Gender-targeted marketing is a problem but what makes me really angry is parents who reinforce the notions already being fed to their children by the media. The worst example of this I've experienced in real life was a girl, only about 3 or 4, who picked a Scooby Doo t-shirt off the rack and was begging her mum to buy it for her, her mother said no because "That's for boys." It was navy blue with the Mystery Gang and the show's logo on it, completely neutral-gendered. What, would pink be better?
The problem with Sweden is that even if direct commercials towards children is banned this only goes for channels aired inside of Sweden, CartoonNetwork can still air their commercials since they are the Swedish channel outside of Sweden. It's a real pain to watch these commercial (esp. the dubbed ones...) and know that people get away with it.
You can't have discovered this genderism in advertising *just recently*. When was this not ever so? Advertising has always been a cesspool of rancid sexual stereotypes. Butch, manly, awesome stuff for boys, and girly-girly cutesy stuff for that other kind of child, you know, them with the cooties.
I wasn't at all surprised by the examples offered above, but nonetheless a bit sick to my stomach. Especially the Bratz stuff is so blatantly sexist that it defies description. It's so depressing.
Your videos are just so full of awesome and legit and spot on! =D I loved the ending! XD From now on, when I put my make-up on, I'm not gonna be "applying" or "primping". I'm gonna be FIRING, SHOOTING, and BLASTING it on! XD
As a male, and one who was actually rather feminist even as a child (I wished girls would play video games, and disliked sexism that benefited EITHER sex), I'm quite pleasantly surprised by the number of teenage girls who play not only video games, but also T and M rated ones. There's huge female fandoms for many of the most popular games.
So, do kids lose interest in gender roles when they hit puberty or something?
Watching old toy commercials on YouTube is pretty revealing. A number of old action figure commercials, such as Masters of the Universe, show boys and girls playing with action figures together. Someone put a list of "gayest toys" together on YouTube, and several of them showed both boys and girls being nurturing to stuffed animals. I don't think you see such ads anymore.
My brother got his daughter a toy oven. I counteracted it with the Best of She-Ra collection. One of the episodes included is "The Stone in the Sword" in which Adora has to go through a series of brain and brawn trials without her powers to prove that she is worthy of becoming She-Ra again.
This is why cinema and media studies is so important, but it's so hard to get a job with a degree in it. It needs to be part of basic education.
I've run up against this problem in the major toy retailer in my area. The store is almost 100% gender divided for toys for children beyond the age of 3. I'm wondering if there has been a downward spiral in this regard? Growing up I remember certain toys were somewhat gender neutral in the 80's - such as Lego as well as action figures like She-ra. I could play with boys without being alienated, while now these types of toys are marketed to only to boys. What a backslide.
LOVED LOVED LOVED this video. As first world problems go, this is such an important issue, in my eyes. Anyone considering raising children should be thinking about these things, and not just in relation to toy advertisements, but also gendered games, learning activities and subjects in school and pre-schools.
when i was a kid i've always loved playing with cars and i had never played with barbies or so . and the worst part is i live in saudi arabia were women can't drive cars
I watch a lot of cartoons haha, so this is nothing new to me. It bugs every time I see them, though. I hate how much focus is put on appearance in the ads aimed at young girls. Considering how awful the effects of ads on the body images of ADULT women, it really concerns me that girls that young are being exposed to those kinds of messages.
This also reminded me of the infamous barbie/gi joe voicebox swap, which also made salient the same kind of gendered messages we send to young kids.
I love how everyone in the comment section claims to hate gender-specific toys, then goes on about how AWESOME they were for liking boys toys. You DO realize that by liking boys toys, you are favoring masculinity over femininity, right? There is nothing more awesome about boys toys. I played with both feminine and masculine toys when I was little, as well as gender-neutral toys (like stuffed animals). I don't think playing with boys toys makes you superior to the women who played with Barbies.
The biggest threat to imagination today, I feel, are video games and the over-structuring of childrens' lives. You can't under-estimate the power of a child's imagination. My childhood toyworld had transformers, ninga turtles, my little ponies, lego and troll dolls all co-existing in their own worlds. There were romances and battles, good guys and bad guys, it was awesome.
I agree, I live in Quebec and there no such avertisements, but whenever i watch chanels in english ( for the rest of the Canada ) i feel more like they're trying to sell an image more than a product.
Maybe they should pass a law for that in other countries.
The only female targeted toys I every really got into were Barbies, which I stopped using after about age of 5, after barely touching at all. My mother says that I favored my plastic dinosaurs and playing in the snow and dirt with the boys. The girls used to make fun of me for it when they brought their dolls to school, and, even if I did give in and play with them, I had more fun with the building blocks and "boy toys". I had a Kennex crab that I built myself at 6! Screw gender role toys!
I remember when I was a little girl, I barely touched my barbies. And whenever a lego commercial was on I always wanted whatever toy it was so I could build it. I always DID like boy stuff, and look at me now, guess I was tomboy since birth.
@dpoas Same here! I used to rip off their heads and legs because that was more fun than playing "house" with them. I always wanted to play with hot wheels or action figures instead of barbies. And don't get me started on the Easy Bake Oven..
Wanted the toy appliances and playhouses and stuff when I was a child, parents said no, those were for girls. Liked to play with my cousins dolls, but wasn't allowed to have any myself. So I had to grow up with only boy toys.
