoh13]

The White House, the Obamas, and the feminists should all get out of people's lives and stop trying to control everything. People are not toys for them to play with.

[@wynnefox]

Being transgender, I understand the sentiment the meeting is trying to make but I know I am in a rare category and not the norm either. Though I don't have kids of my own, my ex had 2 that I spent a decade helping to raise and would get them girls toys as they were girls and would by them toys that were in the boy's section if that's what they wanted. Kids are imaginitive sorts and they will figure out how they want to play with a toy. Hell, maybe a boy wants a barbie, he may want the toy as someone for his GI Joes to rescue or take commands from... or make her into a ninja super spy cyborg barbie to beat them up.

[@MCHellshit]

Im glad you made this post. A point a lot of people seem to be missing, is that when a boy plays with girl toys, or vice versa, theres often a very good chance that the child is Gay or Transgender. Which means they are still behaving by gender norms, just the opposite of their biological one., because they are LGBT. Trying to destroy what has worked for centuries, even in animals, just to appease a small minority is short-sighted and insane.

[@Monica-ie6nn]

+MCHellshit I disagree completely.....if you have two children that are very young of different genders they are going to both play with the oldest gender toys....I preferred "boys" toys at first because of my older brother and my younger brother preferred "girls" toys because of me.....I would help my older brother build Legos and robots and my younger brother would help me decorate my barbies houses....this is normal and in my opinion very good. And when my brothers got older and started playing video games we would play sims and they loved to decorate the houses and make stories....maybe if they were not exposed to the "girls" play they would be missing a part of themselves they have now....same with me and building...if I had not played with those "boys" toys would I be in my phd of engineering now? Idk

[@MCHellshit]

***** Im not saying it makes them gay. Im just saying its a very good chance that they are. I have a gay nephew and he didnt just play with Barbies, he wanted whole sets, houses cars etc. Barbies are what he desired. Hes a teen now and totally gay. So im saying if a boy is playing with Barbies, there is a very good chance he is gay or trans. I've seen it happen

[@MCHellshit]

Monica Ok, and im guy and I have three younger sisters. They never played with my Ninja Turtles and I had zero desire to touch their toys. We still grew up together just fine. This lie that progressives are trying to push that the genders are interchangeable is total bullshit and I can only hope it starts to be exposed as such soon.

[@Monica-ie6nn]

MCHellshit i mean you have three younger sisters so there could have been more of a strong divide between male and female in your household....many studies suggest that children do not acknowledge gender norms until a certain age after they attend school...what would you say about the data collected from these studies?

[@johnnonamegibbon3580]

To be fair when I was a kid me and all my male friends would build a caste, and then write almost ridiculously complex characters off-the-cuff. _Then_ we would make them all fight for no reason and create massive battles that were *glorious*. The girls would participate in all of it except the battles. Heck, they'd even join in sometimes.

[@johnnonamegibbon3580]

The king was betrayed by his best friend? You know what this means? It means war.

[@DvNezarto]

The government decides what your kids can and cannot play with, let that sink in. 1984 was a warning not a manual.

[@Master10k2]

That book is due for a re-read. Seems more and more relevant these days.

[@cheapPixel]

Is it any good? I've heard about it, and have been considering to read it.

[@oliverpine319]

Who exactly is responsible for this rise in idiocy? I am really starting to be aggravated with this minority of people that have a PhD in their own opinion try to program everyone else's children. Somebody is brainwashing our kids. It is evil. They deserve violence and pain.

[@MightyGachiman]

+Baas Anon Go home /pol/

[@troubledteenhelp2354]

*Who exactly is responsible for this rise in idiocy?* The liberal version of those that brought us forced gay conversion therapy.

[@Kannamannaen]

Amen borabosna

[@The_Foxymew]

I think Hoff Sommers explained it once as the more radical parts of the feminist movement she was part off, but at the time was shunned for those radical beliefs, went into academia as professors and thus begun putting their radical beliefs onto the children and students.

[@oliverpine319]

I really lean more to the left nowadays except for this SJW nonsense. I might have to vote for Trump in hopes to shake things up. We need to get the free market more involved in education. I don't care if someone flat out pays for a genius to be an engineer, but no one should be paying for a gender studies degree, fat studies degree, etc. It is academia that is responsible for the number of snowflakes out there.

