In marketing Marketing is often focused on
targeting specific demographics and creating products focused on specific genders. Public views on gender-specific marketing have gained media attention in recent years. For example, a protest against a
Bic pen
"Bic for her" that was targeted towards women by the posting of thousands of fake reviews of the pen mocking its female-specific advertising.
Children's toys In the marketing of children's toys, gender-specific marketing has been very prevalent. According to a study conducted in 2012, "children learn about the toys seen as appropriate for their gender not only from adults and children but also through the media, which serves as an important source of socialization and gender socialization." Color palettes and types of toys are gendered characteristics of the toys marketed to either boys or girls. The results of the study mentioned above, showed that "toys that were pastel colored were much more likely to be marketed as toys for 'only girls', while bold colored toys were much more likely to be marketed as toys for 'boys only'" and also found that blue was a more gender-neutral color. Action toys, like cars, weapons, and building toys are marketed toward boys, while toys that have to do with beauty and domestic work are marketed towards girls. According to Lauren Spinner, "Portrayals of boys tend to emphasize masculine gender roles and stereotypically masculine play and toys, whereas portrayals of girls tend to emphasize feminine gender roles and stereotypically feminine play and toys". The "color pink did seem to give girls permission to explore masculine toys. This indicates that pink may signify that it is allowable for girls to show interest in counter-stereotypic toys and activities". This gender specific marketing/labeling exposes children to gender roles and that color can be an indicator of gender. Children "show less involvement with toys stereotypically associated with the opposite sex, and they reject such toys more than ones stereotypically associated with their own sex or neutral ones". Toys are a medium for children to form gender stereotypes. Some toys, like stuffed animals, have proven to be gender-neutral and are usually marketed to both boys and girls. Parents also play a large role in building their children's gender socialization, as they are the ones buying the toys for their children. The popularity of making toy advertising gender neutral has been increasing through media such as ads showing boys playing with baby dolls (a toy that has commonly been marketed only towards girls in the past). At a young age for both boys and girls start to identify themselves by their gender role and are limited to what they can or can't do. Not just that, but the environment around young boys and girls also influences their behavior. In 2019,
Mattel, a company with a long brand history within gender typing (e.g.
Barbie), introduced its Creatable World doll line, a new toy that is the "world's first gender neutral doll".
Fashion In the marketing of fashion lines, some designers are beginning to design gender-neutral clothing, that is not labeled as either "men's" or "women's". In today's society gender neutrality is becoming more widely accepted. "Both males and females are now 'allowed' to wear certain clothing items once thought inappropriate for their sex". Women have more freedom because them wearing more masculine clothing, like suits, is generally accepted, but men wearing feminine clothing, like dresses, is less approved. This aspect of gender neutral clothing says "that the world according to (ruling-class) men [is] the only viable one" because most gender neutral clothing looks like typical male clothing.
In education Nicolaigarden and Egalia, two preschools in Sweden, have replaced the terms "girl" and "boy" with the gender neutral pronoun "hen", granting students the ability to challenge or cross gender boundaries. In a study done in 2016 that measured teachers' facilitation of gender-typed and gender-neutral activities during
free play, it was concluded that teachers facilitated masculine activities at higher rates than feminine. It is suggested by the study that, "Informing teachers about this trend may prompt teachers to reflect on their own teaching practices and serve as a catalyst for the promotion of teaching practices that create classroom environments in which boys and girls receive support for engagement with a variety of classroom activities." Other suggestions and pursuits to broaden the mentality behind gender neutrality in schools include • allowing for gender-neutral
prom and
homecoming attendance and courts to accommodate same-sex-coupled and transgender participants • designating gender-neutral bathrooms and on-campus housing • establishing gender-neutral and co-ed fraternal student organizations • not separating toys in gender-specific areas • not having gender-specific sports in
physical education lessons
Dress code The abolishment of certain dress codes has been conserved among institutions depending on the limitations imposed on students and their comfort in such attire. For transgender students, strict dress codes may complicate their path towards confirming their gender identity, a cost which can affect these individuals well throughout their life. Ways in which compliance with attire in institutions can cause reverberations in other areas of life are factors such as lowered academic performance, higher dropout rates, and increased disciplinary action. , 150 primary schools in the United Kingdom have introduced gender neutral uniforms and students feel more in control of their identity as a result of this policy change.
College In 2005,
University of California, Riverside became the first public university campus in the US to offer a gender-neutral housing option. A February 2014
Washington Post article noted that nearly 150 US schools now have gender-neutral housing programs. acknowledge some of the dangers that come as a result to housing options as a member of the LGBTQ community and have also developed separate housing to accommodate such students. In 2016,
La Salle University students voted to have a gender-neutral housing option in their dormitories, which would make La Salle the first
Catholic university in the United States to offer gender-neutral living. This student-led vote caused controversy in Catholic circles across the United States, since it is traditional for Catholic school residence halls to be completely separated by gender. La Salle University has since incorporated accommodating housing options for students and has urged other Catholic universities to make changes in housing policies as well. A growing number of American colleges are adopting chosen name and identity policies. As of June 2022, at least 788 American colleges allow students to use a chosen first name, and at least 242 colleges allow students to designate their personal pronouns.
