Gender Toys

[monkee12]

Growing up I played with my brothers' toys a lot. I don't buy "girl" toys like barbies etc as my son would throw a fit, whenever an advert comes on for a traditionally girly toy he says "that's for girls, that's BORing" lol, I think it comes more from nursery as it's not anything we've ever discussed at home. My DH wouldn't be happy with buying girls toys, and tbh I just haven't thought about it either way. I find there's more acceptance for girls to be into cars, marvel etc I mean I don't find it at all odd for a girl to like a car?? But a lot of people would find it stranger to see a 4 year old boy with pink princesses and barbies. It's a bridge I will cross if the boys ask, it's my hubby I'd have to talk around! If we had daughters I don't think DH would be so funny about buying her cars and stuff, but I'm not sure.

I agree with you there, my girls do ballet and gymnastics and I said to my hubby about our son doing it when he is older (he is only 12months atm) and he was like no way is my son doing ballet and gymnastics x

 

[jenstar]

I already had a doll, a buggy and kitcheny bits and bobs before I had a daughter (two boys first) but my friend who also has two boys and a girl with similar age gaps to mine, never got dolls/ buggy until she had a daughter.

I haven't (so far) sought out the pink version of something.

 

[EcoMama]

My dd doesn't wear pink, because I think its a horrible colour!.... But when she's old enough to say, she can wear it if she wants to.

 

[EcoMama]

Since when as a pram been a girls toy?!.... I see dads pushing prams all the time!
Or a hoover, washing machine, kitchen stuff etc.... My oh uses these things as well as me. They are gender neutral

 

[monkee12]

Lol ecomama, my hubby doesn't even know where the washing machine or Hoover are ;-)

 

[motherofboys]

I wouldn't purposely buy my boys 'girls' toys, unless they asked for something in particular. Some toys I think it is ridiculous that they are labeled. I have bought the boys cooking toys in the past when they wanted them but had trouble finding ones that were not pink. Even over the last couple of years that's moved on a lot and is less gender specific now.
When we have been to groups or family and friends houses who have girls they have played with the girls toys and I have no problem with this.
And the sheer amount of times I've asked them to watch 'girls' films with me. They won't though. They are very much 'stereotypical boys' and I'm ok with that because that's who they are.

 

[EcoMama]

monkee!.... I bet your oh isn't shy of a bit of pram pushing though!
I think its mad that cooking stuff was generally girly specific... I bet gordon ramsey and paul hollywood would be cross

 

[EcoMama]

My dd doesn't wear pink, because I think its a horrible colour!.... But when she's old enough to say, she can wear it if she wants to.

I must say, my ds has never asked to wear pink and I prob would discourage him from doing so, purely because I hate the colour.... I'll probably discourage my dd too and go on a feminist rant (as excuse!) if she asks :hah:

 

[lindseymw]

I buy the boys typical boy stuff as that's what they like. I wouldn't go out and randomly buy 'girls' stuff but if they asked for it, I would consider it (same way I would consider what boy toy they have asked for).

Joshua would have a fit if I bought him a barbie or a princess.

For xmas, they have got an Angry Birds remote control car each. It has the pink bird on it. Neither me or DH thought twice about buying it but I have a feeling Joshua will be a bit miffed.

 

[monkee12]

monkee!.... I bet your oh isn't shy of a bit of pram pushing though!
I think its mad that cooking stuff was generally girly specific... I bet gordon ramsey and paul hollywood would be cross

Lol, he would push a blue one yes (which is what we have) but if we had a pink pram then he would blank refuse lol

 

[OmiOmen]

I have two sons and I don't even think about it. I tend not to buy pink or blue toys because I personally feel those ones designed with a gender stereotype tend to look a bit tacky to be honest. We have a couple of dolls and a pushchair they like to play with and we have a toy kitchen and stuff. They would not see it as a girls toy since my husband like to push the pushchair and cooks. My four and a half year old son likes Disney Princess films too.

