Ever wonder why there are so few females in the STEM fields? Could the answer be as simple as the color pink? A recent article titled "Are pink toys turning girls into passive princesses?" focuses on the relationships between gender roles, colors, marketing and future life decisions.
According to the author, Kat Arney, “take a trip to a toy store and you'll see this gender divide writ large in the aisles. On one side, the boys' toys – Lego and other construction kits, pirate costumes, toy guns, racing cars and so on – boxed in blue and other "manly" colours and illustrated with pictures of boys. Turn a corner, and you're assaulted by a wall of pink built from Barbie dolls, multi-packs of miniature high heels, princess outfits and tea sets.
The message is clear: these are boys' toys, and those are girls' toys. And in this particular battle of the sexes, there's very little neutral territory.”
Kat goes on to say, “it seems likely that even if there isn't an innate girlie preference for pink, there is a gender bias in the types of toys boys and girls prefer. But it's important to remember that this isn't an exclusive divide. Girls still like playing with cars and construction toys, while boys enjoy playing with dolls.”
Kat also says “the increasing separation of toys into "for boys" and "for girls", strongly coded by colour and reinforced by highly gendered marketing, is depriving girls of active toys and games that encourage the development of their spatial and analytical skills.
Instead, they're pushed towards being passive princesses, surrounded by fashion dolls, kiddie make-up and miniaturised vacuum cleaners.”
Read the entire article “Are pink toys turning girls into passive princesses?”