When it comes to toys, with intention or not, a halo of sexism is always in the air. The typical cliché of dolls for girls, cars for boys. Even sometimes it is the toy stores themselves that encourage it, so I was glad to know that Toys "R" Us stops differentiating toys "for girls" and "for boys" in the UK.
The British subsidiary has announced that it will stop differentiating its toys by sex, so both in its stores and in its marketing communication actions it will stop referring to toys "for boys" or "for girls", and will show both of them playing With all kinds of toys. Bravo!
It is evident that boys and girls feel predilection for certain toys. In fact, it is believed that this preference is genetic and that after nine months they show greater interest in sex-specific toys.
However, this does not mean that a boy cannot play with dolls or do housework, or that a girl cannot play with guns or cars. It is absurd to pigeonhole children and limit them the toys they should play with just because they are one or the other sex.
The child, whether male or female, has to experiment with all kinds of toys. Society changes and we have to allow them to freely choose what they want. Today, more and more children are playing kitchens or cleaning the house. Why? Because they see that dad also does it at home.
The Toys "R" Us initiative is backed by the actions of Let Toys Be Toys ("Let the toys be toys"), a consumer association that works precisely to avoid such sex differentiation in toys. In fact, it has made large companies stop indicating in their halls to whom the toys they sell are aimed.
In addition, to support the cause, a movement of Swedish students achieved that in the Christmas catalog of Toys "R" Us last year were included images free of segregating ideas such as the one we see on the cover of the child's post playing to dry the hair.
Toys are tools for the game, and as such, we must make them available for them to choose freely how and with what to play, regardless of sex.