This is why I grew up as a Tomboy. Girl toys seemed unimaginative and boring. Things haven't changed much. It seems that women's roles in society have changed drastically but the advertisers are stuck in the 50's!
i played with those imaginex castles and legos and tonka trucks when i was6 or 7, and when i would open them as presents for my birthday, all of my friends called them "boy's toys" why can't i play with a Nerf gun?
My mother and I are both nerds, she's a Star Trek TOS fan from way back, and we've recently been watching Star Trek VOY together. Awhile ago I got her interested in the new Star Wars: the Clone Wars series which we would watch off of Teletoon. I would sit there open mouthed at the ridiculous ads and try to engage my mother in conversation about them, but her response was 'boys and girls just like different toys'. I was completely shocked at the way she dismissed them as the norm.
its so good, i watch it over and over, just in case i dont forget. i would only suggest adding the sources (the billions, the percentages; where did you take them from?). cheers!
If you go to a toy store, you can see how segregated the separate aisles are- with the girls aisle being completely pink with strollers, baby dolls and glitter kits while the boys section has huge lego set-ups and light up swords and connectable train tracks. One step to combat the gender specific advertisements will be to mix the "girl" and "boy" toys in one huge section in the store so that boys and girls can choose which toys that they want to play with, not let society choose for them.
Sadly, the ads just reflect the values promoted in general society. There is a pervasive fear that boys will become losers if they are uncompetitive, weak, nurturing, etc. Even more sadly is that it is true. Boys that become men with a "feminine" value system, like many women, have less power, recognition, influence income and are often victimized. Basically, life is a jungle that favors the strong. Sad but true.
I'm pretty sure you just didn't notice before. The Nostalgia Critic has done a couple of specials looking at commercials from the 1980's and how crazy they were. They reminded me of adds from my child hood and they don't seen that different to what's out now.
I agree with you on advertising, witch is why I think toy and fast food adds should be more regulated.
I used this vid for an exam on gender for my Media with Popular Culture degree today. I found your points really useful so thanks! I furthered the point about gendered technology by suggesting the idea that the tech games for girls being things to play alone, at home and often simulating situations around the home whereas the boys' tech games invite them to get out and be adventurous while connecting with others online reinforces the women suited to public/men suited to private sphere theory...
@feministfrequency haha yes I did, think I got it the right way round in the exam though :) thanks again and I really enjoyed watching all your vids, really good points in them!
I'm a guy and I work at Ross and love going to the boy's toys section of the store to see the newest transformers and Tron action figures that are stocked. When I see boy's toys, even as I just turned 20, my imagination gets going. When I go to the girls section, all I can see are things that are so shallow. Maybe it's because I grew up with Transformers, but I also grew up with Thomas the Tank Engine, which wasn't too polarized in regards to gender.
@caspringer09 I think the best toys are the ones that foster the imagination; Lego is about using your imagination to build things and be creative and figure things out, Transformers are puzzles which again fire the imagination, especially with each TF being a distinct character as well. Boys toys tend to be about mechanics. Should be noted that Action Man/GI Joe is basically the same thing as Barbie. It is kind of absurd that toys are aimed so specifically at boys or girls instead of both.
Two or three years ago, I happened upon a commercial for Playskool kitchen and laundry toy sets. A toddler girl giggled as she played with the dishwasher, stove, washer, and dryer, while the voiceover said something like, "Give her the tools to grow up into whatever she wants to be." Riiiight, as long as that's a housewife!
All of society suffers from misguided perceptions of gender roles, but ads like these make it that much harder for parents to guide their children toward healthy identities.
Thankyou so much for producing this video! I am writing an essay on gender stereotypes in children's advertisement and this has helped me alot! I think its amazing how advertisements like these are still allowed to be broadcasted, due to the tight broadcasting requirements that have now been produced. Wll ofcourse they are probably produced by men :/
I don't have children, but I agree with what you said. I'm almost apt to say it's a form of child abuse to take advantage of a developing mind. I also don't think that's too extreme, either. It's detrimental to our society to have children "bred" this way and then grow up to carry on that "status quo" so blindly. :\ I'm sad.
There is a huge problem with gendering toys. Furthermore there's a problem with the fact that we seem to value boy toys over girl toys as the preference. One need only look at the fact that its generally viewed as negative if a boy wants to play with a doll or something labeled as a girl toy. I think that's actually a problem in this video. Girl toys are seen as 'less than'. Toys need to stop being gendered. Boy and girls can both play with blocks and build, and they can both nurture dolls.
I had this same revelation a few weeks ago. I was channel surfing, when I got to ytv (Canada's equivalent to cartoon network). I was appalled to see that the advertisements from when I was a kid in the 90s had hardly changed at all. Boys and girls were still segregated, and gender norms were still being highly enforced. I am so frustrated that there has been no progress on that front. I mean really, these gendered commercials hadn't changed at all! As you say, they are still so blatantly sexist
When I was volunteering at the children's hospital I also noticed that boys and girls I would look after were drawn to the same kind of toys. Yes, some of the little boys would carry the baby doll around with them and yes some of the little girls loved the trucks and cars. I hope society/peers/family never makes them feel like they're wrong!
...Heck, you know how they have Happy Meal toys delineated by gender? I would always make sure my parents got me the "boy" toy because it was cooler to me, haha. Was stupid that we had to specifically make that request every time, though.
