Gender and toys

[orbea847]

I am writing a paper for my gender and sexualities class and wondered what everyone thought.

I was curious how much does effect does toys have on gender? What do you think?

[BeardedOne]

I am writing a paper for my gender and sexualities class and wondered what everyone thought.

I was curious how much does effect does toys have on gender? What do you think?

Are we talking sex toys here? Or Matchbox cars and Barbie dolls (And yes, we've seen the pix of the Barbie dolss being used as sex toys, but that shouldn't count)?

[orbea847]

Toys such as children toys sorry if there was any confusion

[trish]

the effect may go both ways. i certainly think that the gender of child chooses the toys they play with and the toys shape the psyche of the child. parents and other toy buyers (aunts and uncles etc.) do a lot of choosing and shaping too. also the way the child learns to play with the toys she or he has. the "rules" of play are learned from other children...brothers, sisters and playmates from daycare, school and the neighborhood.

i chose stuffed animals, pink cd players, butterfly nets and microscropes in spite of the trove of toy guns i got every christmas and birthday.

[BeardedOne]

Toys such as children toys sorry if there was any confusion

No prob. Remember where you are. :D

I don't think the toys themselves have an affect, but there are some cases where gender affects what we play with (And certainly what our parents/other people gave us to play with).

From the male point of view, I grew up playing with the usual suspects: Matchbox cars, tools (And later power tools - My first being those cool miniatures in the bright yellow tool boxes with the battery packs), toy soldiers, etc. I recall dating some wimmin/dykes that had a fond affection for many of the same toys (And who collected such things as Matchbox cars and Craftsman tools in later life).

An observation: I spent some time with an intersexed individual a while back and he collected Breyer horses. He pointed out something that I wasn't aware of at the time, but have seen since, and that was that it was typically girls that collected 'toy' horses. As he was born predominately female, and only morphed to his male characteristics later in life, there is some supposition that this was more of a nurture vs. nature thing, but he truly adored those horses.

If you're up to it, please post your finished paper as I, for one, would be sincerely interested in reading your views.

[BeardedOne]

parents and other toy buyers (aunts and uncles etc.) do a lot of choosing and shaping too.

So true. And riddle me this: Was not GI Joe the first truly 'gay' toy? I mean, c'mon, sure he looked tough and carried guns and machetes, but jeezlouise, we were pulling the pants off of a guy before we were ten years old. :shock:

:wink:


also the way the child learns to play with the toys she or he has. the "rules" of play are learned from other children...brothers, sisters and playmates from daycare, school and the neighborhood.

This can vary a lot by the child, as well. An only child, sans siblings, can develop exponentially askew of the kid next door that has a half-dozen brothers and sisters. To the next level are the ones that don't integrate into the society as a whole (Be it racial, intellectual, growth, etc. variations in their makeup).


i chose stuffed animals, pink cd players, butterfly nets and microscropes in spite of the trove of toy guns i got every christmas and birthday.

Do you still have those guns? Can I have them? They'll put your eye out! :lol:

[orbea847]

I will do my best to post the paper, it is supposed to be 4-6 pages.

You bring up a good point about inter-sex. I recently saw a documentary Dr. Money and how he did studies on one child who had a horrid accident while getting circumcised. The boys parents took him to Dr. Money after they heard his lecture and Dr. Money preformed srs on the child. Dr. Money believed nurture would override nature.

However, when the youth entered puberty he knew he wasn't a girl. Dr. Money did report later on the faults that could have affected the outcome why nurture did not work.

[Night Rider]

the effect may go both ways. i certainly think that the gender of child chooses the toys they play with and the toys shape the psyche of the child. parents and other toy buyers (aunts and uncles etc.) do a lot of choosing and shaping too. also the way the child learns to play with the toys she or he has. the "rules" of play are learned from other children...brothers, sisters and playmates from daycare, school and the neighborhood.

i chose stuffed animals, pink cd players, butterfly nets and microscropes in spite of the trove of toy guns i got every christmas and birthday.

i agree with all of that so it saves me having to pluck a few thoughts from my mind..nice one trish

[BeardedOne]

However, when the youth entered puberty he knew he wasn't a girl. Dr. Money did report later on the faults that could have affected the outcome why nurture did not work.

Yah, this is a battle that rages on through many levels on this forum and beyond. My friend would frequently say "The doctors always guess wrong" when referring to the corrective surgery that often takes place on infants with ambiguos genital identity.

I don't even want to imagine "...a horrid accident while getting circumcised." :shock:

From a song written to commemorate the GRS of a friend of mine:

Like a super Moyel,
He turned a boy into a goil...

[Trans Mission]

I will do my best to post the paper, it is supposed to be 4-6 pages.

You bring up a good point about inter-sex. I recently saw a documentary Dr. Money and how he did studies on one child who had a horrid accident while getting circumcised. The boys parents took him to Dr. Money after they heard his lecture and Dr. Money preformed srs on the child. Dr. Money believed nurture would override nature.

However, when the youth entered puberty he knew he wasn't a girl. Dr. Money did report later on the faults that could have affected the outcome why nurture did not work.

Whoa, are you saying some Moyle fucked up a circumcision so violently bad that the logical solution was to remove the sex organs entirely and hope the boy would live happily ever after as a Woman? Dr. Money can thank all his lucky stars I wasn't that boy, cause I'd fucking kill him.

Then I would go to prison and every inmate would be talking about the guy with a cunt. Fuck you just can't win in a situation like that.

[BeardedOne]

Damn. I spelled Moyle wrong?

[orbea847]

Nature vs. Nurture debate will always be debated. I personally think everyone has a different percentage combination of the two that shapes the person.

