There were a number of articles prior to Christmas this year about how there’s a movement toward “gender neutral toys,” but that would be a surprise to most parents. It may be an issue for progressive parents, but they are a pretty rare breed; not only are they a minority of Americans (there are more Mexican nationals in the US than there are liberal progressives), but progressive fertility is the lowest in the the Western world, and that’s abysmal. The rest of us try to be a bit more practical — a necessity for normal parents.
If you give your kids a choice, chances are there won’t be anything particularly transsexual about their selections. Also, if you want them to actually be happy about the presents, you’d probably better steer clear of the gender neutral aisle.
Now, it may be true that some boys prefer playing with dolls, and some girls with trucks. If you’ve got a child like that, you’ll probably love the kid just as much as you would any other, but let’s be honest: it isn’t exactly the norm, and the little boy who likes playing with dolls and makeup kits likes those toys because they are gender specific — not because they are “gender neutral.” I don’t think I need to spell out the implications here…
However, feminists are putting a lot of effort into trying to convince us that this is how the world ought to be, because of course gender is merely a social construct. Hence the “gender neutral” term. But is it really gender neutrality they are pushing, or gender consciousness? It must the latter, because truly gender neutral toys are merely idiosyncratic toys. Calling them gender neutral is inserting the word gender into something that has little if anything to do with gender issues.
As an example, my kids both like animals, but different kinds. I suppose one could argue that there’s something gendered about the fact that my son likes creepier, scalier and slimier animals while my daughter prefers fluffy ones, but I don’t think gender has much to do with it — they’re just little individuals with their own interests. My daughter is a big fan of ducks for some reason. Should I see this in gendered terms? Is there anything gendered about ducks? It’s kind of an absurd notion, but this is exactly how feminists see the world. They are the most gender conscious people on earth. Their entire movement is about gender, yet they spend most of their time telling us it is irrelevant.
So, some little boy wanted an oven for Christmas, and there was this big to-do about how all the toy ovens are gendered, presumably because toy companies are all about pushing girls into the kitchen. A girl got on change.org and made the case that her little brother should have a non-pink toy oven, and received 45,000 signatures for her effort (good thing we Americans have our priorities straight). So, to remedy the situation, Hasbro came out with the Easy-Bake Ultimate Oven in colors other than pink and purple.
My little sister had one of those when we were kids, and I thought it was pretty fun, because it actually worked. The thing was probably a terrible fire/burn hazard and probably would be banned today; I could put in a GI Joe, crank it up, and next thing you know the GI Joe started melting. Pretty awesome. Although I hate to break it to feminists, the boy’s desire for an oven may have been for roughly the same reason I liked the toy rather than any desire to cook for his future feminist firefighter wife. Nothing wrong with cooking, of course (it’s one of my favorite hobbies), but boys tend to approach it from a different angle — they see the oven as a tool rather than a prop for playing house. I’m fairly sure, therefore, that if Hasbro markets an essentially useless toy oven to boys it’s going to be a failure. Instead of spending $50 on a toy oven for the kid, why not buy him a $20 Black and Decker toaster oven that really works?
Although the market may have much to do with the blatant gender focus of toys, a lot of it is a result of the grrrl power feminism that has become such a stifling feature of our culture. For example, while toys from earlier times were clearly often intended for either boys or girls, they weren’t nearly as in-your-face about it. Back when sex differences were not only accepted nearly universally, but celebrated as well, toys were a lot more subdued. Did toy soldiers before the 1970s, when feminism really took off, have bulging, steroid-enhanced muscles and oversize guns? Was everything for girls painted pink and purple? Not at all. As feminism has grown stronger, toys have become caricatures of sex stereotypes.
If feminism were not a prominent feature of our culture, I doubt parents would worry much at all about gender as it relates to toys. Sure, boys would usually want boy toys and girls girl toys, but it wouldn’t be an issue, and absent the rigid suppression of our true nature as men and women – or boys and girls – in public life, we’d probably express ourselves in much more natural, relaxed and healthy ways at home with our families.
