OK, so am I alone in noticing that gendered toys have become even WORSE in the last few years? I mean they were nothing great when I was a little 'un, either, but when I was growing up we at least had, like, American Girl dolls and Pound Puppies and stuff. And all the gender-neutral play-doh type toys to even it out. I swear, going through the girls' toy aisle these days is a non-stop lesson in Mall Madness/fake make-up/fashion.

I have nothing to say about this post. But I just went to see Michelle Obama speak at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee and she rocked the party! It was awesome and inspiring and I wish I had planned to take tomorrow off work to go help at the polls. Definitely in November!

Welcome to My Little Princess of Crazy house! Who wants cocktails?

Ya'll? I get so irritated at Target with the aisles labeled "Boy's Role Play" and "Girl's Role Play". Now, I like go-go boots as much as the next girl, but maybe I want to be a firefighter, too.

Well, let's face it. Most little girls really do like playing house and most little boys hate playing house.

...I liked my car toys though.

Ugh, that sucked. So much bullshit.

Yay toy fair! My dad's in town for that - everyone go pick up a 20Q so that I can go to grad school!

Good hostessing skills and the ability to put a baby to bed are social responsibility? Toy lady's a bitch.

Well, all I know is that I'm sure Matchbox and Hot Wheels were marketed to boys and that's all I ever asked for for presents. And mom & dad gave em to me.

I say that if a kid wants something, give it to them without making them feel weird about it. And get them out of the house to play so they don't see wall to wall commcerials on Nickelodeon or Saturday morning TV. Would they know the difference then?

It's funny adults are the ones with the problem. Kids just see toys.

@BAngieB: Girl, you'll collapse your ovaries carrying that equipment around. And you'll have to make sure your shifts don't interfere with dinner-makin'-time for your man & child(s). Nonsensical!

@IrisMR: Most girls like playing house, but I also used to melt the Army men from the tub in my Easy Bake Oven, and I was the best Rafael the Ninja Turtles had ever seen. I agree with BAngieB on this one -- just because I loved to twirl around in dressed doesn't mean I didn't want some boy (or gender-neutral) toys

@TeenageGangDeb: I noticed that and also that there are fewer male characters within the "girls'" toys. There were female and male Care Bears, Lil' Ponies, etc.
Now all I see are pink pink everything pink female characters with tons of makeup.

These toys are awful. Ignoring the fact that are obviously gendered, they leach out the creativity from our children. Who the hell wants a doll house that tells you what to do and how to play? Toys should be tools that kids use to direct their own fantasies.

@BAngieB: How about combining the two. I think women firefighters in go-go boots would be cool... but that's just me.

seriously, last night i was making brownies AND playing air guitar at the same time. not even kidding.

This makes me want to buy a truckload of Matchbox cars and toy tools and hand them out to every girl I see.

God forbid you let me near a Bratz doll.

@FourInchHeels: Foo shoo.

@andsoitgoes: you multi-tasker, you.

Boys always get the fun toys. It's so unfair. I loved matchbox cars, cardboard bricks, and the Star Wars Action figures as a kid and I'm still a girly girl.

Also, if I didnt love Clive so much I would totally make the above screen shot my avatar.

@bowlingfordollars: Well of course you had to go about and be perfectly rational about this.

I liked girly toys as much as the next kid, but I was also into sciency stuff, like microscopes. Educational toys tend to be gender neutral, so those are always a safe bet.

And little kids want to do what they see their parents doing, no matter which gender they are. What did we give our nephews for Christmas? A toy coffee maker and mini pots and pans.

@bowlingfordollars: My 2-year-old daughter loves Matchbox/Hot Wheels cars. And her toy football. And she has a Disney Princess Kitchen. I plan on giving her all sorts of different toys, to encourage her to explore different things.

It seems like there's been a sharp decline in the quality of toys in general. That talking dollhouse seems about the silliest waste of batteries since tamagotchis.

@BAngieB: Go-go boots wearing firefighter? Sounds nothing short of awesome to me!

@FourInchHeels: I guess the toy companies are still living in the 50's.

@BAngieB: We should send angry emails to Target. I bet they'd take our concern "very seriously" and remove those labels.

Why all these NEW toys? Was the stuff we played with as kids not good enough? I had many happy hours making imaginary worlds with my Legos. I also loved those fashion plate things you rubbed colored pencils on to make outfits. Oh noes, my gender is all confused! I can't like blocks AND dolls!

My kids are just getting sent outdoors to play with sticks and mud and rocks. Eff this fancy electronic crap.

@andsoitgoes: impossible! That's like dividing by zero.

Also dudes? This is no different from, say, LIFE, laying out exactly how women and men are supposed to be/act. It's not like it begins and ends with the toys, people. Men are this way and women are that way. Learn it, live it, accept it. Or you can come hang out with me.

