February 6, 2012

bouncingdodecahedrons:

sparkamovement:

The issue isn’t that girls shouldn’t cook and have fun with it. It’s that we’re being told by companies, toy stores, and their marketing teams that this is the way it’s supposed to be. Girls should cook and clean (essentially playing “mom”) while boys create, destroy, and learn to save the world. Toys like LEGO, light sabers, and toy cars are all primarily marketed towards boys and these toys have far more creative possibilities and give room for more brain development.

Toy stores play a large role in continuing to support the way children of different genders play and think. From an early age girls are given little options of what they can think and become. It is no coincidence that there is a serious lack of women working in the science and math fields.

That’s why SPARK is asking you to join us in ourToy Aisle Action Projectto bring attention to the gender divide in stores! We are SPARKing this movement armed with Post-It notes and cameras in the blue and pink aisles. (Seriously, some stores have actually have colored their toy aisles pink and blue! When will it end?) With your Post-Its, make a note using slogans like “Where My Girls At?” in the blue aisle, “Your Girl Needs Joe, too” on a GI Joe, “This Is An Option For Everybody” and “What About Dads?” on the baby dolls.

Use statistics, too. Here are some we found: women make up only 13% of architects (I wonder why LEGO?), 14% of active US military (Where is G.I. Jane?), and 4% of executive chefs — so, why are all the kitchen gadgets pink when so many chefs are men?

Read more / send in your photos!

The whole “women in the kitchen” thing is almost funny when you realize most chefs are men. Apparently they like to tell women they’re only good for cooking, but don’t actually want them to cook.

Also, I’ve seen the blue/other colors and pink aisle divide in every store I’ve ever been in with toy aisles. I used to avoid the pink aisle like the plague when I was little, too. As if being spotted in the pink aisle by other kids, as a boy, would be a bad thing.

The divide they’ve created needs to be broken, it’s not healthy, it’s harmful.

(via kissed-by-chaos)

1:39pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZWNnFxFzluTs
(Notes: 3,093)
  
  1. rawmenrox60 reblogged this from theinepthistorian
  2. abandonedshadow reblogged this from sparkamovement and added:
    its good to know I’m not the only one who thinks this. every time I try and tell someone this they look at me like I’m...
  3. dreamy-lullaby reblogged this from stopgirlhate
  4. chase-the-stars reblogged this from s-p-i-n-n-n-i-n-g
  5. i-dont-fall-in-love reblogged this from russianqueenofgays
  6. srlsrl reblogged this from sparkamovement
  7. angelyrica reblogged this from n-e-way
  8. s-p-i-n-n-n-i-n-g reblogged this from srielbeenlt
  9. srielbeenlt reblogged this from sparkamovement
  10. coffeeforling reblogged this from shota-kitty
  11. genderqueer-atheist-weirdo reblogged this from shota-kitty and added:
    Toy stores always disgust me. Glad to know I’m not the only one.
  12. shota-kitty reblogged this from sparkamovement
  13. teachlet reblogged this from dancing-with-diversity
  14. leticant reblogged this from le-petit-stalker and added:
    What’s the problem with being a “mommy”? I don’t see. I just think it’s going wrong when girls are teached that they...
  15. jadeychan reblogged this from le-petit-stalker
  16. le-petit-stalker reblogged this from hailfirepeaks
  17. hailfirepeaks reblogged this from vorca
  18. prominence12 reblogged this from thepurringhobbit
  19. catwomensdaughter reblogged this from fanged-deer
  20. uninterestingurl reblogged this from fuckyourprivilege and added:
    While boys can actually PLAY like every kid should, girls learn to make their Barbie dolls pretty in order to seduce...
  21. zannedrinkstea reblogged this from trensu
  22. trensu reblogged this from thattomlinsonsass
  23. justtoreblogeveryshitiwant reblogged this from ladyetherea
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  26. tagaseguchi reblogged this from dancing-with-diversity
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  29. pepsiandnutella reblogged this from dragoninexistentialcrisis
  30. dragoninexistentialcrisis reblogged this from bookslanguagelove
  31. katieshelby reblogged this from cosmicvacation and added:
    Kelsey and I owned about 98,237,489,057,234,907,856,238,947,653,298,745 legos. Jak’s favorite toys are currently musical...
  32. bookslanguagelove reblogged this from fucktragedy-lovegracey
  33. chaostamer reblogged this from hiddenjumprope and added:
    I actually really want to do this. I already put Post-It notes on everything, and this just seems like the best idea....