I always found myself more intrigued by the male-oriented toy commercials and that was always what I asked for as presents. In fact, if family friends gave me dolls or Barbies I would politely thank them but then never play with them afterward. So glad that my parents never even brought up gender and what toys I was "supposed" to like; I still played with some of the girl stuff especially stuffed animals, but I never felt odd about the toys I played with...
Suddenly I feel very proud over the fact that I at the ages 8-12 kept telling my parents that I wanted radiocontrolled cars and hellicopters, even though it got question because I'm a girl.
"Dad, Peter got a radiocontrolled helicopter for his birthday, I want one too"
"Hunny, are you sure? After all, you are a girl..."
Um, I can GUARANTEE they haven't changed much since 10 years ago when I was in 6th grade. I ignored the hell out of commercials by changing the channel because they irritated the hell out of me. I liked playing nerf wars with my brothers and building things with legos. In fact, back then there was a 'girl' version of Legos and my mom got me a set. It was pink and pastely. I didn't care what color it was, but my brother's legos were tons awesomer because he had a freakin' am-track. :(
When watching commercials on tv, I feel like Crayola commercials are the only ones I see where girls and boys play together. Other commercials, they are very segregated. There was some article I read online about how the media and toys influence segregated childrens' play, and how that can be a problem when growing up and bonding with the opposite gender. I think we should influence both girls and boys to play together. The baby dolls, baking, housewife gender role toys bother me.
To the first question, It's the latter, I noticed the difference when I was 10 or so and it's as old as toys themselves, As a guy, I played with legos and lots of build-able toys, now I'm an almost architect. I'll also admit the commanding aspect pointed out; must have been ingrained as now the only video games I play are strategy/war games. I love destroying my "enemy's" while listening to liberal and feminist podcasts.
I have been interested in this topic for a while now. There have been many changes made in the attempt to gender neutralize cartoons (at least here in canada), yet the ads remain very gender dividing. And while many cartoons can no longer sell toys based on their shows (which would be more gender neutral), the ads children do see are selling them these gender dividing toys. i've also noticed that boys ads use the words 'power' and 'control', while girls ads usually sing in rhyme. Good vid!
What an amazing and enlightening video. I absolutely agree that advertising to children is deplorable. I'd even go so far as to say advertising in general should stop.
when i little and parents were getting divorced i would books to escape which gave me a great imagination so when i played with Barbies they would never follow the normal games that the other little girls played. there were withes, spies, dragons, and etc. which i'm quite thankful for now b\c i didn't follow the "gender role". i also preferred the boys books over girls books. when i was 10 i go and get Artemis fowl books or the Alex rider series. these "gender roles" follow into books.
i think its very easy to answer the chicken/egg question: advertisments dont promote things that fit for you. they promote things you normally dont really "need" to suggest you that you actually need them. and advertisments alsways reproduce stereotypes for they ads. not only on toys. i think this whole boys/girls toys and even clothing is real shit. but it produces most of our gender roles. some act within these for their lives and feel "secure" within them. some dont.
As a parenting mentor, I recommend that parents not allow kids to watch TV at all for the first three years of life, and in very limited amounts from 4 onward. It has little value and huge negatives for brain, creative, and social development. For one, some studies strongly suggest close ties between early TV watching and ADD - it's all those rapidly changing images. Kids who learn to read from a parent do better in the early grades than kids who learn from Sesame St. Sorry Kermit!
@Profriend1 I'm sure there is some value to what you are saying, however I think that in some instances television and quality programing for young people can be useful, for example, I learned how to speak English because of Sesame Street which was a critical part of my development.
@Profriend1 Actually, I taught myself to read at age 3 thanks to Kermit & Sesame St. I had a high school reading level by 3rd grade & had to be moved out of the regular classes into the "gifted" classes.
@Profriend1 I'm not telling you you are wrong, but I do have a different opinion... Or maybe I'm just an exception. I'm 18 years old, and the first child in my family. My parents turned on the TV all the time to keep me distracted while they cleaned or whatever. I thrived in creative and artistic subjects such as art and creative writing and was overly social. I am now in college studying digital media which is a major based strongly on creativity and social interaction.
@Profriend1 Until my early teens, I had to ask permission to watch TV -- and had to say exactly what I wanted to watch when I asked. My parents didn't restrict much in terms of content, but I do remember not being allowed to watch G.I. Joe. To this day, I've never ever seen a clip.
I will do the same with my own children and I tell this to all of my friends in the hope that they will do the same with theirs.
This is so awesome. I was very lucky to have an older brother growing up because I would play with hotwheels and barbies with him and he encouraged me to play with his toy soldiers. At the same time, we would play barbies (they were all girls) and stuffed animals. You could imagine I was very confused when I started school and boys were telling me I couldn't play with them and that I was less than them. And my friends did the same to the boys.
roles of young children are changing although males are being the restricted ones: its alot more accepted for a girl to pick up a fake toy gun and play along than a boy to be playing with a barbie doll!
(2) and what that woman does. I think regardless to what boys are exposed to, most young boys simply aren't going to be interested in some random woman. While Barbie definitely has its flaws, I at least appreciate to some degree that the franchise tries to send the message to young girls that they can pursue any career they want. Even though most the time Barbie is featured with a "woman" job at least there are some Barbies out there with "man" jobs.