[@GordonSeal]

Let's not forget that not long ago, pink was a man's color, and blue was considered a female color.

[@khdayskh1314]

the answer is really fucking simple. go to a toy store with your child, and let them choose what toy they want. seeing a girl choose a pink toy and saying "no, no, no. choose the gender neutral toy." or "you don't want that. you're just brainwashed with gender stereotypes" is just as bad as telling a girl that likes transformers to choose the barbie

[@gao2323]

I work in the toy industry. It is every toy company's DREAM to create a toy that appeals to both boys AND girls- it doubles your market! The idea that a toy company would hamstring itself by purposefully alienating half of their market is bizarre and laughable.

[@theJellyjoker]

My niece has both barbies and superhero action figures (she loves the marvel movies, she wanted a "capn' 'merica"). Have you ever seen Captain America at a tea party with Barbie? This "tea party" was interrupted by a monster (stuffed dinosaur) attack that they defeated with help from a hand full of My Little Ponies, and then the all had cake.

[@angelinelinardis4499]

When I was a kid in the 70s I remember a woman was on the news in tears because she had insisted her little boy play with a Barbie doll and he turned its legs into a slingshot, killing a bird. I'm a mom of four and childcare professional, and in my experience kids like to play with all kinds of toys, but typically boys like action toys and girls prefer toys that pertain to the household, relationships and creating detail, whether in hairstyles or decor. Of course there is some cross over and I think all kids like certain toys, such as blocks. With all the things to worry about, this one is really stupid.

[@Masteroftheweb]

For my daughter's second birthday, her aunt gave her a dragon toy. One of those toddler dragons that fights the rounded knights. My daughter loves dragons, I thought it was perfect. She proceeded to open it's mouth and feed it, telling it to say "ahhh" and tucking it into sleep. I saw this as proof of my already strong belief that, children want what they want, and gender is biology.

[@BigYabai]

"Why are they wearing lipstick?" Why can't they? I was under the impression that the feminist movement was about liberating women, not forcing them to conform to dress codes.

[@orusandornots1915]

Why is this video unlisted? I only found it by following the video in the link in the article written by Christina Hoff Sommers on the "The Fedralist" .

[@roykliffen9674]

I found it through FB .... it's not even in the playlist

[@xQuinn2013x]

Huh. I found it on my subscription feed. Weird.

[@Maldito011316]

It's normal now. I think it's because it was still being publicized.

[@angelaviary444]

i don't have kids yet but when the day comes, i'll let them choose whatever toys they want to play with and hope that they are happy with their choice.

[@Aaron.Reichert]

"Do you think the White House should be..." Nope if it doesn't end with "...leaving us to manage our own lives" the answer is almost invariably going to be a resounding no.

[@simontailor2986]

I've always found the best way to buy toys for my kids or anyone elses is to simply go to the toy isles with them and wait 5minutes. Then ask "find anything you like?" if they say "no" or are uninterested, get them cash/gift cards, if they say "yes" ask for a list and surprise them with a selection from that list.

[@Dr3Mc3Ninja]

I grew up on a farm, I was a tomboy, liked more boyish toys, but still liked some girlish ones, like horse figurines, Puppy in My Pocket etc. Playing with an Ariel doll never deterred me from loving science. This bullshit narrative that toys somehow limit what a child aspires to is a crock of excrement. Also, how is Lego a boyish thing? Lego is fucking amazing, I always made stables for my horse figurines or made cars or space ships XD I also got very distressed if I did not have uniform colour, in school the other kids would just build a house using random colours of bricks with no pattern and I was pure sickened by the mere notion of that chaos XD

[@StrandedInUtah]

In the mid 90s while I was reading, "The War Against Boys", we had neighbors who were raising their son gender neutral. He loved to come and play at our house. He was 8 our boy was 4. He didn't really want to play with our son he wanted to play with our army men, blocks, dragons, pirates and toy GUNS! Once he learn I was okay with him coming over he practically lived at our house for the next 2 years. If we had not have moved he might have been with us till he graduated.

[@Sohberson]

I played with a matchbox imagining it was a space ship

[@mystic4121]

"Why are they wearing lip stick?" "Having starwars and lego friends sets is sexism" Are you kidding me?