Although feminists claim they want to eradicate gender differences, when they insert gender issues into everything – the workplace, school, the military, family, and now Christmas – they only succeed in making the differences oppositional rather than complementary. They create strife where it doesn’t belong, drawing battle lines everywhere, even between little children, all the while calling it “neutrality.” What demented people.
{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
The word ‘feminist’ is not gender neutral!
I believe Change.org still does not have a men’s rights section and I also believe that all of their petitions receive time limits.
OT but maybe for New Year’s Eve you could list all the MRM accomplishments for 2012 to give all of us hope in the coming year.
Kids do play with gender neutral toys all the time under two circumstances.
1) They play with the box when you spend a fortune on a toy.
2) When it suits them. Kids will pick up what ever is at hand and start turning it into a play object that suits the game being invented at the moment.
The ideology of gender neutral toys that is being requested by a specific group of adults is something that they’re welcome to ask for, but honestly, the idea that it should be enforced is just silly. Kids want to understand the vocabulary of the wonderful adult world around them and they will play with the stuff presented as part of the mastery of those concepts. Let them get the basics down first before telling them “According to my politics, you’re doing that wrong.”
Besides, if you think society will back you on this, open a toy factory and I am certain the world will beat a path to your door. If you’re not willing to do that, then stop putting other peoples’ money where you mouth is.
Progressive SWPL parents may be a minority of parents but they are a LOUD and RICH minority living in expensive and oh so important big cities. They set the trends for most babies (which are out of wedlock, working/middle class, non-urban and possibly some form of religion).
As feminism has grown stronger, toys have become caricatures of sex stereotypes.
Also Science Fiction/Fantasy/Adventure can be seen as another enclave were sex differences are getting stronger, despite SWPL forcing their liberal views on these categories.
I can just see them screaming that nerds are a bunch of sexist bastards!
“What demented people. …” Ya, and they and the numbers of them are scary. My sons are now 14 and 16 and it is a time of life for them when advice giving is a different thing than telling them “don’t touch the stove because it is hot and it will burn you.” I know there are young women out there that will make great wives, but how many are there? and how can a young guy find one that isn’t “demented”?
I remember reading a book by a German guy. He made his best case than men had become little more than machines. And, he did a pretty good job of it. I’ve been to Germany and things are different over here than there. But, I always think of that book when a friend is bragging about the accomplishments of his daughter. She’s in the same grade as my older son, she’s very pretty, she’s nice, she’s a very good student very near or at the top of her class. I would proudly say my son would be a comparable kid (at least people are always telling me he’s good looking and his ACT and SAT test scores validate my claims about his academics). What is the difference? She is into every extracurricular activity imaginable and is incredibly driven to achieve at all of them. And she is achieving at all of them. Achieve! Achieve! Achieve! Compete! Compete! Compete! My son? He is really into off road bicycling and it is his passion. So, I look at the young lady and I just wonder is she being trained and training to become a wife and a mother, or is she becoming as much of a machine as the German author talked about. And, I think the phenomenon is a very common one as mothers, fathers and society give birth to this and promote this in our young girls/women. These young women may become efficient at whatever they do, including being efficient mothers and wives. They will possibly even be efficient at picking the right man for themselves. It seems to me that the guy probably won’t be cooking on a pink oven, and he might not even be cooking at all, and he probably won’t be wearing pink underwear, and he probably won’t be wearing “the pants”, which means he only can wear dresses. And, what is a married heterosexual man who wears dresses? I guess he is the thing I first heard at this site, a “mangina”. For your son, would you rather have him married to Hillary Clinton or any number of other “high achieving women” or would you rather see him have a wife that primarily wants to be a wife?
