Dolls, prams and all things pink are for girls. Cars, toy swords and LEGO are for Boys. Yeah, I don't think many of us think like that any more. Boys and girls are often more than happy to pick up a doll or a car and if they don't it's more than likely down to personal preference rather than gender.
Amazon have taken a pretty bold step and removed all gender filters on Toys. This may be annoying to some people who do wish to choose between toys that were traditionally seen as boys or girls. Instead, now you can search by age group. Amazon are such a huge retailer, that I can really see this happening in coming years throughout the High Street also. Gender categorised toys will be no longer.
My generation (80's) were taught that Barbies were for girls and Hot Wheels were for boys. I was allowed to play with toy cars as well as my Cabbage Patch Kid. The thing is there was nothing wrong with me playing football at every given opportunity in my school skirt, apart from the fact my legs were covered in scabs and bruises.
It has never personally bothered me what my little ones played with. They (boys) have dressed up as fairies, pushed a doll's pram and even took an interest in my make-up. Shock Horror! My way of thinking is one day they will push a real pram with their child in it, they might choose to become a make-up artist and if they want to dress up as a fairy then why not, it's no more bizarre than being a dinosaur.
Play kitchens are often aimed at little girls, when a LOT of top chefs in the United Kingdom are in fact male. Construction toys marketed for boys, or the girls ones are coloured pink. It definitely stems from old values and beliefs.
Whether we agree or not with "gender blending" as I call it, Amazon have shown a change in modern thinking. Let us know if you think this will put you off buying from Amazon as searching for toys will become difficult or if it's a welcomed change.
Image Source: Babyblog.org
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