Comparing my Local Grocery Store to Walmart

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Recommended: Gender representation in the media

For this assignment, I decided to go to a grocery store by my house named Meijer. Meijer is just like any other grocery store, similar to Wal-Mart, yet higher quality products than Wal-Mart.
The clothing for both boys and girls sections are close together. I noticed that there are articles of clothing that are similar for boys and girls, but they are called different names to make them more masculine or feminine. For example, shirts for girls are called fashion tops and just shirts for boys. Some patterns that I saw in the clothing/toys is that for almost each advertisement or label had a picture of a boy or a girl to indicate which toy or clothing is meant for which gender. I did find some things that I thought were unusual. One thing that I noticed for boys is that the majority of the boys toys were more expensive compared to the girls toys. For example, I did not realize how expensive Legos and other building toys were compared to some dolls for girls. A set of Legos could be up to sixty dollars just for one set! Another thing that I noticed about the boys toys was that there were a lot more choices in ratio to girl’s toys. For girls, one could either choose from dolls (Barbie’s), dress up clothes, or play make-up. As for boys, there is so much more to choose from, they have cars/trucks, sports equipment, Legos, guns, different trading cards (Pokémon, Yugioh, sports trading cards, etc.)
As I was browsing through the store, I started to think about what these different types of clothing/toys were teaching these children to be and act like. This could connect back to symbolic interactionism because the labels, advertising, designs, and colors can represent the socialization in children. An example would be dress up make-up f...

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...sed to them makes me more interested and intrigued by the material we are learning in class. I think children’s clothing/toys have a significant impact on gender socialization and gender inequality. I saw this because when kids are young, they are learning and picking up different things every day. If they see their friends doing something, they will most likely follow in their footsteps because they feel that’s what it takes to be like the other kids. I do not think parents actually realize the impact they have on their children when they buy them specific gender specified clothing and toys. At the same level, parents want their children to be the same as their other parent friends because if their children are different, that means the parents are deemed different as well. I think this activity will definitely make me second guess on what I am buying for my child.

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