(1) So do you believe there should be "boy" toys & "girl" toys at all? I feel like there are always going to be some toys that will focused towards one gender. For example Barbie. While there's nothing wrong if a boy wants to play with a Barbie, I feel like Barbie will still always be a girl toy, mostly because I think there are VERY few boys that would want to play with Barbie even if they did make her less "girly." This is probably because the franchise itself is focused around a woman...
Lol, I'm a boy but found those "adventurous" and building stuff uninteresting as a kid. I wanted a Barbie cash register. And my little sister (8 yr old) reacts more to the ads directed to boys, like Nerf, monster trucks, etc...
@cleanmusic213 Haha. I played barbie doll make-believe games (barbie at the store, barbie baking food, barbie hanging out with her friends for a tea party) and dress up with my younger brothers when I was small, and in return they'd play competition games with me: nerf wars, hide-and-seek in the dark tagging with flash lights, video games and various other things. K'Nex was SO awesome! We built this mega rollercoaster by pooling all of our K'nex together. I think our mom did it on purpose! XD
heteronomativity is well stupid.....how are boys and girls suppose to be in relationships if they have nothing in common? :) and to think some ppl think feminism is unnecessary :(
all of these ads are pretty much note for note what I grew up within the 80's, so as far as being a change, its not. But then again I believe the goal for society is to be improving.
Those commercials are truly disgusting on a deep level. However, I would not say that they've changed. They're almost identical to what I remember from the late '80s and early '90s.
I suppose the question here, is, "Are these ads tailored to fit the kids, are these ads made to perpetrate restrictive gender norms, or is it both?" It's a chicken and egg question, and while i don't know the answer, i'd say it's a little of both. want some proof that it's not totally the media's fault? I was given the boy ads as a kid, I was treated like a boy by society for 18 years, and now I live as a woman, a totally normal, healthy, and socially adept one. You can't blame only the media.
i really agree. i remember being a little girl and feeling like all the creative building toys were "boy toys" and even not wanting to ask for them because of it.
Wow, you really make a good point about how building is demonstrated in guys commercials. Also how beauty is so apparent and important in the commercials girl commercials. Perhaps this is were the preoccupation with outward societal looks comes from.
I strongly agree with the views portrayed here. Gender roles disgust me, but I think that it's not only the advertiser's responsibility. Parents can also influence how children view gender roles. For example, I am very much against the whole concept of being seen as "girly" because I associate it with weakness. I adapted this view because my mother used to constantly point out bad ways in which girls were portrayed (materialistic, passive etc.) in kid's TV.
@Bauch373 the problem with that is that it gets into the territory of gender policing. Rejecting "girly" things as inherently inferior doesn't solve the problem that, socially speaking, "feminine" is seen as weak and everything "masculine" is seen as a strength. In the ongoing slow shift of gender roles to be more inclusive of women, the only thing that has changed is that girls are now encouraged to aspire to be "like men". The reverse is not true of boys, and that's not a good thing.
This is fantastic. I'm so happy to see that you recognize and share how manipulative these ads are. It's because of commercials and how much they affect me in a negative way, that I haven't watched TV for 9 years.
@595o I noticed a handful of commercials for modeling clay, play-doh etc. that were very gender specific with the young people in the commercials and the things they were building, but there were others where they had both boys and girls and seemed somewhat gender neutral.
LOVE how you are bringing discourse analysis to the public, showing people that these aren't individual problems or examples, they are patterns that are reinforced again and again in influential ways.
though i agree with most of these points, i don't think that toys meant for young girls are completely lacking in creativity. the ones you showed, even if they were stereotypically "girly", include glitter and paint and allow the child to express themself with them. i feel like art supply toys are usually targeted at young girls, and though they don't always allow them to build something per se, they do foster a different kind of creative development.
@katiehanz I already addressed this in another comment so I won't go fully into it but I think the creativity of girls toys are lacking in terms of fostering a sense of control and manipulation (in a positive way) of one's environment, girl's toys are focused on appearances and domesticity, which I don't think is fostering productive creativity and a solid groundwork for growth as adults.
@katiehanz Right, but I think the issue is that these glittery painty products are marketed as "girls toys" and subconsciously sends the message that it's not okay if boys want to play with these.
You never see boys playing in commercials featuring dolls and or make-up. Conversely, you never see girls running around with the Nerf guns and or playing along in commercials featuring cars or action figures.
@katiehanz Have to agree with @feministfrequency here - putting glitter on something doesn't make it more creative or foster creativity. I could not "express" myself with Barbie dolls the way I could with Kinex and Legos and Erector sets. Barbie just sat there and looked pretty, but the other stuff taught me spatial dymanics, physics, & gave me confidence that I could affect my environment.
First and Foremost, i am a male, 13 yrs of age. (no that isn't a typo)
And i think that all of these commercials with neurological targeting our nations youth are adding fuel to a fire of stereotypical ideas of a mans role in society and relationships, and a womans. Furthermore i must say that ther is a LITTLE truth in the more boys liking guns and things like that. Now i am all for these nerf guns and things being sold to everyone and all. If a girl likes nerf guns, then she should use them.