My four and a half year old likes science equipment, books, and Lego and my youngest likes Duplo so I would say they are pretty gender neutral toys I guess. I got my youngest a LeapReader Junior this year and got Violet the purple "girls" one rather than Scout the green "boys" one because I was not paying more just to get a green one.

 

[leoniebabey]

i wouldn't buy them anything specifically girly. eg. barbies, princesses
things like baby dolls, kitchen things i would buy in unisex or boys colours.

morgan actually hates pink and girly (his own choice), i bought him a jumper with a hint of pink and he went bezerk haha

 

[motherofboys]

Last year in their stockings the boys had a small stationary set. I bought it as a pack of 3 sets and gave ds3 the purple (was green, red and purple) he opened it and said "What? This is a girls one, it's pink! He must have put your present in my stocking by mistake mummy" and as much as I said it was purple he insisted it was pink and still now, when it's in with all the other drawing stuff says "can I use your ruler mummy because I can't find the others"

 

[felix555]

I find this issue quite interesting so good to read everyone's opinions.

My LO is 19 months old and I also just buy what I think he'd like. He has quite a few "girl toys" but prefers toys aimed at boys ... trains specifically and lately cars and dinosaurs.

He has a doll which I bought cheaply at pound stretcher and although it's not one of his favourites he does play with it, I love it when he sits and and pretends feeding if a bottle it's so sweet. I'd have bought.him a pram for it if he was more interested.

He's getting a few Peppa pig bits for Christmas and they're not girls toys but they're that colour I loathe ... pink.

In our house I don't know how the machine machine works and my OH picked our pram (it was blue though!)

 

[Lilicat]

I just realised from the Leapreader comment above, I have brought a toy aimed at girls this Christmas. I brought a Read With Me Violet for my eldest son.

This is partially because he loves the Leapfrog characters and doesn't have a Violet yet and partially because both boys have a My Pal Scout cuddly toy and I didn't want it to be William's Scout, Thomas' Scout and Read with Me Scout. It is just too confusing!

 

[Eleanor ace]

I'm like most people, we just buy whatever. DS has toys which some people consider girly- doll, pink pushchair, fairy costume; DD has what some consider boys toys- cars and tractors, fireman dress up, garage. Luckily my DH isn't bothered if I dress DS in pink or put DD in a "boys" top, it would drive me mad if I was constantly having to battle with him over gender stereotyping!

 

[Wriggley]

Growing up I played with my brothers' toys a lot. I don't buy "girl" toys like barbies etc as my son would throw a fit, whenever an advert comes on for a traditionally girly toy he says "that's for girls, that's BORing" lol, I think it comes more from nursery as it's not anything we've ever discussed at home. My DH wouldn't be happy with buying girls toys, and tbh I just haven't thought about it either way. I find there's more acceptance for girls to be into cars, marvel etc I mean I don't find it at all odd for a girl to like a car?? But a lot of people would find it stranger to see a 4 year old boy with pink princesses and barbies. It's a bridge I will cross if the boys ask, it's my hubby I'd have to talk around! If we had daughters I don't think DH would be so funny about buying her cars and stuff, but I'm not sure.

I agree with you there, my girls do ballet and gymnastics and I said to my hubby about our son doing it when he is older (he is only 12months atm) and he was like no way is my son doing ballet and gymnastics x

my 4 year old boy has done gymnastics since he was 12 months old and hes amazing at it! - He went into the preschool class 18 months early and had completed all preschool badges before he was even the correct age for the class. hes now 4 and in with the 6 and 7 year olds and his teacher has suggested she sets up a meeting with an elite gym team because she says hes got the skills to do it professionally.

^^ so yeah boys can absolutely do gymnastics are can rock at it!

My boys have both toys aimed at both genders I see NO issue with it at all.

