Abstract
ABSTRACT Objective: to analyze gender-representative images on toy packaging for children over three years of age. Method: this is a photo ethnographic study developed in play sections of six department stores located in one of the municipalities in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro in August 2018. Image analysis was applied to 17 photographs of toy packages according to criteria repetition, content type and low cost to purchase, associated with content analysis. Results: the images partially reflect their content. The gender colors in the packaging and contents are traditional (pink and lilac) and unrealistic in the toys for girls. Those with images of boys have neutral and realistic colors (gray, olive green, navy blue). Miniaturized or life-size toys items “for girls” include those that encourage playing ‘house’ (dish rack and cups), personal care (makeup and clothing) and maternity (dolls). “For boys”, they strengthen the social image of family protector (hero), home provider (tools, builder, and executive) and “male” professions (cook, fireman, policeman). Conclusion: these images reinforce binary conceptions of gender, stereotyped in society, rooting cultural constructions of the adult world in the development of children over three years old.
Highlights
Playing, in addition to providing fun and distraction for children, promotes children’s learning and maturation, which are essential for their development
Toys are the main means of child development, as they play an important role in the life and socialization of boys and girls, who spend a great deal of time playing alone, in groups and/or with family members.[2]
Live children whose families belong to social classes with less purchasing power. They are children exposed to low-cost toys that reinforce gender roles
Summary
In addition to providing fun and distraction for children, promotes children’s learning and maturation, which are essential for their development. In choosing and buying them, there is a dynamic of power guides in which adults, whether parents or guardians, exercise control over whether or not to buy for children. In this sense, even if children participate in the decision-making process of purchasing a toy, their choice is regulated by the perception of what adults think is appropriate for them.[5]
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