[@heatherb9588]

But I agree with you. All you need to do is have kids to understand inherent gender

[@Loathomar]

Ya, my brother and his wife found that out real quick. They did their best to not gender bias the kids as much as they could, even getting some "girl toys", but the kids was "so boy". But I think it is best to allow kids to choose. If a boy wants to play with dolls, what it the harm? Same with girls and car toys. Don't force any toy types on any kids. But boys will still play with "boy toys" and girls will play with "girl toys" the vast majority of the time.

[@iferlyf8172]

Or just let them do whatever they want, while still knowing that there is nothing wrong with your child if they are gender normative or not...

[@Loathomar]

Sylvia Foster General the idea would be that gender has two components, nature and nurture. Everyone lands somewhere on the gender scale, naturally. This would be their "inherent gender". For the vast major, boys are natural "masculine" and girls are natural "feminine" and most parents kind that their child fits the gender stereotype even when they try to be an gender neutral as possible. I think everyone here is in agreement, that there is no need to force kids to conform or not conform to any gender roles. But are bad. Just let kids play how they want to, regardless of it is conforming or not conforming to their gender roles.

[@Loathomar]

Sylvia Foster No, gender means, in this context, "the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex". Gender does not indicate what your biological sex, but their is a strong correlation. I don't know what it would mean to "force kids into understanding inherent gender". I mean, I guess you could type to explain that "not all boys like to play with truck and some boys want to play with dolls, and that fine. You should be mean to boys just because they want to play with dolls." It that what is meant by "force kids into understanding inherent gender" cause that seems totally reasonable to me. You have a problem with that? What does "force kids into understanding inherent gender" to you?

[@Cam-dn9ed]

Heather, your suggestion is essentially advocating child abuse. Why do you want to destroy a child's cognitive and psychological development through beating them with the "gender" stick? Do you know how badly you'll screw up a kid by telling them "You can be whatever gender you want to be!"? Let the kid develop naturally for fucks sake.

[@davidkonevky7372]

"Why are they wearing lipstick???" because they are free independent women who have the rights to put whatever makeup they want on their face, y'know?

[@bellelearnsstuff]

It's all good having masculine and feminine toys just don't write FOR GIRLS or FOR BOYS on them. Let the kid decide what they want to play with. If a girl wants to play with a Barbie that's cool, if a boy wants to play with a Barbie that's cool. I think this is more what the government is talking about. People are freaking out that gender-neutral means girls are only allowed to play with building blocks and boys with dolls where that's not it at all. It means they can play with whatever they like regardless of gender. Taking those labels off toys will mean kids won't be discouraged or made fun off for playing with them. There's no harm on removing labels. It may not mean more boys play with dolls (because eqaul oppurtunity does not mean eqaul outcome) but it could mean they wont be scared of doing so if they would like too

[@userjoao]

Literally though. Also people need to stop acting like every parent is totally cool with buying their kid whatever toy they want and that kids totally have no influence about what they like by seeing what kids their age play with and what they automatically received from their parents growing up. Girls aren't biologically inclined to like barbies lol. I think this woman conveniently left out a huge chunk of the discussion

[@johngaltcsa]

Brava Ms. Sommers. I have found more often than not, that while we may differ in problem solving approaches, most reasonable, intelligent people Left & Right, agree more often than not about ideas & principles, as long as we're willing to get past labels & discuss them openly & honestly. I have been a Tea Party activist for the last 8 years and Prof. Sommers a life long Liberal activist & advocate, yet we agree on this and many of the other topics she discusses. We shouldn't be so rigid our ideologies that we can't change our minds if facts lead us in new directions. Politicians get elected by pitting us against one another - and they're very good at it - which is why we see so much division & hatred in or society today. Don't fall for it!

[@YouTubeGetsWorseAndWorse]

Thank goodness Mrs. Sommers put up that Trigger warning. My delicate virgin eyes wouldn't have been prepared otherwise.

[@robertkees6048]

When I was a kid I didn't want a girls toy, and I knew exactly what I wanted. But that was back in the age when teachers weren't activists and didn't try to confuse their students, by asking if they were unhappy with who they were and wanted to change on a daily basis. In those days parents were happy to let society have a hand in the type of toys I played with and the way I dressed. Thank God.

[@QBG]

Best line of the video: "Ignoring genuine differences between boys and girls is just as misguided as creating them where none exist."

