Toy Op-ed Reflection

Charlie McGill
Mr. Roddy
IHSS
10.3.18
Toy Op-ed Reflection
My opinion on these Op-eds is that the toy companies get too much grief for their gender specific toys and gender specific advertising. The reason I say this is because I believe that it is not the companies fault that they make gendered toys and advertise to specific genders, but the consumers. The toy companies would not be doing this if they didn't have a reason to, and the only logical reason for their gendered toys is that they are making a profit off of them. I have seen plenty of kids, both boys and girls, who only own and play with toys that are advertised to their gender, myself included except for a few rare exceptions. Many parents also buy kids toys that are supposed to be for their gender. Because of all of these reasons, I see no reason for the companies to change until the consumers do.
I think that this phenomenon is closest to Conflict Theory in terms of sociological theory. The reason I think this is because of how the social inequalities and differences between the people who own the toy companies and the people who want the toy companies to make toys more gender neutral are too large. Heads of big corporations tend to be more focused on profit then social issues, and since their is much profit to be made in gender specific toys, the only way for activists to see more gender neutral toys would be to try and spark change in consumers, not companies. If I were an activist, instead of writing articles criticizing big companies, I would try and spark change within Universities, communities, and only when there is a big enough following, companies.

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