Exchange of the week Toying with girls’ futures

To The Guardian

I was interested to read about the Institution of Engineering and Technology highlighting the problem of girls not being given toys that might lead to an interest in science and engineering. The report blames the marketing of toys.

However, pressures exist elsewhere. As a male former scientist, I have made attempts to encourage people to buy toys for girls that are gender neutral, educational and linked to practical exercises. In every case I have been thwarted by various female adults and told, for example: “She is a ‘girly’ girl, she must have a pink toy, dress or something relating to cooking.” It seems to be the practice in many cultures that the pressure for girls to behave or dress in a certain way, or to become a mother, comes not from men but from older women. It is they who need to change. Dr Nigel Long, Keynsham, Somerset

To The Guardian

As I had only girls, I made sure they all got cars, trains and construction toys. Only one was ever interested. The next generation was all-girls, too, until a lone boy was born. He was so different from all the girls, fascinated by how things worked, magnets and Lego from babyhood on. I gave him a doll and buggy. He threw out the doll and made the buggy into a vehicle.

This is typical and I do not believe girls fail to show an interest in engineering because of the toys they are given. Let the boys be engineers if they want to and the girls not be if they don’t want to, as most don’t. Ann Johnson, Marlborough, Wiltshire

To The Guardian

My daughters, now 30 and 26, played with Barbies and had pink Rollerblades when they were little. They also played with snails, climbed trees and surfed. Most importantly, they had inspirational science teachers and are both now scientists themselves. There’s more to bringing up children than toys, whatever colour they are. Helen Keats, Shorwell, Isle of Wight