boy vs girl

Alison - posted on 03/10/2010

Some toys are not suitable for children in my opinion, but I wouldn't go as far as making toys gender specific.

Lyndsay - posted on 03/09/2010

I wouldn't let my son play with a Barbie, plain and simple. I can understand boys growing up with older sisters, that is a totally different story. But my son is an only child and I would not buy him a Barbie or Bratz doll, or any of those things, simply because I don't want him to be penalized and made fun of. Fortunately for me, he loves cars and trucks and construction vehicles, which are "boy" toys, so it hasn't really been an issue. When we go out to playgroups, he sometimes pushes around the little baby doll in the stroller and I have no problem with that. But I still wouldn't buy him his own little doll.

Amy - posted on 03/09/2010

well, my son's favorite toy is his sister's bitty baby doll. she never plays with it. he drags it evcverywhere. my husband just laughs and thinks he's cute. daughter likes her cars, a raccoon hide from grandpa, and her imaginary friends. most of our toys are pretty neutral. lincoln logs, legos, fisher price farms/zoos, books, balls. i don't think anything is wrong with letting boys play with girl toys. although kids tend to play more with laundry baskets and pots and pans than anything we give them. i agree that dads tend to have more of an issue with it than moms

Kate CP - posted on 03/09/2010

Honestly I don't think there's anything wrong with letting girls play with trucks, GI Joes, and Leggos. I don't think there's anything wrong letting little boys play dress up, play with dolls, or play with pretend kitchens (play house). My daughter has toys for "boys" and for "girls". And if I ever have a son, so will he.

Jennifer - posted on 03/09/2010

When I was little I was a complete tomboy and loved playing with "boys toys" - Action Man etc. My parents didn't discourage me, they let me play with what I wanted to and I havn't suffered as a result. I'm not the girliest girl but I take pride in my appearance and love being a woman! Yet on the other scale one of our neighbours (a boy) loved playing with my sister's dolls and his dad was not impressed and banned him from playing with them (pathetic I know). I think as long as they are playing with age appropriate toys it's fine.

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 12/16/2009

I don't think it matters. If I have a son and he wants to play with dolls then I wouldn't care. It may take some convincing for Dad, though. One of my professors and her friend tried to give their children 'gender neutral' toys like wooden blocks. They tried to avoid giving the daughter dolls and the son cars. They got together for a play date and watched the kids play. Her daughter had a blocked wrapped up in a blanket and was holding it like a baby. Her friend's son was pushing a block on the floor and making car noises. It seems like girls lean toward the dolls, playing house etc and boys lean toward cars and dinosaurs...I still think it's ok if boys want to play with dolls. It seems like it's the Dad that has more of a problem with it. I've worked in a preschool and it really freaks Dads out when they come in and see their son in a dress.

Holly - posted on 12/16/2009

I would not have a problem if my daughter wanted to play with dump trucks, or a race car.. or whatever other "boy's" toy she wanted, as long as I agreed with what it was (no guns, no yugioh, etc.) I think it is more socially unacceptible for boys to play with "girl's" toys.. not necessarily from the female perspective (moms), but from the male. "No son of mine is going to grow up a sissy" they may say.. just the whole macho front they like so much. I'm very thankful my husband is not like that lol

Meghan - posted on 12/16/2009

i have one child- my son. i dont mind him at all playing with the stero typical "girls toy" infact, in his play room he has a kitchen, grocery trolly, a toy buggy, and an insane amount of soft toys. and he plays with them all, he is 3 next month. at the moment he is playing with the buggy, a teddy, and has a play hand bag on.LOL. the same will go for my daughter, she will have car toys, fire trucks, gunge, anything she wishes.

at the end of the day it is what our children are into that matters.

Amy - posted on 12/16/2009

I think that if a child wants to play with something age appropriate, then let them. If I had a girl, i would buy the girl dalls and stuff just because I think there cool, but if she wouldn't like to play with them I would stop buying them.

When I was growing up I played with my mom's Jane West Horse, I didn't like barbies I would just cut all there hair off.

