Fabrìcio's Toy Op-Ed Reflection

Fabricio Guerra
Mr. Roddy
IHSS
1 October 2018 
Seminar Reflection

     Ever since the 1980s and 1990s, toys have split into two sections: toys for boys and toys for girls. Before this happened toys were meant for both boys and girls. Their advertisements showed both boys and girls playing with the toy. However back in the 1930s and 1940s, some toys were meant specifically for boys. These toys included train sets and the famous game Battleship. One of the advertisements for Battleship even included a boy and his father playing battleship and a mother and daughter in the back drying dishes. Back then the toys were split because people actually thought that some toys belonged to boys and others to girls. However, in the 1980s and 1990s, the switchback to segregating toys happened because toy makers realized they could make more money if they had two different set of products, and that's exactly what they did. Fueled by media, advertisements, and social pressures, the gender segregation of toys continued until today. Now in the late 2010s, People started to think that it doesn't have to be this way, and toy companies (over-shadowed by video game companies) are listening to what customers want, so the switch to gender-neutral toys is coming back slowly.

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