Finally, a topic I'm in almost complete agreement with you on, although I should point out that every study I've read of MMOs says that women are incredibly strongly represented, and most of the marketing is targeted to men in an effort to try and keep parity in many of them. still, Most of my friends with children will not let them watch commercial television... ever, because of the known harm ads can do.
loved seeing a video on this, its an issue thats been bothering me for a long time.
i've noticed something else recently on a similar note that really irritates both me and my mom. have you ever seen the one a day vitamin commercials for teens? the vitamins aimed at boys advertise better muscle growth (with images of sports) while the girls get clearer skin and shinier hair (with images of dating and hearts). it's borderline disgusting. learning our gender roles never stops
This video made a lot of alarming points, but what I found most interesting and unmentioned was that none of the ads showed boys and girls playing TOGETHER. Even from a young age, kids are taught to segregate themselves. I mean how hard would it have been to show girls and boys playing together at least the Nerf ad? Also the two sand ads were downright hilarious.
Coming down on the advertisers would be a step in the right direction, but until then it's up to parents to guide their children.
@ranadiel you know what they would do right? they would put some girls in cheerleading outfits on the sidelines while the boys nerf it out!!!! smh *sigh patriarchy ......isn't it "HOT"?
Great video. It reminds me of Uni course that I took back in the day called "The Politics of Sex and Sexuality" where we discussed topics of the gender binary and both queer theory and third wave feminism's rejection of it. As a male, who take many courses in the politics of gender, sexuality and feminism, and someone who considers himself both a feminist and a queer theorist, I really appreciate you bringing this topic back to the forefront. I'd love to get involved more in the cause!
As a father of two girls I have become rather sensitised to the role-models that girls are presented with. Finding movies with proactive female characters is surprisingly hard ("Kiki's Delivery Service" and "My Neighbour Totoro" are my favourite examples).
Mind you, I have to say that toy guns have always been marketted to boys and dolls have always been marketted to girls, so I am not convinced that this is an entirely new phenomenon.
@conradleviston Disney's Tinker Bell movies are pretty good in that department, if you haven't checked them out already - aside from being a proactive heroine, Tink's main skill is *building* things.
@conradleviston She never said it was a new phenomenon! It's not new at all, of course. Her point is not how old or new this issue is, but that this problem should be eliminated.
Some day, gender will be about as important as eye colour, and will mean nothing more than having certain organs and/or chromosomes, and any other things proven to come with that. There will be no or almost no transsexuals because feeling like a man in a woman's body will be as ridiculous as feeling like a green-eyed person in a brown-eyed person's body. But removal of parts that cause problems (e.g. periods) will be an option, like laser eye surgery. We'll need to fix the pronouns first though.
@Cernoise while I too hope for the day when the gender binary disappears and people can take on any role they want I think you may need to listen to more trans people. It's about more then not being able to do the things you want and behave in a way that's natural to you, it's about looking in the mirror every day and seeing something that's foreign to you.
In the world you describe there would still be trans people but hopefully reassignment surgery will be more available and more accepted
In college last year I analyzed gendered behaviors in 150 ads during Sat. morning cartoons. I found that 100% of the girl-targeted ads were predominately passive (cooperative/nurturing play, whispering/silence, being sedentary etc), while 81% of boy-targeted ads were active (competitive/energetic play, loud voices, walking/running, leadership etc). In ads targeting boys & girls at the same time, 57% were active and 43% passive.
These results fit in exactly with this video’s observations!
i don't have a television so i didn't know about the ban, but the first thing i noticed when i moved to montreal from british columbia was that the girls were a lot less wrapped up in their appearances than the girls i met in bc.
the kids here are really cool. i see young girls riding around on skateboards, playing games with (and keeping up with) the boys, and acting like KIDS rather than bratz dolls. i wish my baby sister could have grown up here.
Nice! I agree that advertising for kids isn't a good thing. (we don't have that in Norway BTW). Currently teaching critical thinking to my confirmation group (for humanist association), because critical thinking is the only tool towards unmasking stereotypic messages. Happy to say that, though female students are very underrepresented in computers studies in Norway, I think they are now in majority in biochemistry, physics and math and a few other related fields.
Really nice discussion of the issue. I'm so glad my parents didn't enforce the gender binary of toys, yeah I had barbies, baby dolls, play food sets, and stuffed animals, but I also bad super hero action figures, legos, playdoh, and disk shooting toys.
The idea of actually banning advertisement seems incredibly foreign considering how ingrained and ubiquitous it seems in the US, but that would be a really great thing to happen. Though I really doubt we'd be able to get it passed here.
Spoooot on! Especially the bit about technology. How to make technology "relevant for women?" - advertisers seem to think that making things pink does the trick! Thankfully I had a feminist mother aware of this that gave me constructive, more gender neutral toys and encouraged me to play with what I *wanted* to play with, not what I *should*. I'm a techy, build-y person, so I liked my LEGO, and the train set, and all sorts of computer games. The result? I study computer engineering!
In answer to your question at the beginning of the vid: you just didn't notice the uber sexism as a kid. These ads are almost identical to the ones I watched 20-25 years ago.
All the more reason to try and keep your kids free from television advertisements at a young age. Use the internet to get videos that are shown without ads, or even buy some from stores (I can't say that there won't be gender diversity but it's more controlled). And it takes work on the part of parents to make themselves aware of what their kids watch and to present both sides. You can't just plop kids down in front of a TV and then complain when they turn out so wrong.