In parenting Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth describes gender as "the classification of male or female that includes social, psychological, and intellectual characteristics. The theory of gender neutrality claims that biological sex does not inevitably determine social, psychological, and intellectual characteristics." Parental control strategies can be defined as any strategy that a parent uses to alter, change, or influence their child's behavior, thoughts, or feelings. Meta-analysis reveals from Endendijk, "the basis of gender-neutral parenting also known as GNP, does not project a gender onto a child. It allows parents and children to break away from gender binary." Gender-neutral parenting is allowing children to be exposed to a variety of gender types so children can explore their gender without restriction from society or the gender they were born with. Autonomy-supportive strategies provide the child with an appropriate amount of control, a desired amount of choice, acknowledge the child's perspectives and provide the child with meaningful rationales when the choice is constrained. Even if a child does not display gender-bending behaviors, gender neutral parenting allows them to explore and not be constrained in the gender they were born with. This can be through letting them play with non-stereotypical toys for their gender, allowing them to pick their own clothing, allowing them to act more "feminine" or "masculine", and allowing children to question their gender. In the sociology book
Sex Differences in Social Behavior: A Social Role Interpretation, Alice Eagly theorizes that sex differences have been proposed, based on biological factors, early childhood socialization, and other perspectives. This allows children to express themselves without feeling pressure from being extremely masculine or feminine.
Attitudes and judgement towards gender-roles and toys Parent attitudes towards the child can influence child behaviors such as in toy selection. For example, parent, offer children toys and other objects that are gender-specific, such as trucks for boys and dolls for girls. A study done in Austria, where 324 parents participated showed that by parents' judgments about the desirability of different types of toys for their children and how the parents' judgment based on gender-typing of toys, gender role attitudes shows that parents rated same-gender-typed and gender-neutral toys as more desirable for their children than cross-gender-typed toys. This indicates that most traditional parents limit their child interests and behaviors than
egalitarian parents. In terms of education, parents' attitudes towards their child gender reflects on their expectation for the child. Because parents are still unwilling to send their daughters to the schools, there is a low participation rate of female education compared to male. Parents tend to treat their sons and daughters differently, preferring their sons over their daughters due to the gender roles society has placed, considering children as helping hands for their parents. For example, sons should provide economic support while daughters are expected to conform to the house. Although sons are still preferred, the attitudes towards neutrality have steadily increased in the past two decades. Feminist economics such as
Julie A. Nelson argues that for a nonsexist society, the differences are revalued positively while others such as Patricia Elliot believes gender‐specific categories need to be eliminated to enable a positive society. Although gender-neutral parenting allows their children to be able to decide how they experience their gender, non-gender neutral parents believe the children are programmed in from birth to play with gender directed toys, and parents had no influence towards their children selecting a gender-stereotyped toy. Children at a young age start to develop a sense of how everyone starts to dress depending the gender of each individual. For instance, when a girl dresses in a way that contradicts societal norms, she might suffer bullying. According to Kent, Canterbury, states that among children between 3 and 7 years old, "younger girls were more motivated to dress in gender-typed ways than older girls were, and understanding of gender stability (i.e. knowledge that gender remains stable over time) predicted appearance rigidity in both boys and girls".
In children's literature Gender neutrality in children's literature refers to the idea that publishers, writers and illustrators should avoid marketing towards children through the basis of their sex or gender, and should instead focus on expanding content rather than reinforcing social and gender roles. Gender roles and stereotypes permeate our culture and are established through a variety of means such as visual culture or daily interactions with family and peers. Gender neutrality in children's marketing is a growing movement among parents, children and publishers. Although there are many homes to
gender stereotypes, the books that children are encountering have both psychological and social uses during a time when children are constantly constructing ideas from information around them and assimilating new knowledge with previous knowledge. Organizations such as
Let Toys Be Toys,
Let Books Be Books and
Pinkstinks have been gaining publicity for their work in favour of gender neutrality within children's literature and toys.
