"Boy" Toys:
When I go to McDonald's and they ask the dreaded "Is this for a girl or a boy?" question, I'm always stuck. My daughter always wants the boy toy, but if I say it's for a boy, she freaks. If I say "It's for a girl, but we want a boy toy", invariably we get the girl toy anyway. Even if I just say "I'd like a boy toy, please", my daughter cries. "I don't want the BOY toy, mama, I want the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toy! They're not just for boys, are they? Why do the boys always get the good toys?"(That one's an old post so if you go there and comment there's no telling if you'll see the blogger reply or not.)
I don't even see the point in saying "is this for a boy or girl" or "do you want the boy or girl toy?" :\ Is it so hard to ask something like "do you want the micro machine or hello kitty doll?"
ReplyDeleteDoes this happen in other stores too? Like "hi I'd like to buy a car" "are you looking for a guy car or a girl car?" "Hi table for 2" "would that be 1 manly man chair and 1 girlgirl chair?" or even "hi I want a hamburger" "is that for a boy or girl, b/c for a girl we add ponymeat with a touch of fairy dust!" >_>;;
Of course, if you do give a girl a 'boy toy' it will change to pink in her hands.
ReplyDeleteDoes that mean they'll finally have Arcee and Saturn Girl toys? xD If you put a Superboy toy in a girl's hands it turns into Saturn Girl! :D
ReplyDeleteThat would be awesome >_>;; I would run around turning everybody's toy's into Saturn Girl :D
I would by some just to see that happen.
ReplyDelete<.<
>.>
No wonder boys are so protective of their toys!*
*Or so they would have you believe. The truth is a mystery.
Is it so hard to ask something like "do you want the micro machine or hello kitty doll?"
ReplyDeleteHaving worked in a vaguely fast-food-related capacity, probably the workers couldn't be bothered to remember what the heck toy is being marketed this week, even IF it weren't official policy to assign gender stuff. Most likely, they just have a big bin o' toys labeled "Girl" and one labeled "Boy," and that means the workers can autopilot through the day.
Though really, they should just market toys that EVERYONE likes. But then, I guess that'd be a reduction in ad revenue, since those are rarer.
I hate the gender distinction. Especially since the "girl" toys tend to be crap anyway. (OK, the Hello Kitty stuff was pretty cool.)
I guess that's what I'm saying tho, at the very least, ask "would you like a car or a doll?" or something... that's just as generic and easy to remember :\
ReplyDeleteNot trying to be judgmental here, but it sounds like this could be solved for the kids with a little talk outside of the McDonalds.
ReplyDeleteOf course, ideally the store would say "Shrek or Fiona" instead of "boy or girl," but it didn't take much effort to explain to the Raggirls "'Boy' is short for 'Toys that boys usually want' and 'Girl' is short for 'Toys that girls usually want.' That doesn't make them 'boy toys' or 'girl toys'." I think that's easy enough to understand so that -- yeah, sure, McDonalds should do it, but it doesn't effect our trips to the Golden Arches.
A more common complaint from the Raggirls -- which I don't know whether it qualifies as pro-Feminist or anti-Feminist -- is "Why don't they have the Dinosaur Robot Space Construction Science Machine in pink???"
I never know whether to (a) criticize their unending and stereotypical love of pink things, even if the thing that they want in pink is really cool; (b) criticize toy makers for not making enough girlie dinosaur space robots; or (c) just say "They must be sold out from all the other girls who bought the Dinosaur Robot Space Construction Science Machines. Here, this green one is nice."
If it's any consolation, one of the most popular xmas presents for girls in the UK (according to Dixons, anyway) was the girlie robot Sakura.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking to get one in the sales.