Are there petitions or anything that we can sign to have these ads banned in the US? I wonder how much blame I could lay on the media for my parents forcing me to get my ears pierced as a girl. I never wanted my ears pierced, but it seemed important to several family members that I be "pretty like all the other little girls". I wouldn't wish this on my brother, but I did notice that nothing like this was forced on him. I was the dress-up doll, and I had no resources to fight it.
Commercials aimed at children are TERRIBLE. Children don't even HAVE money, so all these commercials accomplish is making them nagg there parents anyways. No matter how a parent wants to raise there children, Television commercials will undermine it in some way.
I don't care about sex or violence in the media, and I'm no into Public Broadcasting. But I do think advertisements aimed specifically at children should be banned.
Wonderful video. This is such an important topic and these commercials make me sad to see what information is entering children's minds and forming how they will behave as teenagers and adults.
However, playing with dolls like American Girl dolls as a child helped me create some of the most imaginative and creative scenerios as a child. I created stories that involved history and really, playing with dolls was something completely different that girls and boys could benefit from.
@storybookheidi that is great that you were able to be creative with your dolls however the dolls are not designed or marketed to be highly creative and that is the unfortunate point. I am glad to hear that some young people can break out of that.
You know, ever since I went to a feminism class to see what it was like and was forbidden from entering and called a "fucking rapist" ive pretty much despised feminism.
HOWEVER - these are actually pretty good points. I was suprised. Maybe I shouldnt judge a whole idea by one experience.....
@Eiraha I'm sorry you had that experience (unless you actually deserve it, but I suppose that is an entirely different issue), feminism has many theories and perspectives that can, at times be contradictory. I'm glad you can relate to my videos.
@feministfrequency Haha, I didnt do anything to deserve it. But I think I must have chosen the one insane group in an otherwise normal ideal. Theres always one ^^ This is the first video of urs ive seen, ill be sure to check out the rest.
@Eiraha@Eiraha I've never encountered nor heard of any feminist space anywhere that would treat someone like that, male or female, unless they did or said something to provoke it.
That being said, the feminist community worldwide is incredibly diverse - not all feminists agree on absolutely everything in relation to feminism, nor do we all act the same. You are right to recognize that it's unwise to judge a whole idea (or a whole group) by one experience.
:-D I remember how much I hated commercials. It was like, "Hey, why don't I get to use barbie dolls. And hey, why am I the one who's suppose to play stupid army and follow around idiots like a sheep?" So friggin' polarized. Pink and blue.
Remember the "Speak and Spell" and "Speak and Read"? Those were good gender neutral toys that encouraged intellectual development for all.
During brain development (under 15 years or so), if certain neural pathways aren't used, they may be irrevocably lost. And then folks wonder why there are "differences" between male and female brains... it's entirely a product of culture, not biology. We all begin life as equals.
Advertising to children should definitely be illegal. Nice job, as always!
A couple of years ago when I was 7 or something I used to play with barbie and I actually used to make up "stories" and it wasn't about barbie getting married or that kinda stuff but actually she was the heroine and used to save ken. Seeing those commercials I was more intrested in the actionfigures and the cars than the dolls. I think your pointing out something very important 'cause it's gonna be those kids who will run the world one day and then it'll not be good with the gender roles today.
I firmly agree with the concept that products marketed at young girls and boys are far too polarized. As a girl growing up between two brothers, I was never conditioned to participate in the activities and and ask for the toys that girls "should" want. Prime examples of gender polarization, if you have seen them, are The Dangerous Book for Boys and The Daring Book for Girls--I've perused them extensively and found things that could be entirely gender-neutral in both.
I'm a cisgender heterosexual who played with both toy guns and EZ Bake Ovens when I was a kid. For the longest thing I thought it meant something was wrong with me, then I realized I was perfectly normal.
great video :) this is why prefer adverts where girls and boys...oh my word.... PLAY TOGETHER. i believe these tend to be adverts for toys that are about moving your body(like reaction games or jumping/dancing games) than toys which are played with using your imagination.... i wonder if that means anything at all.
you really did an awesome job on stating how the advertisements still stereotype genders... but i really do believe that some girls' toys inspire creativity and imagination as well but in different fields.
@iMayEatYourPeople In what ways? Because all the ads I saw were obsessed with style, fashion, being "girly", playing with dolls etc. I don't think that fosters the same level of creativity as the toy commercials marketed to boys about building and constructing.
@feministfrequency that is actually what im saying is fashion being creative? are you underestimating it?.. please dont.. and its not like the whole fashion industry is dominated by girls as much as the construction industry is dominated by guys.. there are girls who managed to be engineers and architects and stuff and guys who ventured later into the fields of design, after playing with these toys.
@iMayEatYourPeople The division of "girl things" and "boy things" is the real problem here and at a young age an obsession with beauty and clothing is only marketed to young women. Sure, clothing design as an adult can be creative but that isn't, at least in my opinion, what is promoted in these commercials or toys. In this case, the emphasis on fashion isn't about being creative it's about making sure you and your toys look good.
I remember studying the difference in toys marketed towards gender, but my teacher also brought up how it can be used with board games as well. She pointed out commercials where the boy won the game at the end of the commercial, jumped up and down in victory, and the girl would jump up and applaud with him, like she was SUPPOSED to be happy for the boy to win. I don't know about you, but I hated losing. If I have kids, I don't think I'll have a TV in the house...