[@offswitcher3159]

As a kid my mother wanted me zo wear pants most of the time since they are more practical (easier to wash etc) but I still insisted to wear glittery skirts snd pink dresses. But was also interested in tech and science because of my dad. Kids are multidimensional, humans are multidimensional.

[@NosterTheToaster]

Can I personally still be a girls boy toy?

[@IsomerMashups]

Of course. They're only talking about _purchased_ toys.

[@NosterTheToaster]

***** What if I am a gigolo?

[@IsomerMashups]

Stupid Statistician That's more like a rental.

[@Cooltural]

OMG!!! This is the funniest conversation i've read today!!! thank you!!! xD

[@BenjaminEsposti]

***** Soon enough us men will be begging at their feet. We'll be bought, abused, used, sold, and all that ... XD

[@sststr]

"Why are they wearing lipstick?" Yeah, these kinds of people will literally *never* be satisfied. No matter what you do to make them happy, they will instead always find *something* new to complain about. Never apologize to these people, never cave to their demands, in fact, it's really best to just ignore them entirely.

[@stagefrights]

who said that they are gonna force boys to play with dolls? no they are just taking the sign that says "girls only" on the doll off so if a boy wants to he can buy it. theres absolutely nothing wrong with it and no one is forcing parents to buy "girls toys" for their boys. I'm male and i would use my sisters easy bake oven growing up because i love to cook, but i was told it is pink and for girls and my sister was only allowed to use it. without gendered toys, if a boy wants to be a cook and sees the easy bake oven, he will start to practice and enjoy cooking. there is nothing wrong with non-gendered toys.

[@imawesomem8662]

yes their is adults feel the need to complain about any and everything

[@gcHK47]

Toys are gendered for economic reasons. It is a process called "market research". If you label the toys, you can understand what the children want. I'm sorry, but sales supersede social justice because without sales, then no toy store.

[@Chasee445]

Sales supersede social justice? It's shameful to think that values and principles are less important than mere monetary profits. Plus, as someone mentioned above, sometimes toys (videogames) become gendered because of marketing. It can go both ways. Stop labeling and let the kids decide whatever they want themselves. Let them be independent, and parents can learn how to deal with life that isn't so neatly categorized.

[@Wooplot]

I agree with most of this. But im a boy and when i was a young kid, i used to love playing with doll houses and barbie dolls.

[@OptimusSmyth]

Being a brony, it's been hard for me to say that we shouldn't have any gender-neutrality when it comes to toys but I will say that allowing gender activists and radical feminists to take over the toy industry is a very bad idea. Personally I think we're already doing fine with how we're handling making toys suitable for both genders. It may be a little gender neutral but it's not too bad and there's nothing 'sexist' about how it's being done either. Lego is making some female-centered sets or some sets that are kinda gender-neutral but still have a female presence like that scientist set, and Hasbro is making a new My Little Pony toyline called "Guardians of Harmony" featuring the ponies wearing armor, wielding swords and riding atop dragons. It seems to be working fine so far. It's a breath of fresh air for girls who want to try their hand at construction sets and boys who want to see cute ponies be badass. And the best thing is that Lego and Hasbro aren't going PC with this stuff, it's just right. So to any feminists or gender activists out there who are looking to make things more PC in the toy industry: don't. We are doing fine with toys and we don't need you mucking it up. Girls can buy Transformers if they want, boys can buy ponies if they want and it seems to be more accepting. You got what you wanted now stop with your agenda-driven demands.

[@iferlyf8172]

The only thing that would need to change is the negative reactions many people get when children do not align with their gender (especially for boys) Boys have the right to wear tutus, dance and play with dolls and ponies if they want to, letting them do that is not child abuse, but honestly most kids don't care if a toy is supposed to be for boys or girls as long as they like them even though it's true most boys and girls play differently

[@OptimusSmyth]

True, though if parents want to raise their kids to not do those things, we need to also respect parent's decisions to do so whilst telling them to also not abuse their kids if they do something they don't approve of. My parents were ok with me and my bro playing with Barbies with our sister and I remember my brother once dressed up like a girl and we even have a photo of it but we didn't even know about homosexuality or cross-dressing at that time so letting kids just do it can sometimes be the better thing to do. Telling them its' wrong is only going to make them more curious or angry.

[@thomasellison7284]

even if guys and girls got the same toys they would react differently with them as males and females are inherently different for example boys with would play with action figures in a more aggressive way

[@anthonyclark5849]

as a.... what?

