The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Pink for girls, blue for boys?
As a new study suggests boys are three times more likely than girls to be bought science and maths toys this Christmas, Michael Alexander looks at how prevalent gender stereotyping still is
It’s two and a half weeks before Christmas at the Toys R Us store at Kingsway Retail Park in Dundee and the aisles are stacked with an impressive array of toys as shoppers gear up for Christmas. We live in an age when equal opportunities for men and women are expected, rather than something to be fought for. So it shouldn’t really be out of the ordinary to see pink kitchen sets being bought for little Johnny or toy mechanic sets being purchased for little Josie.
But when it comes to children’s toys, many of the old norms are still holding strong. According to a survey published today by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), traditional gender stereotypes are still being reinforced with boys almost three times as likely as girls to receive science and maths toys this Christmas.
The IET analysed 360 toys and images across the top 10 retailer websites as well as 594 search engine results and found that 31% of science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) toys were listed for boys, compared with 11% listed for girls.
Using the search terms “boys’ toys” and “girls’ toys”, the study also found that 89% of the items listed for girls were pink, compared with 1% for boys.
The report says Google, Yahoo, Bing and Amazon stand out as the “main culprits” fuelling this “pink for a girl” mindest.
The colour of children’s toys may seem a trival matter but the IET is warning that the societal stereotypes driving these gendered gift lists could be turning young girls away from careers in technology and engineering.
While the onus is on parents to “think outside the pink and blue boxes” when shopping for their children, the organisation says toy retailers and search engines also have a responsibility not to perpetuate stereotypes.
Dr Sheila Cunningham, senior lecturer in psychology from Abertay University in Dundee, is an expert in gender stereotyping and has a particular interest in the effect of colour on our thinking and behaviours. “
I always try to avoid buying stereotypical colours but it’s very hard now. There’s a lot of external influences from a young age.”
It’s become normalised and so difficult for consumers to avoid the stereotypes now
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I was looking for something arty for our grandson in there, but they are all pink so I wouldn’t buy. Why should there be a message that only girls do art? I’ve concluded manufacturers don’t understand what boys want.” “
I used to buy my son dolls and shopping trolleys, and action men for my girls. It didn’t do them any harm! They all play with each other’s toys, anyway.”
She says colour stereotyping aimed at children is a relatively new cultural phenomenon.
In the 1970s, parents-to-be tended to choose neutral colours when buying baby clothes and kitting out nurseries.
However, with pre-natal scans now giving more parents advance notice of the sex of their unborn children, manufacturers are targeting their consumer marketing campaigns accordingly.
And in most cases that means blue for a boy and pink for a girl.
“It’s become normalised and so difficult for consumers to avoid the stereotypes now,” added Dr Cunningham.
“Little girls are convinced through exposure to advertising that that is what they should have, and even if the parents disagree with it, they buy it so not to upset the child and then perpetuate the stereotypes further.”
Dr Cunningham believes it’s difficult to trace a direct causal route between gender stereotypes imposed on children and the career paths they ultimately choose to follow.
However, this division of the sexes may lead to all kinds of other difficulties in adult life.
“At the moment we effectively teach them that as boys and girls they are separate species,” she adds.
“But then when they reach 18 we are telling them, through equal opportunities, that it is illegal to be treated differently. It’s definitely a confusing message.”
If the latest figures from the IET’s 2016 Skills and Demand in Industry survey are anything to go by, there’s still plenty more work to be done if more girls are to be attracted into Stem career choices, with statistics showing that women account for just 9% of engineers in the UK.
However separate IET research conducted with parents and children found that 39% of primary school girls said they enjoy ICT and computing, 38% enjoy maths and 36% like science.
The same study found just 7% of parents think engineering would appeal to their daughter as a career. Aileen Whitehead, 45, from Monikie, the mother of a 12-year-old girl and a nine-year-old boy, described the gender stereotypes on the shelves as “terrible”. Yvonne Southey, 67, from Tannadice, Angus, has 10 grandchildren. Alison King, 48, from Forfar, has nine children aged between 30 and seven (six girls and three boys), plus three grandchildren.