Very slightly off topic but worth noting is that the toy departments at most stores have become VERY lopsided. Hermione and I noticed this when shopping for our son. The Target near our old house literally had three aisles of girl toys, one aisle of “gender neutral” (mostly the honestly gender neutral stuff that appeals to both boys and girls alike) and one aisle of boy toys. Our experience has been similar at every big box store out there. The ratios are even worse when it comes to clothes. I have absolutely no idea why this is, but it was very frustrating to us.
I would suggest that the manosphere stop using the word “gender” when you are talking about male and female. Gender is a grammatical word not a word differentiating the sexes. Go back to using male and female and sex-specific instead of gender.
Stop using their terms.
You have just described the essence of feminism in a single paragraph – and unlike “feminism is about equality,” your statement is true.
I really wanted a “GI Joe” when I was a kid but the old man tole me dolls were for girls.
The other day Hermann and I found erotic “Manga” figurines you can order from Japan, some of them scandalously risque. We live in incredible times.
This guy has an interesting story about how he ended up working in Japan :
http://www.dannychoo.com
When I was a kid [3rd grade or so] I once had the idea of using some of our ubiquitous Ohio clay to make pottery. One spring the ground was so soaked and ductile that you could easily form chunks of soil into bowls and such. But I knew that I needed to heat them so they could be “fired” to become actual pottery. I thought of using my mom’s oven, but I wasn’t sure that it could get hot enough, because what I REALLY needed was a kiln. So I just let all my artisitc efforts dry and they ended up crumbling into little pieces. But at least my rear end was spared the terrible paddling that would have resulted from me sticking a bunch of dirt in the kitchen oven!
Actually, in the 70′s there were a lot of crafty sorts of projects that kids could do – even with an oven. Anyone else remember “Shrinky Dinks”?
Their entire movement is about gender, yet they spend most of their time telling us it is irrelevant.
The don’t insert Gender in everything. They insert Egalitarianist Utopia in everything. They want girls to be more like boys and boys to be more like girls, until they’re indistinguishable from each other. Gender difference and gender roles are the problem, because to be female, to be wife and mother, is to be weak and oppressed. To be co-equal partner/parent is egalitarian.
Women are doing their part to adopt more masculine roles by toiling at careers instead of marrying and mothering…while men are stubbornly clinging to cultural masculine ideals by refusing to be more feminine.
Unalterable human nature is the eternal enemy of all egalitarian utopians. While the Marxists abandoned Utopia, Deng in China without Mao and the collapse of Lenin’s Soviet Union – the USA embraces it; fights for government enforcement of it.
I clicked on the link to Culture Japan above. I’m not surprised to see pictures of mostly girls.
My girls love spider-man and the avengers and mighty machines and Thomas the tank engine – they also enjoy heavy metal – as well as princesses and fairies and dressing up. This year they wanted a magnifying glass the most. Let them be kids and like what they want to like.
Feminism is not just the “prominent feature of our culture.” It is the atheistic faith, (religion) of the western world and the UN. It is the only ideology exported directly from the UN.
The feminist faith has two tenets that are the guiding principal for all laws and social activity.
#1) A woman is born as an infant. An infant is pure and innocent, and by definition can never be immoral or accountable. A woman retains this status of being purity and innocence, and she can never be immoral or accountable her entire life. She is in essence the goddess made flesh. Just as an infant is infallible, meaning an infant can do no wrong, a woman retains this status when she matures as well. Since she can never do wrong as an infant, as an adult, whatever she does must be right. Whatever a woman feels at any point in time will always be correct.
#2) Then of course we have the patriarchy, which is man. Male, men, masculinity, a system of male dominance, male privilege, etc. Men are also born into this. They aren’t quite as pure or innocent even at birth since their birthrite will be one of the system of oppression that is all things male, masculine, privilege. The all encompassing patriarchy. Even young boys are accountable for their actions, and they can be immoral and fallible.
The athiest, feminist religion is one where woman plays the role of goddess made flesh, and man plays the role of the devil made flesh. All social activity and laws must be based around the feminist faith. Feminism, which exported by the UN hates all other faiths. Not so much for whatever reasons they spout, but because worship of a higher authority over woman as the goddess made flesh is heresy.
