Monday, January 18, 2010

Girl-Toys: The Complot Begins



Why is it that since girls are very little, their parents, society, movies, toy stores and basically everyone, orients them towards boys?

On Christmas a little girl could receive several types of presents. One of them is a little easy-bake oven. I wonder what meaning lies beneath this apparently harmless gift. A baby doll is also very popular, but you cannot make a baby by yourself, can you? I once received a vacuum cleaner, which I would push around and different color balls would fly chaotically inside the transparent capsule. Maky-Club make-up kits are also brought by Santa regularly.

As you can observe, little by little the girl is completing the whole package: a kitchen, a baby, a vacuum cleaner and make-up so she can look pretty. I wonder what’s missing.

On the other hand, boys get remote control cars, robots, baseball kits, footballs and Legos, among others. These are all toys that encourage them to enforce male bonding and that basically orient boys to activities that involve them and only them.

The message that lies beneath the toys for boys is very simple: you don’t need anything else to enjoy yourself but this.
The message that lies beneath girls’ toys is: you must practice and get prepared to find a suitable boy. You must learn how to cook, clean, mother and look gorgeous. Why? In order to get a suitable boy.

So screw the whole usual girl-toys. If I have a daughter I would buy her a medical Kit; dancing costumes like ballet shoes, leotards and tiaras; I would get her Legos, Basketballs or Volleyballs, musical instruments, books, a wii, ANYTHING that doesn’t involve a boy ...directly or indirectly.

2 comments:

  1. Alright, you had your vacuum cleaner, dolls and everything you talk about... and what did you become? I haven't seen you crying coz u have no baby to attend to, or carpet to clean, or husband to cook for... So whats your problem girl? u learn how to put some make up on! and I really thank ur momma for that!!! (jk) and some time you acctually manage to throw on some sexy outfits.. but ussually u do everything ur way... wich by the way, sometimes it is weird! (jk again..), but my point is u didn't became the boy hunter you describe... so at the end it's up to you, your family, your roots, the experiences that life drives you through... not what the fat red guy brought you for Christmass...

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  2. Hey Dani!

    Ok primero que nada no me ves llorando por no tener esposo o hijos porque tengo 24 años y en estos momentos la palabra matrimonio y bebes me dan ganas de salir corriendo porque gritan Game Over.

    Segundo, yo no describí a ninguna boy hunter. Yo fui plantenado los distintos factores que podrían incidir en el hecho de que las mujeres parecen demandar mucho más tiempo y atención de sus novios que ellos de ellas.

    De hecho, este post fue inspirado por las numerosas conversaciones que he tenido con mis amigos hombres quienes constantemente se quejan de sus novias por ser demasiado needy, por querer estar con ellos 24/7, etc. Y me puse a pensar en por qué esa queja era uni-direccional. Es decir, por qué nunca escuchaba a mis amigas quejarse de que sus novios quieren estar con ellas 24/7.

    De hecho si te pones a ver los hombres tienen muchas actividades que no incluyen a las mujeres (lo cual esta perfecto -el problema es que pareciera que las mujeres O no cuentan con tantas actividades O les quitan prioridad a las mismas y colocan al novio primero).

    Fíjate que en ningún momento hay boy-hunters, simplemente hay mujeres que han aprendido desde pequeñas a valorar la presencia de un hombre/novio/whatever y a hombres que han aprendido a divertirse en muchas actividades que no necesariamente incluyen a las mujeres. De esta disparidad es que surgen interminables peleas, lágrimas, escapadas, arañazos, cachos y pare usted contar.
    Aqui es cuando me pregunto por qué, un poco desesperada ya, y salgo con la teoría de los juguetes como un intento de explicar que este chip nos lo han estado insertando en nuestro disco duro desde que nacemos y que lo que deberíamos hacer es desprogramarnos y empezar de nuevo.

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