IHSS Blog: Tonka Truck

 Wyatt Quillin

Mr. Roddy

IHSS

4 September 2020

Tonka Trucks and My Experience

    When I was age 3-7, my favorite toy to play with was a yellow toy truck called a Tonka Truck. The truck was yellow and black, which is a combination that is usually associated with construction or danger, which is usually associated with men or boys. I was very young when I had the toy and I don't remember specifically going out and buying it, but from the research I did, the advertisements are focused on construction, off road driving, and driving through dirty things like mud. The colors and fonts used in the ads evoke thoughts of metal and machinery. It is most definitely advertised towards boys, and the Tonka motto is "be Tonka tough." I was too young to really worry about the gender norms behind toys, but I knew that Tonka Trucks were made for boys to use, and all of my friends had them too. The girls I knew back then never played with anything besides dolls and little makeup brushes and such. This shows that we have been taught to only be interested in toys focused towards our specific genders, and that playing with toys made for the opposite gender is seen as odd or even wrong. 

    It's also interesting how our self awareness changes as we age. Back when I was still playing with my truck, I didn't really care what color it was or if it had hearts on it. But as I aged I slowly saw that boys weren't supposed to like pink toys or toys made for girls. I became more self aware about my image to other people and I didn't want to seem like the odd one out so I stuck with playing with toys that were focused towards me. (though I didn't know they were) Most people don't want to stick out in a crowd or be the "abnormal" one, and when we see others our age and gender doing a certain thing, we tend to follow them. This isn't always a situation of having something others don't and being seen as weird, it could also be why we choose to go out of our way and wear what's popular with our piers. The segregation of toys is extreme, and it hasn't changed in decades. There are always isles in stores that are focused towards girls, and others that are focused towards boys. I feel that we should normalize children being able to choose the toy they want to play with no matter the toy or the color, and that they should be able to experiment with what they personally like the best, instead of what their parents choose for them.

    

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Civil Rights Issues in Syria - Alex Gross

  Alex Gross Mr. Roddy IHSS 6 April 2021 Civil Rights in Syria Syria, the densely populated country in the Middle East which is home to over 17 million people is plagued with a plethora of different Civil Rights issues and violations. The issues in Syria range from unlawful killings and assassinations, to excessive deployment of government forces. There have also been hundreds of articles in the past few years surrounding the Syrian refugee issues, which says a lot about the status of corruption in the country. An article from the Atlantic Council that was published yesterday (April 5th, 2021) goes into detail about another aspect of the difficulties of life in Syria; the economic struggle. The citizens of Syria are forced by the government to pay ridiculous amounts of money to exit and enter the country, renew passports, and quarantine due to covid. In-turn, this causes the citizens to be less likely to leave the country, despite its many issues. This problem is exacerbated by ...
Read more

Arkansas' Anti-trans bill

  Isa Pedersen  Mr. Roddy  IHSS 9 April 2021 Arkansas’ Anti-trans bill  For centuries the trans community was discriminated against. But recently Arkansas passed a bill that highly affects trans rights and healthcare. The bill states that trans individuals are not allowed to get gender affirming surgeries. This included hormones such as testosterone and androgen, as well as puberty blockers. This is said to be one of the most detrimental bills passed against the trans community in ages. Not only this but some states have already passed bills that don't allow trans kids to take part in sports or competitions. These states include Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Tennessee and Alabama are already starting to get the same bill passed. Texas is on the list that is assumed to follow Arkansas and pass the bill as well. Certain cities were able to make bills that heavily discriminate against the trans community, but states have never passed bills this big before. The...
Read more

The Pandemic has Been Bad for Civil Rights - Andy

Andy Walsh Mr. Roddy IHSS 6 April 2021 The Pandemic has Been Bad for Civil Rights  The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a lot of challenges to today’s society. However, in Latin America it is an even bigger issue. Across all of Latin America, the health crisis has been accompanied by civic disruptions causing the lack of communication and justice in civic spaces. Widespread quarantines and lockdowns have put a lot of stress on the civic system of all countries. However, countries with high poverty and large homeless populations have had trouble enforcing rules related to COVID. The lack of enforcement and communication have caused many issues in these countries. “ The measures taken in response to the pandemic have restricted civic spaces at local, national, regional and even international levels. The situation is alarming to the international community in general, and to the international rights community in particular.” (Andrés Serbin ). COVID has brought the need for governments...
Read more