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Gender Stereotyping of Children's Toys: A Comparison of Parents and Nonparents1
Parents and nonparents were compared to examine differences in the use of gender stereotyping to classify children's toys. Gender-stereotyping was also examined based on the age of the child. Parents and nonparents were sampled from a predominantly white, middle and upper middle class population. Subjects rated the appropriateness of 206 toys for use by girls and/or boys and were in general agreement regarding toys identified as gender-stereotyped. In general, feminine toys were stereotyped more than masculine toys although parents were more gender neutral in their ratings of toys than nonparents. Comparisons across mothers and fathers suggest that interactions with children may influence parental perceptions of gender-appropriateness differentially for mothers and fathers and is partly dependent on the sex of the child(ren). Finally, it appears that while toys are gender stereotyped for all age groups, there is more flexibility in gender stereotyping of toys for infants and toddlers.
Previous investigations which have directly assessed the degree to which adults gender type children's toys indicated that adults use traditional gender stereotyped standards when classifying children's toys (Masters & Wilkinson, 1976; Miller, 1987; Fisher-Thompson, 1990). These findings have important implications for the types of implicit and explicit messages adults send to children and the gender role development that emerges in children based on these messages (Mischel, 1970, 1973). Perhaps the most visible role models and dynamic social influence in children's lives are their parents. To date, the degree to which parents stereotype children's toys has not been extensively explored. The present research compared parents' and nonparents' assessments of the gender appropriateness of toys. Specifically, the study examined the degree to which toys are gender stereotyped and whether the toys identified as gender appropriate differ for parents and nonparents. Gender stereotyping was also examined based on the age of the child.
A predominant view of gender identity development states that traditional gender roles are learned through social and environmental cues in the environment (Mischel, 1966). These cues begin at birth and are perhaps most strongly influenced throughout childhood by parental influences. As Basow (1992) notes, "parents serve as the initial and major socializing agents in society" in ways that are both overt and subtle (p. 129)....