I am one of those parents who believe that my kids can and should be allowed to play with any toys they want regardless of their gender. However, my current stand on toys like guns (with the exception of water guns) and ammunition etc is a strict no-no since my boys are still young. I just don't see the need to expose or encourage them to play with toy guns or the like at this stage when there are millions of alternatives to choose. However, I can't say for sure that in future when they may have friends who have such toys or they may want to own a toy gun themselves that I may forbid them to, though I would be an unlikely supporter and certainly wouldn't be recommending it as a choice.
That being said, anyone entering my house would straightaway notice the heaps of toys with wheels that we have and anything else without wheels are still very typical of what a boy would have chosen. Their favourite stuff toys are in the shape of pigs and bears. No dolls and no babies. Though we do have "unisex" toys like music making instruments and puzzles etc.. these are the ones that E and I have picked.
The same goes with colours. I have consciously avoided stereotyping colours as being more/less suitable for one gender than the other. In fact, I love to dress my boys in as many colours as possible (not all at the same time of course!).
So I have bought Marcus a pink toy stroller when he was about 14 months, and E got him a pink t-shirt. I offered to buy him dolls and more feminine looking toys like Hello Kitty to gauge his interest level in the category of toys typically regarded as "girlish". He had always declined my offer.
Once at the toy shops, he pointed at some dolls and said they are for girls, not boys like him. He has also decided that any toys that are pink in colour are for girls. So are pink shoes. It seems like pink is the only colour that he is associating with girls, though he doesn't object when I put on a pink t-shirt on him. He has been fairly neutral and receptive to all other colours which are probably "unisex" to him. He loves red and sometime ago, he would demand we dress him in a red t-shirt everyday for school. Now whenever I ask him what his favourite colour is, his reply is always 'black'. I don't know why since he doesn't own anything that is black, except a few small black cars which he doesn't even play with anymore.
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2 comments:
I have not bought a toy gun for L either and he has not asked for one. Same concerns as you, I suppose. Though that does not stop him from declaring any ol' XYZ object to be a "gun" for shooting animals. Which is not really objectionable, but he even shoots me and I have to die! Sigh, even Bambi, with its hunters, is a BAD influence, tsk tsk.
Oh, and it is so hard to find pink T-shirts for boys, isn't it...there's probably not much demand given the stereotypes.
Val
Haha.. Marcus doesn't play shooting games yet, though he does occasionally comment when he is upset about someone that he will do throw or kick him till he dies. Oops!! I find that worrisome and still can't figure out what gives him the idea.
Actually if he is really intrigued with a toy gun and asks for one, I may buy him one but use that opportunity to 'teach' him something about war. :)
Yes, it is hard to find pink tees for boys. Actually I think my boys will look nice in purple. Hee hee.
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