Hi guys,
Mekhi's 2nd Birthday is around the corner and I've honestly been stuck on what to buy him. Whenever Mekhi goes to creche he spends time pushing the baby doll in the pushchair so I thought I would buy him one but before purchasing, I asked a few people their opinions.Why is it that when I ask people what they think about boys playing with dolls they can't justify an answer? I continuously get told "they just shouldn't play with them" and believe it or not I've been told this more than a handful of times.
What I don't understand though, is why shouldn't boys play with them?
Why can't my son roleplay something so natural ? Why should I bring him up to think only girls/women look after their offspring and that boys only play with trucks and trains?
Believe it or not, conditioning our children into gender stereotypes starts from such a young age. How many times have you gone on a toy website and seen a load of cars and trucks that are blue or green? Why are the domestic role play toys always pink or purple?
I have nothing wrong with these colours but we all know this is no accident, its to appeal to boys and girls individually.
This isn't a blog for me to justify why I have no problem purchasing a doll for my son but to simply ask anyone out there to join this conversation and tell me why members of this society think it's okay to gender stereotype our children's toys.
What do you think this tells your child?
We grow our children up and tell them that they can be anything their heart desires yet their toys can sometimes contradict this. To many people it may seem like I'm looking into this too much but I honestly think the way we bring your children up has a huge effect on the people they become as an adult and the toys they play with can also be a part of this.
Let's allow our children to play with toys that make them happy.