The “athiest community” isn’t immune either, as we’ve clearly seen. Just being an athiest isn’t enough, you must also profess to the faith or you’ll be cast out for blasphemey. How many youtube videos and various mini news shows that pride themselves on being athiests spend all their time talking about the feminist faith? All of them. They all spend their time glorifying women and ridiculing the men who commit heresy.
A thousand articles a day preach the faith non stop. A good man will always be in reference to how beneficial he is to a woman, or how he is like a woman. A man can never be good just for existing, yet a woman is always good just for existing.
If something bad happens it’s because it is too masculine, to male or anything associated with the patriarchy. Conversely, anything good is feminine and woman. Is there global warming? If so, it affects women worse and something must be done. Did a million men just get slaughtered in Afganistan? We’ll call them insurgents, rebels or terrorists. Pick a name, mindless automatons of no value. Did a woman not get her masters in humanities in Afganistan? The answer is always to kill a million more automatons.
The UN screams that women have the “right” to an education in Pakistan. Is education a right? You have the right to life, property and freedom, education isn’t a right. And what will this education entail? We’ve been taught the feminist faith. Never hit a woman, our second in command calls it the worst crime. We can teach them to ridicule God, deny his existance. We can teach them a man has no rights to his unborn child or born child. We can teach them how to destroy the family. We can teach them to be gay, trans, to slutwalk, to be hateful, to be disloyal. Polyamorous? Sure we can teach that. Adultery? It’s not even a crime. Abortion? You bet.
Will we teach them that adultery is wrong, to be sexually loyal for life, that modesty is the best policy, to love and support you husband, that your family is the most important thing in your life? Will we teach them morals, self restraint, common decency? Are any of these things taught in our schools? No. We will teach them what we’ve been taught.
We will teach them the faith, which is what we’ve been taught. All our laws, all our developing societal norms revolve around the feminist faith. Gender neutral always involves being more feminine. Because feminine is goddess in the flesh, masculine is the devil in the flesh.
I’ve embraced gender neutrality as a part of Me Going My Own Way. I have a weak desire for status, don’t work hard, and feel entitled to the fruits of other peoples labor. Grass Eater? Sure. But I have idiosyncratic ambitions and I’m capable of bouts of toiling. I keep the masculine parts of my personality I like, but I throw in princess-unicorn-sparkles when it suits my sloth and entitlement as a unique snowflake. Me wuv fwuffy video games. I’m an artist, and I would have liked to have been able to generate a livable income with my art, but that’s not happening yet, and I don’t feel bad about it. We live in a culture of over abundance anyways. I’ve disconnected from most material consumerism, which makes life cheap, and being broke in modern America is still luxurious compared to being a wealthy person just 150 years ago. Think of our comforts, toys, etc. shared by the lowest classes. My brain is too pretty to work hard. It should be pampered like a women. I’m going to strut and peacock it around, and whore it out when I can cash it in. If feminist want men to be more like them, and vice versa, then I’ll show them. I can be a real spoiled bitch, and I’ll let the feminist dig all the ditches that divert the sewage of existence away from my ass. Be careful what you wish for, someone may give it to you.
Also OT but worth considering because women are sows at the trough of health care resources (saying that they are hogging the trough would be insulting to boars):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiroemon_Kimura
He’s the man who, if he lives through December 29 (which it already is in Japan), will be the oldest living man since birthday recordkeeping began.
Remember that you have no civil rights if you are dead (granted you have very few civil rights if you are male).
I hope feminists will have to start making concessions in allocation of health care resources because let’s face it, it’s far harder to be male than female and if the opposite were true, women would have shorter average lifespans than men. If anyone is entitled to have the victim mentality, it’s males.
Correction: it is already December 28 in Japan.
I loved it when my sister got new Barbie and Ken dolls because I got to play with her old ones that she for all practical purposes discarded.
