This was a train of thought I followed thanks to a laughingplace thread in which there was discussion of the expansion of the World of Disney in DTD. Specifically, the addition of the Bippity Boppity Boutique, aimed at dressing little girls up as princesses with make-up and everything, and an Adventure themed area in which little boys can play video games, and make skulls and pirate hats.

This is going to sound so incredibly PC of me (I swear I am not like this all the time!), but I am getting a little wierded out by the extremely gender specific treatment kids are getting at Disney these days. In an enlightened age where boys and girls can be anything they want, regardless of gender, assuming that every little girl wants to be a princess and every little boy wants pirate hats and video games...seems a little limiting. I wish they would create some imagery, icons, and merchandising that isn't geared specifically for one sex or another. Or at least give the girls some non-girlie-girl options, and the boys some alternative non-violent heroes!

When I was a little girl, I played with GI Joe. I refused to wear dresses, and certainly didn't want to dress up like a princess with sparkles and tiaras. My parents were always supportive, and let me express myself however I wanted. We would go to Disneyland every year, and I can't help but wonder how my life may have been shaped differently in the Disneyland of today, with the HUGE emphasis on every little girl being a princess and every little boy being a soldier or pirate... The marketing and merchandise is most assuredly more in-your-face these days. How would I have felt as a little girl growing up a tomboy today?

I am not asking them to encourage little boys to dress as Cinderella and little girls to be Jack Sparrow. But some kind of response to a new age of humanity in which we are not so firmly entrenched in culturally imposed gender roles. How is Disney responding to that? By adding additional stores and merchandise to delineate the boys from the girls even more...

I am just rambling out loud, but wonder what you all think of this? Don't stop selling the princesses to the girls that love them, but what about some differnet imagery to appeal to those little kids who don't necesarily identify with the gender roles assumed by Disney right now?

I feel that Jessie was the closest they have come to this kind of image for girls, and I saw quite a few little girls latch onto it...but then there was little follow up in any theming or merchandise within the parks to help little Jessie fans connect with their favorite star... Peter Pan is probably the closest I have seen in my life for little boys, but now Peter Pan is "gay" to little boys as they get older. Who can they identify with as they grow up?

Anyway...thoughts?

there is a flip side, though, that shows that boys will gravitate to boy-like activities (for the most part) and girls to more feminine. It's not set in stone -but I have seen so many non-gun items used as guns by boys - without any prodding on parents' part.

To me - this is really just a response to two things
1) how to squeeze even more sales out of kids' lines
2) how to compete with some of the boutiques like the one in DTD for little girls (sorry - can't remember the name).

And - if #2 is a predominant factor then the boys' area is simply to ensure there is some balance... but the real target is girls..

Tangent/antecdote/mini rant alert :) -

When I was about 7 years old they had the Mickey's Birthdayland Happy Meal at McDonalds with Disney characters in little cars, and I naturally wanted to collect every toy. When Minnie Mouse was the toy of the week, they gave me a toy of that Big Mac moonheaded character McDonald's used to have, because they automatically presumed I wouldn't want a toy of a girl character in a pink car. (EDIT - Oh, by the way, I gave back the moonheaded guy, which I already had, and got the Minnie toy :D) But I think I was a rather unusual little boy, as I didn't like sports (though I did love video games), and saw nothing wrong with playing with My Little Ponies, watching "Jem", or visiting Minnie's House in Toontown. (I got a real kick out of that little animated dishwasher)

I think that some recent female animated characters, like Disney's Kim Possible and Cartoon Network's Juniper Lee, and Raven and Starfire from Teen Titans - can appeal a lot more across the board. (I watch a lot of cartoons :) ) I'm still waiting for a female character to be the leader of a co-ed superhero team though, (or will Iris "Identity" Deck, the lead in a graphic novel concept of mine, be the first?)

I think it's more the commercials and the promotions that are gender- divided. It's always struck me as funny - even when I was a kid - how extremely archetypically girlish the girls in girl toy commercials are and how extremely archetypically boyish the boys in boy commercials are.

My 6 year old girl tends to gravitate more to the princess stuff although she seems to be outgrowing that but my 3 year old girl LOVES pirates. She wanted only one thing for Christmas last year, the Playmobile Pirate ship she saw at Costco.

That's another beef with Disney toys for kids. That Playmobile pirate ship is great. They've played with it all year and it has taken the abuse and keeps on floating. The Disney toys are junk and cost as much, or more.

My kids do not watch any commercial television, so I suspect they are more sheltered from marketing than many kids their age but it is all over, not just on tv.