Essay On Gender Neutral Toys

Equal but different: gender-neutral toys and gender differences in childhood

In her article “You can give a boy a doll, but you can't make him play with it” that appeared in The Atlantic on December 6th 2012, author Christina Hoff Sommers focuses on presenting the views of the Swedish community whose members feel strongly for obliterating sexual stereotypes and making toys gender-neutral, as well as the logistical and ethical problems that come with it. Sommers, a feminist herself, is a strong supporter of equality, something she has made obvious throughout her article as well as her life’s work, but criticizes the extreme cases of “equality” supporters and feminists who completely reject any gender differences, drifting away from the actual

Notably, Top-Toy, one of the largest toy retailers in Northern Europe, was pressured to introduce a new, gender-neutral toy catalogue. Sommers emphasizes that the debate in Sweden has grown so strong that it has even reached the educational system. Particularly, she refers to Egalia, a state-sponsored pre-school in Stockholm, that rejects any gender differences and thinks of everyone as equal. All toys, fairy tales and activities at Egalia are stereotype-free. Author Nathalie Rothchild, proponent of this new type of school, claims that gender-coded toys and free playtime causes exclusion and bullying, therefore exhorting other schools to follow Egalia’s example. The Swedish Green Party agrees that this should be the norm and it has suggested implementing “gender-wachdogs” (par.3) to make sure these new rules are applied. Furthermore, psychologist Virginia Valian, supporter of Swedish-style regenderization, arguing that we should find alternative ways to overcome biological gender differences, wrote in the book Why So Slow? The Advancement of Women, “We do not accept biology as destiny... We vaccinate, we inoculate, we medicate… I propose we adopt the same attitude toward biological sex differences” (qtd in Sommers, par.8). It is made obvious that certain groups of people think that being

She believes that boys and girls naturally have different interests and are drown to sex-stereotyped play so Egalia is a concept that simply can’t function. Similarly, she argues that it’s “unethical and undemocratic” (par.10) to force children to experiment with different toys and play styles. Swedes actually constrain kids in their effort to free them, she emphasizes. Additionally, she confirms that boys’ tough and violent play as well as girls’ gentle and peaceful play has a basis in biology, and it’s proven by hormonal manipulation experiments and the Hasbro toy playhouse experiment as well. So resisting gender differences and thinking of them as disease is unacceptable. What Swedish mother Tanja Bergkvits said, accurately illustrates the authors’ main point: “Gender neutrality is not a necessary condition for equality.”