[@SiggEye]

I'm still waiting for one of these sociologists to back up their claims of biological sex having absolutely *no* impact on an individual's cognitive thinking growing up.

[@Bozpot]

Interesting. My childhood wasn't gender-neutral, but I definitely preferred Lego to dolls, enjoyed playing Superheros (in fact, any 'dress-up' or 'character' type play), and was bored to death by Mummies and Daddies, or any kind of real-life keeping house stuff. However, I loved pink and my soft toy cats. I'm glad to say that nobody forced me to play with so-called girls' toys, or discouraged me from playing with so-called boys' toys. Having said all this, I agree that there are some differences between the way girls and boys play and interact. These differences are neither bad, nor good, but just part of life. As long as nobody is being forced to confirm to stereotypes, or prevented from having fun and expanding their minds through play, then who cares?

[@bcsviewer1]

At one time, I was babysitting several Dozen children, while a Women's Organization celebrated their birthday. I felt obligated to seperate the genders. The Girls decided to have a fashion parade(Their Mothers provided Lip stick and Makeup), while the boys decided to wrestle. It was true that 3 boys decided to the other side, but they came back quickly. One girl was curious as to what the boys were doing (Unfortunately, she witnessed one boy pulling another over his shoulder then pouncing on him for a pin.), so she refused to even consider participating. Surely, This shows a difference of opinion in play!

[@therose1277]

Agreed on all points! My daughter and son always played with all of their toys together, because we have a toy room rather than separate toys. Whenever my daughter played with trucks, the biggest ones would be the Daddy & Mommy, and the smallest the babies. When my son played with dolls, the princesses and soldiers were all lumped together as winners or casualties of war. They didn't care about gender, they just wanted an outlet for their imaginations. Kudos to LEGO for not giving in to the bullies!

[@paranoyd70]

I really like these Factual Feminist videos, and highly respect them. As a man, I feel like I am always walking with a target on my back that all the radical feminists have placed there. It angers me and frustrates me, as I do my very best to treat women with respect and try to view things from their perspective, but I refuse to bow down and feel any guilt over the treatment that some women receive. Its not my fault, so why am I being attacked? It was by accident that I found videos featuring Christina Hoff Sommers, who just awed me with her common sense approach to gender differences, and I am so glad that I found these "Factual Feminist" videos. I applaud Christina Hoff Sommers and I want to Thank-You for posting all these videos. They are a breath of fresh air and they really promote healthy thinking. So much good and useful information that is presented in an extremely friendly way that I can't help but enjoy. Thanks again, all your work and thoughts are greatly appreciated. :)

[@goddesschild24]

My mother bought my sister toy guns and army men and my sister loved it. but guess what? The labels were irrelevant because my mother did not brainwash my sister into thinking these toys are for boys and you are looked down upon for wanting them. The trauma , I believe, would lay at the parents feet for not teaching their kids who cares who it may be intended for you play the crap out of those toys and have fun. This society is too hung up on damn labels and they are destroying childrens minds in the process.

[@Takumi_Did_Nothing_Wrong]

I'm a boy and I used to play with Barbie dolls as well video games. I used to dress up in my mother's and grandmother's clothes as a form of play. Those are probably the reasons why I love customizing my characters in video games.

[@Pariah1974]

I'm a parent of 3 boys and I have never encouraged or discouraged them to play with particular toys. At grandma's house they have access to all types of toys for girls. And you know what? They ignore them. They just don't play with them.

[@JackHaveman52]

I grew up on a farm, out in the middle of nowhere and had no one to play with except my sister and brother. When I was 3, my sister 2 and my brother was still crawling, my cousin would come visit with the family. She was 3, like myself, and all she wanted to do was play house. I didn't want to play but she needed me to play the father and my brother was supposed to be the baby and my sister was to be one of our kids. I refused by she'd run crying to her dad that I wouldn't play house with them. He'd force me to play and my parents would tell me to smarten up and play nice. If it was summer, first chance I got, I'd made a run for it. I'd hide in the barn and wait for her to get tired of looking for me. I remember peeking out between the boards of the haymow and watching her walking around outside the house, crying and calling out for me, but I wasn't leaving my hiding spot. Eventually the adults would start looking and I'd have to come out. My parents would get mad and send me to my room which suited my just fine. This happened almost every time they visited. I knew what I liked and it wasn't playing house.

