Children keep learning new things through play. Children’s toys have a great impact on their lives and behaviour. Recognizing this, recently Denmark’s largest toy maker ‘Lego’ has decided not to make toys according to gender. The company has taken this step so that children stay away from discrimination or inferiority complex due to toys. A global research is behind this decision. Children aged 6 to 14 years from different countries were included in this research. Research found that 71% of boys often shy away from playing with girls’ toys. The boys think that this will make fun of them. At the same time, girls are kept away from creative games. Boys’ toys are associated with science, technology, engineering, maths and sports, while girls’ toys are mostly associated with fashion, children, kitchen and household chores.
Seeing this difference between toys in childhood, its effect remains in the mind of children even after growing up. To overcome this, toys will no longer be made on the basis of gender. Let us tell you that the company has removed the ‘Girls’ and ‘Boys’ section from its website, now it will get toys according to the choice of children, which includes robots, vehicles, buildings, ninjas, dragons and princesses.
Gender of these toys has also been removed
This is not the first time that there has been a demand to remove gender from children’s toys. Its demand has been rising all over the world in the past.
Mr. Disappeared from ‘potato head’ – American toy company Hasbro has given Mr. Bye-bye to its most famous cartoon character ‘Mr.potato head’ in February this year. It has been made gender neutral. Now not only boys but girls will also be able to play with this toy. However, for this change, there was a lot of drag on the social media of the company, because this toy has been sold in America’s toy shops since 1952. This character has also appeared in the ‘Toy Story’ cartoon film, which is quite popular among children.
Gender Neutral Doll for the First Time – Can you imagine a doll that not only girls but boys can also play with? America’s largest toy company Mattel, which makes toys like ‘Barbie’ and ‘Hot Wheels’, launched gender neutral dolls in 2019. It was named ‘GI Joe Dolls’. These dolls were not kept wide shoulders, nor were the large eyelashes and lipstick removed. Be it a girl or a boy both can play with it. Even their clothes were kept gender neutral.
Indian girls’ toys are limited to kitchen sets, dolls and fashion
If you have ever given a birthday gift to a child, then you must have taken a trip to the gift shop. As soon as you reach there, you will see the shop divided into two parts. One section will be full of pink, with a variety of Barbie dolls, kitchen sets and teddy bears. At the same time, the other part of the shop will be visible in blue color. Here all the toys of robots, cars, trucks, machines, buildings and superheroes will be seen. You go to any gift shop in India, you will get the same view everywhere. Seeing the design and packaging of the toy, you can easily understand for which gender this toy is made.