Do you know how cool it is to put a firecracker in the armpits and watch the dolls blow up? Or pour rubbing alcohol on them and set them ablaze? (I was only 9 and it is all out of my system).
I hope feminists will have to start making concessions in allocation of health care resources…
Oh they will. But it will be allocating FROM women of color, illegal immigrants, women without children and eventually the aged. When the well runs dry, privilaged white women are at the top of the food chain for resources. Unity among the Feminist Elite will divide across racial/cultural and sexual preference lines, once the revenue stream from working men can no longer sustain the Femocracy of female unique entitlements.
The sisterhood is loosely held together with common resentment of the “privilaged white male class” and “traditionalism”. Once those are minimized to minority influence, she will turn on those within not most like her. Make no mistake, Feminism is about White Female domination.
Keiser Report with Gerald Celente.
The next American Revolution
If you don’t want to see the reality of who is really shafting you and want to leave your tin foil hat on, then fast forward to the 15.30 mark to hear Gerald
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80F8mY1tcxA&list=HL1356640076
Gosh damn NWOslave,you’ve fracking busted it down solid.
Effin aye.
Some of gender is a social construct(dresses, for example,) some of it isn’t.
By the way, feminists lie about wanting to eliminate gender. That’s one of those things they give lip-service to, much like “feminism is good for men.” The lie is uncovered by the fact that they put very little effort into liberating men. They’re quite fine with men’s punishing gender roles, and women enjoying(stealing) the fruits of men’s labor.
JFinn
“Some of gender is a social construct(dresses, for example,) some of it isn’t.”
Yeah, if you get the chance, try telling a Scotsman his kilt is a dress LOL
Uncle Elmer
“I really wanted a “GI Joe” when I was a kid but the old man tole me dolls were for girls.”
Luxury !
We had it tough. I really wanted an “Action Man” and got an empty box. My old man told me it was an AWOL Action Man .
@NWOslave
Enough already with the atheism = feminism.
Go read what Dalrock (http://dalrock.wordpress.com) and Sunshine Mary (http://thewomanandthedragon.wordpress.com) have to say about Churchianity.
By the way, “I believe that God doesn’t exist” =/= “I don’t believe that God exists”, and only one position could qualify as a religion.
Bill, your use of the oven is a scream! I had the 1963 version, the one that you could only slide a shallow pan into (and cut your fingers if not careful). The later ones took bigger pans, and GI Joes, I see. The Easy-Bake was neat for melting crayons in. I used to make pancake shaped multicolored crayon wheels in mine.
Toy makers aren’t stupid, they know that little girls will flock to anything pink, purple, a veil, or sparkles, despite the beliefs of the parents!
@ Oddsock
LOL. I forgot about the Scots. I was thinking about some modern middle eastern cultures and many ancient cultures, like the Greek Togas. Our forefathers wore makeup and wigs.
The lie is uncovered by the fact that they put very little effort into liberating men.
To them, men becoming nurturing stay-at-home mommies IS liberation. Masculinity is only good if women are doing it. It’s about the death of femininity, abolish gender roles – so men stop behaving like men, and women start behaving more like caricatures of men.
“Back when sex differences were not only accepted nearly universally, but celebrated as well, toys were a lot more subdued. Did toy soldiers before the 1970s, when feminism really took off, have bulging, steroid-enhanced muscles and oversize guns?”
Movies too. I recently saw a WWII-era film made by the Hollywood propaganda film makers (they all were, then). It depicted a group of men who were flying a B52 to Hawaii the day of Pearl Harbor. They saw it all happen.
Were these men big-biceps, tobacco chewing, swearing, jap-hating guys who toted enormous guns?
Nope. These were the nicest guys you could meet, who were patriotic but also considerate of each others feelings. I knew two guys just like them, regular guys (both about 5’7″, 140 pounds) – my dad and his brother, from a small town. One fought in the South Pacific, the other landed on D-Day and made it all the way to Berlin.
I do think that by occupying the central ground in our culture, women have forced men to the extreme.