[@Athlynne]

It's all so silly. Kids should play with whatever kinds of toys they like. As a little girl, I played with dolls and had tons of Barbie stuff, but I also liked toy cars and army men. My parents let me play with whatever toy made me happy.

[@BNL07604]

As a little girl, I played with both gendered toys and... nobody cared!! In fact, I think it's empowering for girls (who want to) to play with boys' toys and say, "I'm playing with boys' toys!!" And vice versa.

[@mrspeigle1]

so glad you're back to doing factual feminist, I was missing your content. and now the White House should not be promoting gender neutrality in toys, this trend has only been around for a few years and we have yet to see the long-term effect this could have on adults who were raised in this manner.

[@SunajVon]

STOP INTRUDING ON OUR LIVES! Good lord, when I was a child I played with ponies, Barbies, G.I. Joes, Ninja Turtles, dump trucks, easy bake ovens, and swords! Let kids decide what is appealing to THEM. Screw you Target, I'm boycotting you.

[@latebreakfast8911]

I'm scared how people who want to promote the idea that every person is unique and should not be forced into something by trying to realizes such project are the same exact people who say "No! You can't let the girl or boy with the toys the genuinely want to play with." Good point on Milleanials not having kids.

[@goodgirl140]

When I was a kid, I played with dolls and easy bake oven. When my sister was a kid, she liked to play with cars and Lego's. Today, I'm in school for finance, and she's in school for music. Moral of the story: stop stressing over what your kids are playing with.

[@NKA23]

While I would be fine with a hypothetical daughter of mine playing with a toy dumb truck as if it was a baby doll (feeding it, putting it to bed, comforting it, when it "cries",etc.) I would still ask myself, why I hadn't bought her a doll in the first place.

[@misterarchivist1634]

"Ignoring genuine differences between boys and girls is just as misguided as creating them where none exist." The simple beauty of the Truth

[@dmark1922]

I was fascinated with dollhouses as a boy, but not with dolls (intact, dolls scared me!). At age 6 we moved into a house that happened to have a pile of bricks in the back yard. I immediately started building a miniature city. So it turns out it was just the architectural aspect that interested me, though some might have been concerned about my interest in the dollhouse as being "non-boy". In any case, I believe kids will eventually find their niche, and giving them "inappropriate" toys is just one way that they learn to identify themselves. What are we trying to protect them from??

[@megganking2595]

I had a difficult childhood in some respects and was raised by my brothers. I played with all the same things they did and did all the same things they did. I learned how to fix the car(s), play football, skate board, I watched all the boy cartoons..and I enjoyed it all. However, I wanted to also play with the doll house I had and the Barbies, I was jealous of all of the girly toys my few female friends had. I had few female friends and still do because I have a hard time interacting with females. I always acted like I didn't care or want to play with "that stuff" because 1) I had no clue what to do, 2) my brothers would make fun of me and I wanted to always impress them and 3)I just sat there felling all of these weird negative feelings and never understood any of them...not until I got older anyway. I guess what I'm getting at is how important it is for boys and girls to play with toys made specifically for them based on biology. It's needed for the kind of work going on in our brain that is normal for each of us.I had to have two daughters to begin to learn what it was to be female and love being a female. All of this "there is no gender" crap pisses me off.

[@Kaffemarcus]

When i grew up there was just "the toy ile". There where never any markings saying "this is for girls" and "this is for boys". The boys still went for the transformers and the girls for the barbies, without any help from anyone.

[@MrGevander]

My wife and I REFUSED to get anything pink for our daughter (before she was born and as an infant). My wife's family complied with our request to also not get her pink clothes. My family did not. Her bedroom and toys were as "gender neutral" as we could make them. Fast forward seven years. Her bedroom is pink. For the past four years, when she is allowed to pick her own clothes to buy at the store,she wants pink, purple (various shades) and white. The toys she picks for herself are "girly". Her playtime is mostly verbal - toys talk to each other and her. When we got her a "diorama" set with landscape pieces, modern animals, and dinosaurs, she played with the animals and dinos and ignored the landscape. Summary: Most girls are "feminine", most boys are "masculine". Offer them the CHOICE and let them develop in the way they want.

[@Laurabones79]

I don't understand why we don't just teach kids to be accepting of difference. Surely that has to be a lot easier than 'creating gender neutrality'. I don't even understand how that's an actual thing either. Making everything The Same, is not the answer!

