Gender Roles Of Gender And Gender In Walmart

Walmart is one of the well-known children’s toy store in the United States and so, I decided to visit the store nearby my house on Davis Street in San Leandro. The store was pretty clean and less busy during the day. This Walmart is vastly huge; perhaps the reason they placed large department and gender signs over the aisles so these would help shoppers easily locate and get the items they are looking for. As a matter of fact, these department signs (e.g. Baby and Toys) and gender signs (e.g. Girls and Boys) helped me find the toy department quickly.
Based on my observation, Walmart is one of the toy retailers labeled and categorized toys by gender. They placed “Girls” and “Boys” signs over their toy aisles. Initially, I studied the toys under …show more content…

That is, boys will customarily receive blue clothing or toys while pink clothing or toys will be for girls. “Children‘s toys and games are also differentiated on the basis of sex” (Diekman and Murnen 2004; Seccombe p.99). Through these toys or playing with these toys, boys and girls would eventually distinguish the differences between male and female; also, may strengthen, and perpetuate the traditional gender stereotypes. For instance, boys or men are expected to act and behave in ways that have been considered masculine or associated with masculinity (Seccombe p.104); “men are often assumed to be more aggressive, sexual, unemotional, rational, and task oriented than women” (Seccombe p.93); and thus, action figures, such as Superman, WWE wrestling toys, and Hulk are made for boys to play with. While girls or women’s roles are associated with femininity (Seccombe p.104); “women are assumed to be more nurturing, passive, and dependent” (Seccombe p.93); and so, cooking and baking set and baby dolls with bottle feeding and diapering set are made for girls, so, they could apply their nurturing and culinary skills when they get older and mainly do household chores. Personally, I believe these toys have both negative and positive influence on children’s socialization. For instance, playing with toy guns or military toy set with a knife may lead to early exposure to violence and aggression. However, some toys, such as Lego building set and blocks, arts and crafts have a powerful and influential influence on children’s thinking and