I'm unsure whether ads for kids need to banned although the rest is pretty good. Although if you want to see how despicable gender roles in toy ads have gotten look up Clarke's Law For Girls' Toys
I could go off on a rant about the software communities and how they keep women out by actively setting up barriers with sexist images and misogynistic culture that is based on hating women or making men they feel "less than" into a woman through words.
I guess I was lucky to have a brother and a mother that cared enough to give me boys toys if I ask for them, rather than trying to say "those are for boys". Thus I was raised on NES and Legos.
Very illuminating post, I do wonder how much effect it does have because I grew up liking a mix of boy and girl toys, and I'm a transwoman and as I've grown up I've met lots of women who collect GI Joes and the like, where as even as a supposed boy I loved Jem, Rainbow Brite and My Little Pony (of course I wasn't allowed to have the toys), in addition to GI Joe and Robotech, and She-ra.
I agree that marketing to kids needs to change though, and it is one facet of hte problem of forced gender.
If we ban advertising directed at children, how can we be sure they will turn into the obedient consumers of tomorrow? OK, seriously, banning them is a great idea. Meanwhile, kill your television.
When I was in elementary school, I remember having the very clear realization that God made a mistake in making me a girl. This had nothing to do with sexuality, but with the fact that I loved math and science so much and was so good at them.
Of course, I don't believe in God anymore, either!
@scientiaarsvita1 Love your comment but I don't advocate killing your TV, we just need to transform the media so we have awesome television shows, real news coverage and no advertising!
Wow, watching those commercials now I don't know whether to laugh at how comically stereotypical these ads are or cry at the state of gender indoctrination at such a young age.
Great video, very illuminating. Keep up the good work.
I remember that I always "stole" my little brother's legos and action figures to play with.
The Barbies got old quick, after I had finished popping their heads off and playing "Doctor" with them.
I never liked the girly toys as a child, I remember thinking they were boring. I guess they lacked and still lack any creativity or fun aspects.
aquabluecat123 1 month ago 5
Gender-targeted marketing is a problem but what makes me really angry is parents who reinforce the notions already being fed to their children by the media. The worst example of this I've experienced in real life was a girl, only about 3 or 4, who picked a Scooby Doo t-shirt off the rack and was begging her mum to buy it for her, her mother said no because "That's for boys." It was navy blue with the Mystery Gang and the show's logo on it, completely neutral-gendered. What, would pink be better?
fffdavid 1 month ago in playlist More videos from feministfrequency 7
The problem with Sweden is that even if direct commercials towards children is banned this only goes for channels aired inside of Sweden, CartoonNetwork can still air their commercials since they are the Swedish channel outside of Sweden. It's a real pain to watch these commercial (esp. the dubbed ones...) and know that people get away with it.
MetaFoXMartin 4 months ago 11
Just once I'd like to see a commercial where a platoon of badass little girl commandos gets into a play war with NERF machineguns.
Shadowfire00X 4 months ago 24
You can't have discovered this genderism in advertising *just recently*. When was this not ever so? Advertising has always been a cesspool of rancid sexual stereotypes. Butch, manly, awesome stuff for boys, and girly-girly cutesy stuff for that other kind of child, you know, them with the cooties.
I wasn't at all surprised by the examples offered above, but nonetheless a bit sick to my stomach. Especially the Bratz stuff is so blatantly sexist that it defies description. It's so depressing.
KennethSorling 5 months ago 15
These commercials are disgusting. I'm proud of my country (Sweden) that has banned commercials for children :)
petnogakatten 5 months ago in playlist Videoklipp från feministfrequency 14
Your videos are just so full of awesome and legit and spot on! =D I loved the ending! XD From now on, when I put my make-up on, I'm not gonna be "applying" or "primping". I'm gonna be FIRING, SHOOTING, and BLASTING it on! XD
TheAetherealMeadow 5 months ago in playlist Videos from feministfrequency 48
@TheAetherealMeadow This is one of funniest comments I've ever gotten! I'm cracking up over here!
feministfrequency 5 months ago 4
As a male, and one who was actually rather feminist even as a child (I wished girls would play video games, and disliked sexism that benefited EITHER sex), I'm quite pleasantly surprised by the number of teenage girls who play not only video games, but also T and M rated ones. There's huge female fandoms for many of the most popular games.
So, do kids lose interest in gender roles when they hit puberty or something?
daytimesky 5 months ago 9
Watching old toy commercials on YouTube is pretty revealing. A number of old action figure commercials, such as Masters of the Universe, show boys and girls playing with action figures together. Someone put a list of "gayest toys" together on YouTube, and several of them showed both boys and girls being nurturing to stuffed animals. I don't think you see such ads anymore.
scottandrewhutchins 6 months ago 7
My brother got his daughter a toy oven. I counteracted it with the Best of She-Ra collection. One of the episodes included is "The Stone in the Sword" in which Adora has to go through a series of brain and brawn trials without her powers to prove that she is worthy of becoming She-Ra again.
This is why cinema and media studies is so important, but it's so hard to get a job with a degree in it. It needs to be part of basic education.
scottandrewhutchins 6 months ago 8
I've run up against this problem in the major toy retailer in my area. The store is almost 100% gender divided for toys for children beyond the age of 3. I'm wondering if there has been a downward spiral in this regard? Growing up I remember certain toys were somewhat gender neutral in the 80's - such as Lego as well as action figures like She-ra. I could play with boys without being alienated, while now these types of toys are marketed to only to boys. What a backslide.