[@Colin_Drawz]

I honestly love the calm and well informed way she made her points in this particular video. I'm by no means an expert on Christina, but I think more people on both sides need to take her approach when it comes to these discussions. to me well calm well informed discussion trumps passionately vitriolic attacks (when done outside of satire, there's a time an place for everything after all)

[@bjornstromberg4481]

I used my legos to build a picturesque rural house with flowers on the patio. But it was set on a swivel mount and the roof would flip open to reveal a rocket launcher :D

[@jasonschlierman412]

I've worked a Christmas at Toys 'R" Us, a year at a smaller toy store and about eight years off and on as a teacher's aide in special education. In all that time, I've been subject to a lot of the play patterns of children, both older and younger, and what I have seen is that 9 times out of ten, children naturally on their own play with the kinds of toys that normally are associated with their gender, especially the younger ones. If they did go after a "gender neutral toy" it was normally marbles, at least during my time at the smaller toy store. There was the random boy who really liked playing with dolls or the girl who really like trucks, but often that play even felt more traditional is how they played with those toys. This is just another in a long list of examples in how many SJW activists and the Obama Administration are out of touch with reality and very much focused on the wrong issues. We live in a world were fewer people are going in trades like plumbing and carpentry, full-time jobs are becoming harder to find for many Americans, homelessness and poverty are on the rise and mounting debt is holding people down, and yet the Federal Government found it necessary to devote an entire summit on how to get kids to play with the wrong toys? Frankly, this is why our nation is on the decline. It greatly concern me as it should any rational, passionate American.

[@carlosalmonacid8958]

Yeah, I always found it odd how no one acknowledged the NEW LEGO Friends adverts have both boys and girls playing with them.

[@spacepirateivynova]

"Why are the girls wearing lipstick?" what is is when I, as someone who is mostly able to be identified as 'male' wears lipstick and eyeshadow and makeup I get strange looks? This should be pretty obvious to most people. And yes, growing up when I wore makeup it was mostly to try to challenge most people's ideals of gender roles, but lately it seems to have backfired just a bit :D Being a gay/genderqueer alpha is so hard sometimes :D

[@FaceD0wnDagon]

I think we have some good gender neutral toys already. Remember the old classic, the teddy bear?

[@francisthechick13]

I remember getting an Batman action figure from the boys' toy section and the cashier asking "isn't that a boy's toy?". My mom was ashamed so she made me leave it. Just sharing a memory.

[@joeburgess2464]

I'm a father of two boys. My 9 year old is interested in the workings of the internal combustion engine. Making this larger he stages races with toy cars, watches demolition derbies, monster truck shows, and alike. My 12 year old watches documentaries on North Korea, aquatic life, and Top Gear. Those documentaries are the closest they come to interpersonal relations. I let my children be who they want to be and they're happy that way.

[@TessaBain]

The government shouldn't be promoting anything. They're supposed to serve the people, not the other way around.

[@jsonaut]

Great video as always, I literally couldn't agree more. My youngest daughter sometimes plays Saints Row and cruises around in her purple sports car in sexy outfits and make-up, having a great time. Let kids do what they want to do, they're individuals.

[@revjim77]

My daughter loves to play with Legos, action figures, and trucks. What she never mentioned, in all 10 years of her life, is that there are girl's aisles or boy's aisles at the toy store or Target. Isn't it equally sexist to assume that just because all the La La Loopsies and Barbies are in one aisle and that all the Marvel/Star Wars toys are in another that they are automatically meant for either girls or boys?

[@cafeta]

This is the ONLY feminist I trust and listen.

[@GlobalMVR]

Thank you very much for promoting facts vs hypes. This is a question and not specifically about this particular video. There's a series of P&G ads (Pantene & Always) on KZbin that is being used a lot in corporate diversity and inclusion training as fact about unconscious bias against women in the workplace. Was wondering if you have comments or have made a video about these ads that imply biases against women in the workplace? Do you know if the claims made are based on actual studies?

[@JoelAdamson]

Not only have the young people not had kids and seen how they play, they have been to college, and been told that everything is BS.

