IHSS Blog: A Transition Further Into Gendered Toys

 Blog: A Transition Further Into Gendered Toys

When I was younger there was, and still is, a very popular brand of stuffed animal called Beanie Babies. The toys come in two styles. The first is the original/vintage which are rare and worth a lot, they are simplistic and gender neutral. The second are the newer styles, these toys have enlarged eyes, sparkles, and colors usually associated with girly things. Only recently has the TY company released a line of toys marketed towards younger boys, however these toys are not stuffed animals but rather sports based stuffies. 

When I was young I first came across the original toys at my grandparents’ house. My grandma had a collection of them that I would always play with. I liked them because they were small and I was quite fascinated with the animal kingdom. As I grew a little older around the age of four TY slowed the production of the classics and suddenly started a mega production of the new toys. I saw them everywhere I went, small, glittery, big eyed, stuffed animals that every little girl seemed to have. When I went to my friend’s houses they had collections of them, this made me feel pressured to get some too. The problem with this was that I wanted to get them because everyone else had them. I didn’t want them because I liked them, so when I did get them I only got two, the most realistic ones that I could find. This is an example of how gendered toys can affect children at a young age and how they can introduce them to stereotypes. I felt that because I was a little girl I needed to get these toys further enforcing the gendered toy stereotypes. 

 Reflecting back this was a constant struggle for me. I often preferred to play with toys intended for boys, nerf guns, cars, dinosaurs, and more, but society kept telling me that I was supposed to play with barbies, glitter, and cooking sets. This is the harm that gendered toys can have. They can force children to fall in line with an unseen “rule” that they don’t want to follow. 



TY Toy Company. Ty Store, TY Toy Company, 2020, https://shop.ty.com/.

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