Representations of gender within picture books Studies at Provider-Parent Partnerships have shown that children begin forming their sense of gender identity at 2–3 years old and begin '
Gender typing' at ages 3–4. In a study surrounding
Gender Perception in Adults, Dr. Kyle Pruett reported: "A defining moment came in gender difference research when a group of male babies were dressed in pink, and then handed to adults who were told they were girls. The adults responded with language and handling styles shown to be classically female-stereotypic: 'adorable, cuddly, sweet, cute,' etc. Female babies in blue were called 'slugger, tough, strong, stubborn,' etc. This is how we simply wind up reinforcing gender-stereotypic behaviors, rather than fostering individual growth and development." The concept of a child developing their sense of self in formative years has been a topic of discussion among cultural theorists as well as in
children's literature criticism. In ''The Pleasures of Children's Literature'', Shulamith Shahar states, "Child raising practices and educational methods as well as parent-child relation are determined not solely by biological laws but are also culturally constructed". Theorists such as
Jacques Lacan and
Judith Butler have contributed to this notion of the formation of an individual's subjectivity and sense of self. Lacan's concept of the
mirror stage has contributed to modern understanding of subjectivity and has since been applied to Children's Literature Criticism and child development. The Mirror Stage refers to the process in which an infant recognizes itself in the mirror for the first time and, "the transformation that takes place in the subject when he assumes an image". As Hamida Bosmajian has stated in ''Understanding Children's Literature'', "The literary text, then, is an image of the unconscious structured like a language." Bosmajian proceeds to write, "When the [Mirror Stage] is given utterance in the reader-interpreter's language, [the meaning] is deferred." Judith Butler's notion of gender performativity also forms correlations to gender-specific children's literature through analyzing the ways characters perform their gender and has been taken up in Children's literature criticism. Butler has defined gender performativity stating: "the production actually happens through a certain kind of repetition and recitation". Butler also relays that, "Performativity is the discursive mode by which ontological effects are installed." Both Butler and Lacan consider repetition as being an underlying factor in forming one's identity which can then be applied to children's literature through the act of children rereading books multiple times.
Studies in representation in children's literature Gender imbalances have continued to appear in children's literature through the lack of diverse representations. In the 2011 issue of
Gender & Society, the study "Gender in Twentieth-Century Children's Books" discovered large disparities. Through looking at almost 6,000 children's books published between 1900 and 2000, the study, led by Janice McCabe, a professor of sociology at Florida State University, found that males are central characters in 57% of children's books published each year, with just 31% having female central characters. Male animals are central characters in 23% of books per year, the study found, while female animals star in only 7.5%. In putting forth these narrow representations of characters, it becomes difficult for a child to identify themselves within gender binaries and roles. In an earlier study in 1971, out of fifty-eight books, twenty-five had a picture of a woman somewhere in them, yet only four did not having a woman (or animal representing a woman) wearing an apron. Many parents read their own childhood favourites to their children, through an endearing plot, or through beautiful illustrations. Although the adult may recognize that the stereotypes may be outdated, the children may lack that criticality in reading these stories. Furthering this portrayal of gender in children's books the ways in which each gender is portrayed is very different. Female characters are much more likely to take on passive and supportive roles whereas male characters fulfill a self-sufficient, strong and active role. This discriminatory portrayal takes place in many children's books and runs the risk of leading children toward a misrepresented and misguided realization of their true potential in their expanding world. Not only are these inequalities present within the books, but gender disparities also exist among those creating children's books. In the 2013
Vida: Women in Literary Arts count, male authors and illustrators drastically outnumbered those who were female (64:21).
In children's literature in the media In March 2014, the British organization, Let Toys Be Toys, expanded to include a children's book specific category, Let Books Be Books. This expansion specifically addressed gender specific titles on books such as ''The Beautiful Girl's Colouring Book
and The Brilliant Boys Colouring Book
and the limitations in which these titles impose upon children. As Katy Guest stated in an article for the Independent'' in March 2014, after Let Books Be Books launched, "What we are doing by pigeon-holing children is badly letting them down. And books, above all things, should be available to any child who is interested in them." As the organization Let Toys Be Toys states, "Just like labeling toys 'for girls' or 'for boys' these books send out very limiting messages to children about what kinds of things are appropriate for girls or for boys." The organization quickly gained momentum and almost immediately acquired over 3000 signatures for their petition causing publishers
Parragon and
Usborne to lend their support and stop publishing gender specific children's books. In a letter in response to this interview
Let Books Be Books expressed the following concerns to Michael O'Mara: "We have been contacted by many parents, teachers and supporters who have serious concerns about several of the titles currently on your website and being marketed in shops across the UK. They believe, as we do, that labeling books by gender narrows children's choices and imaginations by telling them what they 'should' be reading, instead of letting them choose books that interest them."
List of gender-neutral children's literature Although there are many examples of gender-neutral children's literature, the following list contains a few notable examples. •
John Dough and the Cherub –
L. Frank Baum •
Black Dog – Levi Pinfold •
How To –
Julie Morstad •
How to Heal a Broken Wing –
Bob Graham •
Little You –
Richard Van Camp & ill.
Julie Flett •
One Night, Far From Here – Julia Wauters •
Once Upon a Northern Night –
Jean E. Pendziwol & ill. Isabelle Arsenault • ''Ruby's School Walk'' –
Kathryn White & ill. Miriam Latimer • ''Samuel's Baby'' – Mark Elkin & ill. Amy Wummer •
Spork –
Kyo Maclear & ill. Isabelle Arsenault •
Super Daisy – Kes Gray & ill.
Nick Sharratt •
The Big Brother – Stephanie Dagg & ill.
Alan Clarke •
The King & the Seed – Eric Maddern & ill. Paul Hess •
The Sunflower Sword – Mark Sperring & ill. Mirian Latimer •
We Go Together!: A Curious Selection of Affectionate Verse – Calef Brown •
Wild –
Emily Hughes •
Call Me Tree – Maya Christina González ==Activism==