[@Cameron-hu6hg]

I like how toys are being sold in the same sections without "girl" or "boy labels, that's fantastic, that eliminates biases and 'gender norms', and should be promoted by The White House. What isn't okay, is activists getting angry at what toys are being sold. As long as the child can make the decision themselves, let them be happy with the toy! It should be the child's choice, not the parents, or the adults with no kids.

[@thebigbadtatt5806]

I started buying my niece superheros because i was sick of her getting the pretty pink fairy princess bullshit and she loved them, however when I asked if she wanted more she said yes but she only wanted girl superheros no boy ones it had to be girls, so even when you try and give them something a little more gender neutral they find a way to make it more gender specific

[@NoName-ls3hd]

the best way BY FAR to get girls interested into building is The Sims games. It mixes building and relationship/family stuff together. Me and my sister played that game all the time and now my sisters in college to become an architect. I would spend hours building houses and businesses and decorating them

[@xxexexex]

I don't understand. Girls weren't playing with legos as much as boys so they made a product that might fit better with girls? And now girls are playing with legos? And people are mad? What?

[@Seele2015au]

There was a recent British programme looking into the issue, and did an experiment on those who had never seen toys before: chimpanzees. When a pile of toys were placed at their spot in the safari park, they discovered the males went for the "male toys" while the females went for the "female toys", indicating gender differences are hard-wired. Along with the Paley and Lego studies it indicates the feminists are confusing - perhaps deliberately - cause and effect. Using their existing power as leverage, politics have to comply.

[@mysticpanckae8390]

Shouldn't our government be more concerned with the huge sum of money that mysteriously went missing? That's a bit more important than what toys kids play with.

[@merinsan]

I remember when we were young boys, playing with Barbie. We essentially turned Barbie into a female pro wrestler and after about 30 minutes, just a torso.

[@CaitlinKoi]

People complaining about the fact the female scientists are wearing lipstick is nit-picking to the extreme. They've got a microscope and some Petri dishes and they are going fishing for problems that they can complain about. my thoughts on gender have been going back and forth for the past several years as many of the people I knew were in some way gender-nonconforming. My three dearest closest friends are all trans men. I think the bottom line comes down to something that you mentioned, that we should be accepting if a girl does want to play with boys toys or vice versa, but there's not really anything inherently wrong with gendered marketing unless there is some sort of inequality and how the toys are priced.

[@scottthewaterwarrior]

While I am in favor of getting rid of the boys/girls signage in toy stores, it is really just because I feel organizing the store by toy type would make more sense.

[@Anglo-Saxon9]

My parents told me I had the option to get girls toys but I never got any. I stayed with construction toys and stuff like that because that is what I wanted.

[@magdalenapetrovic2925]

The issue is not “girls are not playing with trains” its that we don’t let kids choose what they want. If a girl wants to play with trains, let her! If she wants a doll, let her! If a boy wants to play with superheroes, let him! And if he wants to play with princesses, then let him. We always forget that children don’t impose stereotypes. Children want what they want. I had a mix of barbies and cars. I loved both equally, and grew up to be a very feminine woman. Playing with cars didn’t make me “boyish”, just as letting a boy play with a barbie would make him gay or unmanly. That is the issue we should focus on; how we perpetuate stereotypes when all kids wanna do is play.

[@cortster12]

2:26 Finally, the real issue. I'm a millennial, but I've had eight nieces and nephews throughout my life. All of which acted according to gender roles from a young age. All of them. No exceptions.

[@willerwin3201]

In general, if a headline is a question, then the answer is "no."

[@squirrelgadget3498]

As a girl who enjoyed playing with traditionally boy centered toys, I think people should just let the kid choose the toys they wanna play with. There will be boys who want to play with girl's toys and girls who want to play with boy's toys, and it's their preference, but for the most part, kids like playing with toys that traditionally align with their gender and that ain't bad at all.

[@ezewong290]

I've taught children of of all ages and the gender differences are stark. Anyone who believes that gender preferences are "socialized" honestly just needs to spend time around young children. Some of the girls of my class were talking about pokemon and the boys were as well. Naturally I asked what aspects of pokemon they liked (individually). The boys were all about the fighting, the battles, and the abilities. They kept talking about "Oh Abra counters fighting types, etc" The girls like the cuteness, the collecting, and the "pet" aspects of the game. They kept talking about stuffed animals they wanted to collect or how Pikachu was so cute. Even though pokemon is pitched to both demographics the same way, they still do not interpret or enjoy them the same way.