@TeenageGangDeb: most of my toys were gender neutral. 2 girls and one boy in my house--tons of stuffed animals, and everyone played dress up. art supplies were constantly on hand. brother didn't have gi joes, i didn't have barbies. we all played with matchbox cars.

@BritneyCanadaWhore: I have a 20Q! I gave them for Christmas last year too! Tell you dad he needs to program it to recognize dirty words though, it never gets those right.

@bowlingfordollars: Good for your parents! I'm glad that they gave you the "male" toys that you wanted. You are also correct that kids don't see the problems with these toys, which is why parents should carefully choose the types of toys their kids play with. Just because the kid doesn't consciously know the difference between gendered toys doesn't mean that they don't have an impact.

@CueSanibelly: Luckily, as a lezebel, I don't have any mens waiting on me to get home, but I will say that NefariousNewt has an excellent idea...girls in turn out gear and go-go boots? Hot.

Social Responsibility= looking after teh babies

I wonder how many people who swear their kids naturally gravitate towards gendered toys would take away a Barbie from their son or force their daughter to wear a dress for the family photos.

WTF is up with this "social responsibility" crap! Lets teach your kids that Introverts are WEIRD and something is wrong with them! I like being alone and not throwing dinner parties thank you very much.

@FourInchHeels: That's right! Sure, I wanted to be a princess, but I also wanted to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle as well. Damn my little bro for always relegating me to the role of April when I wanted to be Donatello (the smart one) instead of that dumb reporter who was always getting her sorry ass kidnapped.

But without getting these clearly defined gender-roles early on how would we know what we should want out of life?

//Ew, sarcasm isn't a pretty color on me.

@blondegrlz: Aunt BAngieB goes old school with gifts for the little nieces...not computer games or such as that. Last Christmas? Toss Across. Next birthday? Lite Bright. Such as.

@BritneyCanadaWhore: 20Q freaks me the eff out, every time. haha.

@blondegrlz: Yeah don't they have some function for the sexual words? Like "I know what you're thinking! You are gross!" or something?

@MissSmithDrankYourVodka: There weren't any boy My Little Ponies for a long time though. I have - er, HAD - a couple that I just decided were boys, and gave them boy names. I thought it was stupid that they were all supposed to be girls - how could I create soap-opera worthy stories with no men?

@teh: Seriously! The best toy-based memories I have from childhood are the ones involving cardboard-box forts, anyway.

It's true that these toys that genderize specific activities/occupations deserve every criticism they will get here. But at the same time, it's hard to reconcile that criticism with the fact that a lot of ladymags, like Bust, purporting to be feminist romanticize the same genderized ideals. (Not that I have anything against Bust, I read it often, don't want to reduce it to this one statement, and a lot of other magazines/blogs/publications are similar).

@beastybeatsy: And hosting cocktail/dinner parties.

I saw this segment on the treadmill at the gym and during the "Girl Gourmet" part, I spat to no one in particular,
"What, no Boy Gourmet? Fuck you, Today Show." And then the senior citizen next to me gave me a reproachful look.

@t_racy: The online game knows way more than the toy, which has a fixed bank of knowledge.

But peeps. Those apocalyptic more-machine-than-man-now doomsday theories? I'm apologizing in advance.

You know, that there game with the pieces of cardboard you put your face through, that can be done with post its, and then it's hands free and encourages reading!

@Viva-La-Diva: I agree. If little boys are allowed to play with dollhouses, they will grow up gay. Look what happened to bowlingfordollars...her parents bought her Matchbox cars, and she grew into a lesbian tomboy.

I'm more upset about that Barbie game than the baking.

WTH is up with "social responsibility". Let's teach our kids that Introverts are WEIRD and something is wrong with them! I like being alone and not throwing dinner parties thank you very much.

*had problems and hopes she didn't just double post*

@Itzpapalotl: Ugh... it did, sorry =(

@BritneyCanadaWhore: online game? if it's free to play, i know how i'm wasting the rest of my day at work!

@t_racy: Oh ya, it's maddening, and there are like 15 versions of it .. I swear, one of these days I'm gonna stump the damn thing, and then I can die happy knowing that I have finally won. [www.20q.net]

@BritneyCanadaWhore: Dude, I'm terrified of that shit.

I thought that Furbys were the apocalypse, though.

@knoxtheharpy: I noticed the Girl Gourmet thing. Maybe if I'd played with those like a good little girl, instead of endless rounds of Ghostbusters and Ninja Turtles (ahem, I was Michaelangelo, because he's a Party Dude), I would have been able to make myself a proper dinner and not just eat half a block of cheese instead.