The development of a new collection of engineering and construction focused toys, called GoldieBlox, targeted at girls has initiated a debate over the gender stereotyping of toys for children. Debbie Sterling, an engineering graduate from Stanford University, developed GoldieBlox with the intention of inspiring girls to develop their interest in the fields of math and engineering. While the creation of GoldieBlox gives more educational opportunities to girls, it has spurred a debate over the affects it is having in gender stereotyping for children. Many opponents to GoldieBlox argue that Debbie Sterling by creating more gender specific toys is actually highlighting the gender stereotypes and thereby broadening the differences between genders. Since most engineering-focused toys are directed towards boys and no one is doing anything to change the targets of existing toys, Sterling’s new collection of toys has the potential for great success in raising the number of girls and women interesting in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) subjects.
GoldieBlox got its recognition from their advertisement that went viral. The commercial that got over 8 million views on YouTube shows a group of girls watching princesses on TV and expressing extreme boredom. So as a solution, they create a Rube Goldberg type apparatus that shows their intellectual capabilities and interest in scientific fields. The device travels around their house, through the kitchen, through the garage, into the front yard, and back into the house with the final step as turning off the TV, making the princesses disappear. The apparatus is composed of stereotypical girl objects such as purses, Barbies, tea sets, and various pink objects, but used in a different context. The point of the commercial is to show that girls can be just as interested in science and engineering as are boys, but still act like girls.
Sterling states that the development of GoldieBlox was inspired by her frustration with the lack of women in her engineering program at Stanford. She combined this frustration with her knowledge that gender identification begins around preschool and is heavily influenced by the educational toys that specific genders are given. Engineering and math are typically male-dominated professions, as indicated by only 11% of engineers being women (Dockterman 2020). Throughout the many components of feminism we have discussed in class, the second wave feminism and more specifically, equality in the work place is strongly related to this article. Betty Friedan, as the founder and president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), led the fight for women’s equality and in her article, “The Problem That Has No Name,” she discusses how fewer women are choosing to work outside the home. Yet when women do opt to work outside of the home, they often choose low-paying jobs that do not require particular or extraordinary qualifications. While today, more and more women are choosing professions that take them out of the house and away from housework and caretaking of children. And when they do pursue a profession and forego remaining home, they face an additional challenge of not being paid as much as men. Over time, this gender wage gap is only modestly abating. Ann Crittenden, another author we studied in class, discusses the disadvantages mothers face in the workforce, which she refers to as “The Mommy Tax”. She begins by discussing that women only make 89 cents to the man’s dollar. But this statistic only includes women without children compared to men without children, ignoring the fact that women with children in the workplace are the most disadvantaged demographic in the working world. Many argue that women are paid less because they choose jobs that traditionally pay less. But, as Debbie Sterling points out, a woman’s choice of profession is influenced by her upbringing and starts with the toys she may have been given during her early development.
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| This is an example of a set of GoldieBlox |
A response to Sweet’s critique is that toy stores such as Toys ‘R’ Us are organized in a way that boys and girls toys are segregated. Contrariwise, in the United Kingdom, toy stores are beginning to rearrange their aisles and shelves thematically by interest rather than by gender. Because the United States has shown no intention of following this trend, Sterling believes that she has no choice but to make her product gender specific because if it were gender neutral, it would get lost in the sea of the “boy’s aisle”. Now the primarily gender-neutral yellow packaging of her product can stand out in a pink aisle. But economically, keeping products gender neutral can cause a decrease in sales. Making products that are targeted at both genders, like bikes and balls, a gender-neutral color, has been shown to inhibit a child from choosing them. Instead of making yellow and green bikes, manufacturers are choosing to paint them pink and blue in order to attract a more specific market and increase sales.
Another issue addressed by Sterling is the problem with today’s popular culture. Although more television shows are developing female leads, the shows focused around intellectuals and geniuses have male lead-roles. For example, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Bill Nye the Science Guy, clearly denote male-dominated intelligence, while there are few shows that demonstrate the intelligence of women. When television shows do portray women as intelligent, they are not seen as smart, but nerdy. They wear glasses like Velma from Scooby Doo, who is a genius, but is accompanied by another girl, Daphne, who lacks intelligence but excels in beauty (here is a clip from Scooby Doo to show how they differ). It shows the complex idea discussed by Susan Douglas in Enlightened Sexism, where women are seen as having either intelligence or beauty, but not both. Women who are smart are not seen as attractive, while beautiful women are not taken seriously. Debbie Sterling had this in mind when creating her character, Goldie, which represents a pretty little girl who also likes to build mechanisms and do science experiments. Sterling notes that the lack of female role models in the science realm is a main component to the lack of girls interested in STEM. In comparison to boys, girls develop social skills earlier and learn better when characters and a story are involved. Therefore, creating the character, Goldie, satisfies a girl’s love of a narrative with an interest in scientific fields.
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| Goldie |
We have discussed in class how toys are gender specific and the choices given to children are not really choices at all, but are part of their selected identity that contributes to their adolescent development. Seeing this used in the context of a specific toy with a targeted purpose makes understanding the situation much easier. While critics argue that Debbie Sterling is creating a deeper divide between genders, she is simply trying to create a more equal playing field. She wants girls to have more interests and professional options, and is just working under the circumstances that she is given.
Works Cited
Boydston, Jeanne. "The Cult of True Womanhood." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2020.
Crittenden, Ann. "The Mommy Tax." The Price of Motherhood: Why the Most
Important Job in the World Is Still the Least Valued. New York: Metropolitan, 2001. 87-109. Print.
Douglas, Susan J. Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message That Feminism's Work Is
Done. New York: Times, 2010. Print.
Friedan, Betty. "The Problem That Has No Name." The Feminine Mystique. New York:
W.W. Norton, 1963. N. pag. Print.
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