Basically I don't think I would give a barbie or dall to my son unless he asked for one. I wouldn't care if he played with it, and if he really like one then as long as it keeps him happy and out of trouble :)

Charlie - posted on 12/16/2009

Whatever takes their interest and is age appropriate is fine it doesnt bother me if Cooper wants to play with a doll it certainly wouldnt bother me if my daughter wanted to play with a truck , we as adults have given objects and colours genders , children will always gravitate towards certain things but it shouldnt be because thats what we deem to be gender fit .

Lindsay - posted on 12/15/2009

Since I have a girl and a boy very close in age, we have both gender toys in our house. They both play with both but I don't see it as a big deal. Actually, just today Cooper was in a pair of my heels and running through the house with a purse and throwing a football. And Madeline was chasing him with a firetruck!

Jodi - posted on 12/15/2009

I don't think anyone expects you to give up the battle. You feel it is important, so you should never give up on it at all. We all pick our battles, depending on what we feel strongly about :)

Stefanie - posted on 12/15/2009

Well, it's something we take seriously (after all, we are pacifists) but it's not as big a deal as people think. I don't see it as something to freak out over but just something to teach them not to re-enact when the subject comes up. I'm not sure why everyone expects us to give up this "battle" when they wouldn't expect us to give up on correcting equally inappropriate behavior... maybe that's a topic better saved for another debate. lol

Jodi - posted on 12/15/2009

Oh, well in that case, it won't be the same issue, LOL. For some reason, its the boys who seem to gravitate. No, I didn't have a hard time with it. I just didn't take it too seriously.

Stefanie - posted on 12/15/2009

I don't have a boy. Only girls here and they will be home schooled. They've been around children who played with guns before (cousins and kids at the park) and as soon as the guns come out we leave. I don't freak out on them. I tell them, "That's not nice. We don't do that." and they have never questioned me on it. They even censor themselves and leave when other kids try to get them to play. It's seriously not an issue for us. Sorry you guys had such a hard time with it.
When they are older I'll have grandma teach them about why we don't play with guns (my mom's a cop).

Jodi - posted on 12/15/2009

Stefanie, you will probably find once he starts school (unless you are homeschooling) and interacting with other boys his own age, it will be inevitable. Our boys did it, but honestly, they are not doing it out of violence, it is usually just some creative play. We never let our kids watch anything violent either, but they just seem to pick up on these things. Whatever you do, don't panic if they do - they are just being kids, it doesn't have any bearing on how they play later, and it doesn't mean they have violent thoughts or tendencies. Our boys are now 12 and 10 and they don't play like that any more at all.

Stefanie - posted on 12/15/2009

My oldest is four and so far we haven't had any issues. We are pretty restrictive with their TV viewing so even when they see a gun they don't know what to do with it. When my 4 year old picked up her cousin's toy gun she thought it was a telescope to look through. lol
But, like anything else, eventually they will try it and have to be taught that some things we just don't mimic.

Jodi - posted on 12/15/2009

I agree Laura. Boys will find a stick that is as close to a gun look-a-like as they can. And I am in Australia, where no-one really has guns in their house, the kids still try to pretend regardless of whether they have a toy one or not.

Isobel - posted on 12/15/2009

Good luck with that gun thing...by the time they are six, they pretty much turn anything they pick up into a gun (an umbrella, a stick, their fingers...and on and on) LOL

Krista - posted on 12/15/2009

I'll let my kids play with whatever they want, as long as it's age-appropriate. I'm not going to force dolls on Sam to try to make him more nurturing, but if he wants a doll, he'll get a doll. I'm not going to make the "gender" of his toys into an issue. Kids like what they like.

Jodi - posted on 12/15/2009

We don't tell boys that!! My son had a doll when he was little, because he wanted one, so I got him one. So what? He is now 12, and happily plays with his little sister with her Barbies and dollhouse (although he'd kill me if I said anything about it to his friends, LOL). I don't freak out about it. How is it not normal?

Stefanie - posted on 12/15/2009

I let my girls play with any toy that's age appropriate. We don't discriminate here. :-)

Some toys are off limits (Barbie, make up, Bratz, GI Joe, Guns, and such) but not b/c of boy vs girl reasons. Mostly b/c of overly sexual or violence associated with the toy in question.