The Great Girl / Boy Toy Divide

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When I had my first child, a baby boy, I used to think that his boyish traits were just inbuilt. He wanted to bash things, chase balls and was generally a bit grrr. You draw your opinions from your own experiences and from my experiences, coupled with what other people told me, led me to believe boys and girls are just different right from birth.

Now, after having two boys, I have a little girl and people say things like 'I bet that's a different for you' and 'girls are so different' but in truth I have found her to be pretty similar. She is just as 'grrr' and loves doing all the same things. In fact if my eldest son was the same age as her and you dressed them the same you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. What if we're judging children based on their gender rather than their Character?

Most mums I know are open minded in their child's choice of toys. There are boys who want to play with dolls and girls who want to play with trucks. My nephew has dressed as a ballerina when he wanted to and last week my niece was running around dressed as Ironman. If they don't see the gender divide then why should we? Dads seem to have more of a problem letting their sons play with dolls. Maybe this is from their own experience of being called a sissy.


Ballerina Rag Doll

When customers ask me for advice on what to buy as a gift for a boy or girl of a certain age. I have to show them a gift that will meet their expectations. Rag dolls for a girl and trucks for a boy for example but what if we can scrap all these preconceived ideas that different genders need different toys and just buy a toy that we think the child in question will love.

Green Toys Ferry Boat & Cars


This Christmas I'm going to try avoiding stereo types and just buy what ever I think someone of that character would like.

Comments

Adi shaikh said…
kids ride on toys Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I'll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon. Big thanks for the useful info.
3 August 2021 at 11:14
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