My 4 year old is a typical boy that loves being outdoors climbing trees and getting dirty etc.. but he also loves having his toenails painted lol

who cares!?!? as long as they are enjoying themselfs what does it matter

 

[monkee12]

Growing up I played with my brothers' toys a lot. I don't buy "girl" toys like barbies etc as my son would throw a fit, whenever an advert comes on for a traditionally girly toy he says "that's for girls, that's BORing" lol, I think it comes more from nursery as it's not anything we've ever discussed at home. My DH wouldn't be happy with buying girls toys, and tbh I just haven't thought about it either way. I find there's more acceptance for girls to be into cars, marvel etc I mean I don't find it at all odd for a girl to like a car?? But a lot of people would find it stranger to see a 4 year old boy with pink princesses and barbies. It's a bridge I will cross if the boys ask, it's my hubby I'd have to talk around! If we had daughters I don't think DH would be so funny about buying her cars and stuff, but I'm not sure.

I agree with you there, my girls do ballet and gymnastics and I said to my hubby about our son doing it when he is older (he is only 12months atm) and he was like no way is my son doing ballet and gymnastics x

my 4 year old boy has done gymnastics since he was 12 months old and hes amazing at it! - He went into the preschool class 18 months early and had completed all preschool badges before he was even the correct age for the class. hes now 4 and in with the 6 and 7 year olds and his teacher has suggested she sets up a meeting with an elite gym team because she says hes got the skills to do it professionally.

^^ so yeah boys can absolutely do gymnastics are can rock at it!

My boys have both toys aimed at both genders I see NO issue with it at all.

My 4 year old is a typical boy that loves being outdoors climbing trees and getting dirty etc.. but he also loves having his toenails painted lol

who cares!?!? as long as they are enjoying themselfs what does it matter

Bless him, my 6 year old is in the Elite squad for gymnastics I bet your LO will love it. I don't see a problem with boys doing gym, my OH just sees it as a girl thing as he was brought up doing rugby, karate etc, if I put nail polish on my son though then my hubby would flip at me LOL. Just goes to show how different people are x

 

[mrsd2208]

I have bought my middle daughter dinosaurs, cars and a buzz lightyear haha she loves allsorts

 

[Wriggley]

Growing up I played with my brothers' toys a lot. I don't buy "girl" toys like barbies etc as my son would throw a fit, whenever an advert comes on for a traditionally girly toy he says "that's for girls, that's BORing" lol, I think it comes more from nursery as it's not anything we've ever discussed at home. My DH wouldn't be happy with buying girls toys, and tbh I just haven't thought about it either way. I find there's more acceptance for girls to be into cars, marvel etc I mean I don't find it at all odd for a girl to like a car?? But a lot of people would find it stranger to see a 4 year old boy with pink princesses and barbies. It's a bridge I will cross if the boys ask, it's my hubby I'd have to talk around! If we had daughters I don't think DH would be so funny about buying her cars and stuff, but I'm not sure.

I agree with you there, my girls do ballet and gymnastics and I said to my hubby about our son doing it when he is older (he is only 12months atm) and he was like no way is my son doing ballet and gymnastics x

my 4 year old boy has done gymnastics since he was 12 months old and hes amazing at it! - He went into the preschool class 18 months early and had completed all preschool badges before he was even the correct age for the class. hes now 4 and in with the 6 and 7 year olds and his teacher has suggested she sets up a meeting with an elite gym team because she says hes got the skills to do it professionally.

^^ so yeah boys can absolutely do gymnastics are can rock at it!

My boys have both toys aimed at both genders I see NO issue with it at all.

My 4 year old is a typical boy that loves being outdoors climbing trees and getting dirty etc.. but he also loves having his toenails painted lol

who cares!?!? as long as they are enjoying themselfs what does it matter

Bless him, my 6 year old is in the Elite squad for gymnastics I bet your LO will love it. I don't see a problem with boys doing gym, my OH just sees it as a girl thing as he was brought up doing rugby, karate etc, if I put nail polish on my son though then my hubby would flip at me LOL. Just goes to show how different people are x

oh is she? how does she get on? what age did she start? if you dont mind me asking?

my son has only just turned 4 and im a little reserved about it but have agreed to a meeting... she said it would likely involve training 3-4 times a week and the squad is a 45 minute drive away so im not sure how realistic it would be for him at his age but we are going to see what its all about. his current club only goes up to nationals but we shall see