DQC – Week 4 – Betsy Anderson

While reading Fröbel’s Forgotten Gift I did not get the impression that any of the 20 toys and activities he created had distinctively male or female  features. All of the toys and activities seemed to be fairly gender-neutral and over time have inspired very gender specific toys like Legos and sewing activities.

In Barbie Girls and Xtractaurs: Discourse and Identity in Virtual Worlds for Young Children, it was incredibly disheartening to read about the language disparities between Barbie Girls and Xtractuars. I remember often playing with toys aimed at girls as a child, and now I wonder what I may have missed that my brother was learning while he playing with toys aimed at boys.

What would it require for toy companies to create only gender neutral toys? Would that have positive or negative results? Maybe both? Are there potential unintended consequences of creating only gender neutral toys? Or, rather than gender neutral toys, how could we persuade toy companies to provide boys and girls with equal academic experiences through their gender specific toys?