Barbie Dolls and Beyblades
My elementary school had these large, dried out, shallow sinks by the playground. They made the perfect Beyblade arenas.
Beyblades are these decorative metal tops which you’d wind up with a special device and launch into battle. Like many localized Japanese toys it was also accompanied by a cartoon on TV. Most mornings before the bell rang, a group of kids could usually be found yelling “LET IT RIP!”, as a handful of tops spun into action inside one of these dusty basins. I’d always watch from a distance, admiring the different models from the cartoon. It wasn’t until fourth grade when I finally got a Beyblade of my own: the immaculate Cosmic Pegasus.
The next morning I was so incredibly excited to actually have a real battle. I approached a sink surrounded by a handful of other kids and launched my top into the crowded arena. Within seconds, a hand reached out and grabbed my top while a boy younger than me promptly exclaimed, “You can’t play with us. You’re a girl.”
I can’t recall a time where I didn’t understand that children’s toys were gendered. From a young age, seeing ads on TV and in stores helped me realize that blue was for boys and pink was for girls. Regardless, I liked both kinds of toys.
By default many friends and family gifted me dolls- what young girl doesn’t want dolls? I wasn’t one to refuse a toy either, and my twin sister and I loved playing with our Barbies. We’d dress them up, create characters and stories, and play in our imaginary world for hours on end. As much as these fashionable figures made me happy, I yearned for the things that all my guy friends had. My parents picked up on my love of these “boy toys”, and were fine with getting me a handful of Pokémon cards and real metal Beyblades. I could always tell they weren’t completely neutral though. Receiving a hot pink three story Barbie Dream House from them was no big deal, but the Nintendo DS I begged to have for years? Never.
Because of my complex relationship with the types of toys- wanting or appreciating all of them but only allowed some- I’ve picked up a mix of traits from both ends of the gendered toy spectrum.
According to research compiled by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC):
“… girls’ toys were associated with physical attractiveness, nurturing, and domestic skill, whereas boys’ toys were rated as violent, competitive, exciting, and somewhat dangerous. The toys rated as most likely to be educational and to develop children’s physical, cognitive, artistic, and other skills were typically categorized as neutral or moderately masculine. We concluded that strongly gender-typed toys appear to be less supportive of optimal development than neutral or moderately gender-typed toys.”
And from my own perspective growing up, boys’ play also encourages risk taking, strategy, and physical creation. They’re also oddly aggressive, with much of it being inspired by weaponry and battle. On the other hand, classic toys for girls develop empathy, compassion, and artistry. Toys like dolls and bracelet makers suggest young girls to play together, unlike Nerf guns and race cars which imply boys should battle against each other.
Video games are generally considered a boy’s toy. They weren’t always, but thanks to some marketing decisions in the 90’s, most games and console systems are targeted towards young boys. I didn’t get to play many video games growing up, and that puts me in a weird spot as a game designer today. A bit of my Beyblade experience comes in handy when considering game action, strategy, and mechanics, but what, if anything, did I gain from playing with Barbies?
Turns out that playing make-believe with my dolls is much more like playing video games than you’d think. One of my professors last semester, Cynthia Woll, was a producer on Barbie Magic Hair Styler (1997) and Dungeons & Dragons Online (2006). During our first class with her, she explained how they were essentially the same thing; behind the glittery makeup and fashion or dark swords and sorcery is a character creation based role playing game. Most of the class got a solid laugh about the somewhat stretched comparison, but it made a lot of sense to me.
As kids, our forms of play are often restricted based on gender. Thus young boys and girls grow up developing different sets of social skills and different assumptions about where those skills apply in the “real world”. I’m honestly a much better designer because of the artistry and empathy I gained from my girl toys than from the aggression and competitive drive I gained from the boy toys.
I’m now facing a male dominated industry with that in mind. It’s just like those playground sink arenas. I’m ready for this battle though, armed with Cosmic Pegasus in one hand and my favorite Barbie with her best outfit on in the other.
Works Cited
Lien, Tracey. “No Girls Allowed.” Polygon, 2 Dec. 2013, www.polygon.com/features/2013/12/2/5143856/no-girls-allowed.
“What the Research Says: Gender-Typed Toys.” NAEYC, www.naeyc.org/resources/topics/play/gender-typed-toys.
