Littlest Pet Shop

Littlest Pet Shop toys that come in packs of one to twenty animals, and can be used with other play sets. Littlest Pet Shop toys are clearly marketed to girls. If the toys and play sets are not visually marketed toward girls, the bedding set clearly gives it away. I am not sure any little boy would be comfortable having his friends stay the night with pink Littlest Pet Shop blankets on his bed.

I have a seven year old that really likes Littlest Pet Shop toys. I personally think it is great, as these toys are wonderful for discovering ones creative side and imagination. Unfortunately, these toys are not marketed in a way that small boys are comfortable playing with them, or even admitting that they like them. There are many commercials that advertise these products, and of the ten I watched on YouTube, none of them feature boys. Here is one example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mms6uLtlIts.

The gender norms are obvious in the advertisements of these products. Many of the play sets are grooming oriented, making it seem as if females are the sex that cares most about appearance. The ads using little girls to represent the population of people that play with these toys gives boys the idea that they cannot like these toys, and the ads almost tell boys it is wrong for them to like these toys. If it were not wrong, why are there no commercials with  boys playing with Littlest Pet Shop toys?

The “Get Better Center” play set comes with pieces that allow children to “doctor” the animals, yet again playing in to the idea that girls are nurturing and like to care of other people and things. Boys toys are not marketed in the same way. When we buy my son WWE wrestling action figures, they are meant to be played with in the WWE ring, and it is to be assumed they are going to “fight.” However, there is no medic action figure available for him to use to doctor up the injured wrestlers.