I don't believe in Behavioral Theories. The definition of theory does not match. I like to think of it more as a probability due to the small percentage that actually fit the equation.

The best behavioral theories are only 25-30% accurate/effective.

[orbea847]

Heres two links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Money

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Reimer

[Trans Mission]

Heres two links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Money

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Reimer

Man, I feel totally bad making a joke about it now. That poor fucking guy, I can't imagine how impossible that was to live with for even 38 years.

What gets me, is it said his penis was destroyed, holy fuck that is a major malfunction. My heart absolutely breaks thinking about what this guy had to go through.

[hondarobot]

I will do my best to post the paper, it is supposed to be 4-6 pages.

You bring up a good point about inter-sex. I recently saw a documentary Dr. Money and how he did studies on one child who had a horrid accident while getting circumcised. The boys parents took him to Dr. Money after they heard his lecture and Dr. Money preformed srs on the child. Dr. Money believed nurture would override nature.

However, when the youth entered puberty he knew he wasn't a girl. Dr. Money did report later on the faults that could have affected the outcome why nurture did not work.

There's actually a guy named "Dr. Money"? Good grief. That guy probably gets laid ten times a day. What a jerk.

:x

[TrueBeauty TS]

Toys such as children toys sorry if there was any confusion

Oh............ Never mind.



:oops:



.

[SarahG]

Toys such as children toys sorry if there was any confusion

I think toy makers would be happy if they could produce a toy that proves to be a hot seller- like tickleme elmo in 99 hot seller, while appealing equally to both girls and boys.

It seems that girls and boys for whatever reason tend to chose different toys to play with, hence why genderless toys don't become empires in sales over many years the way say, Barbie has. Its a house hold name, everyone knows of it, its been around for decades and there are still some toy stores with an isle just for it.

That all being said, my mom is a very dykish ftm cd and I know the vast majority of her toys were stereotypical guy toys because when I was growing up my dad was too cheap to allow the purchase of new toys (he didn't see the need as he never had any when he was little) so all we had was what she had when she was little plus what other people got us as presents around xmas, birthdays etc. I wasn't big on them and wouldn't use them, granted i was such a book & computer nerd that I didn't "get" the purpose of most toys after like age 6, before that if i wanted to play with toys, I played with the girls in the nieghborhood with their stuff at their place.

I do think toys are used to help perpetuate gender roles, in my first grade class there was a girl play/toy area and a guy play/toy area and the difference between them was that the girl area was all kitchen related toys, small plastic ovens in pestel colors, stuff like that whereas the boys got a sandbox, some plastic trucks and so on. It really didn't get simplier than "see, girls are supposed to be in the kitchen working" type of mentality. As to myself, after the first week of school in 1st grade my teacher forbid me to play with toys during playtime, I was just given additional school work in its place since she didn't like the fact I tended to play with the girls and that was "wrong" :roll:

[Trans Mission]

Toys such as children toys sorry if there was any confusion

I think toy makers would be happy if they could produce a toy that proves to be a hot seller- like tickleme elmo in 99 hot seller, while appealing equally to both girls and boys.

It seems that girls and boys for whatever reason tend to chose different toys to play with, hence why genderless toys don't become empires in sales over many years the way say, Barbie has. Its a house hold name, everyone knows of it, its been around for decades and there are still some toy stores with an isle just for it.

That all being said, my mom is a very dykish ftm cd and I know the vast majority of her toys were stereotypical guy toys because when I was growing up my dad was too cheap to allow the purchase of new toys (he didn't see the need as he never had any when he was little) so all we had was what she had when she was little plus what other people got us as presents around xmas, birthdays etc. I wasn't big on them and wouldn't use them, granted i was such a book & computer nerd that I didn't "get" the purpose of most toys after like age 6, before that if i wanted to play with toys, I played with the girls in the nieghborhood with their stuff at their place.

I do think toys are used to help perpetuate gender roles, in my first grade class there was a girl play/toy area and a guy play/toy area and the difference between them was that the girl area was all kitchen related toys, small plastic ovens in pestel colors, stuff like that whereas the boys got a sandbox, some plastic trucks and so on. It really didn't get simplier than "see, girls are supposed to be in the kitchen working" type of mentality. As to myself, after the first week of school in 1st grade my teacher forbid me to play with toys during playtime, I was just given additional school work in its place since she didn't like the fact I tended to play with the girls and that was "wrong" :roll:

While I think the premise of shaping ones orientation is frail and illogical, I must submit to the fact that influence builds stereotypes and paradigms.

People who are honest with themselves will orientate to what they are and conflicted folk will try to encrypt their opinion in a shroud of confusion.

[youcancallmeclaire]

I played with barbies when I was little, I got beat up by girls, my father was a violent prick, my mom told me she wished I was a girl when I was a baby because she miscarried my older sister (something recently revealed to me by my father), and most of my friends were female.

Did it effect me?
Maybe.
Do I give a fuck?
No.
Am I messed up in the head?
A whole bunch!

But I like who I am. Isn't that all that matters?

[SarahG]

Whoa, are you saying some Moyle fucked up a circumcision so violently bad that the logical solution was to remove the sex organs entirely and hope the boy would live happily ever after as a Woman? Dr. Money can thank all his lucky stars I wasn't that boy, cause I'd fucking kill him.

Then I would go to prison and every inmate would be talking about the guy with a cunt. Fuck you just can't win in a situation like that.

You haven't heard about that case? Shoot if I had a dollar for every sociology or psyc course I've taken that's mentioned it...

Seem to remember that patient ended up committing suicide in adulthood down the line.