SideShowMelanie 6 months ago 7
LOVED LOVED LOVED this video. As first world problems go, this is such an important issue, in my eyes. Anyone considering raising children should be thinking about these things, and not just in relation to toy advertisements, but also gendered games, learning activities and subjects in school and pre-schools.
LolitasLucidity 6 months ago 2
You just got a subscriber =)
PiKalolz 6 months ago
when i was a kid i've always loved playing with cars and i had never played with barbies or so . and the worst part is i live in saudi arabia were women can't drive cars
dodoingoodmood 6 months ago 2
I watch a lot of cartoons haha, so this is nothing new to me. It bugs every time I see them, though. I hate how much focus is put on appearance in the ads aimed at young girls. Considering how awful the effects of ads on the body images of ADULT women, it really concerns me that girls that young are being exposed to those kinds of messages.
This also reminded me of the infamous barbie/gi joe voicebox swap, which also made salient the same kind of gendered messages we send to young kids.
selphiexfairy 6 months ago 2
I love how everyone in the comment section claims to hate gender-specific toys, then goes on about how AWESOME they were for liking boys toys. You DO realize that by liking boys toys, you are favoring masculinity over femininity, right? There is nothing more awesome about boys toys. I played with both feminine and masculine toys when I was little, as well as gender-neutral toys (like stuffed animals). I don't think playing with boys toys makes you superior to the women who played with Barbies.
TheWandarox 6 months ago 8
The biggest threat to imagination today, I feel, are video games and the over-structuring of childrens' lives. You can't under-estimate the power of a child's imagination. My childhood toyworld had transformers, ninga turtles, my little ponies, lego and troll dolls all co-existing in their own worlds. There were romances and battles, good guys and bad guys, it was awesome.
hilby 6 months ago 3
I agree, I live in Quebec and there no such avertisements, but whenever i watch chanels in english ( for the rest of the Canada ) i feel more like they're trying to sell an image more than a product.
Maybe they should pass a law for that in other countries.
MegaM00k 6 months ago
The only female targeted toys I every really got into were Barbies, which I stopped using after about age of 5, after barely touching at all. My mother says that I favored my plastic dinosaurs and playing in the snow and dirt with the boys. The girls used to make fun of me for it when they brought their dolls to school, and, even if I did give in and play with them, I had more fun with the building blocks and "boy toys". I had a Kennex crab that I built myself at 6! Screw gender role toys!
TaoKiomi 7 months ago
I remember when I was a little girl, I barely touched my barbies. And whenever a lego commercial was on I always wanted whatever toy it was so I could build it. I always DID like boy stuff, and look at me now, guess I was tomboy since birth.
dpoas 7 months ago 2
@dpoas Same here! I used to rip off their heads and legs because that was more fun than playing "house" with them. I always wanted to play with hot wheels or action figures instead of barbies. And don't get me started on the Easy Bake Oven..
mzzzhedison 7 months ago
Wanted the toy appliances and playhouses and stuff when I was a child, parents said no, those were for girls. Liked to play with my cousins dolls, but wasn't allowed to have any myself. So I had to grow up with only boy toys.
nta214 7 months ago
Man after watching these commercials I did not play with my dolls the way they were "supposed to be played with". o-o
vampiricange 7 months ago
This is why I grew up as a Tomboy. Girl toys seemed unimaginative and boring. Things haven't changed much. It seems that women's roles in society have changed drastically but the advertisers are stuck in the 50's!
rainbowbrainhead 8 months ago 6
i played with those imaginex castles and legos and tonka trucks when i was6 or 7, and when i would open them as presents for my birthday, all of my friends called them "boy's toys" why can't i play with a Nerf gun?
lastscandinaviangirl 8 months ago
All the ads are pretty bad, but why do the girls have to be so bubbly gummy and dumb? The boys are all EXTREME!!!! Maybe I wanna be EXTREME too?
Neequu78 8 months ago 5
My mother and I are both nerds, she's a Star Trek TOS fan from way back, and we've recently been watching Star Trek VOY together. Awhile ago I got her interested in the new Star Wars: the Clone Wars series which we would watch off of Teletoon. I would sit there open mouthed at the ridiculous ads and try to engage my mother in conversation about them, but her response was 'boys and girls just like different toys'. I was completely shocked at the way she dismissed them as the norm.
janjanchan 8 months ago
its so good, i watch it over and over, just in case i dont forget. i would only suggest adding the sources (the billions, the percentages; where did you take them from?). cheers!
anitasseo 8 months ago in playlist Feminist Frequency
@anitasseo I have sources and other resources on my blog, there should be a link in the notes section.
feministfrequency 7 months ago
If you go to a toy store, you can see how segregated the separate aisles are- with the girls aisle being completely pink with strollers, baby dolls and glitter kits while the boys section has huge lego set-ups and light up swords and connectable train tracks. One step to combat the gender specific advertisements will be to mix the "girl" and "boy" toys in one huge section in the store so that boys and girls can choose which toys that they want to play with, not let society choose for them.
purplepoppy07 8 months ago
Sadly, the ads just reflect the values promoted in general society. There is a pervasive fear that boys will become losers if they are uncompetitive, weak, nurturing, etc. Even more sadly is that it is true. Boys that become men with a "feminine" value system, like many women, have less power, recognition, influence income and are often victimized. Basically, life is a jungle that favors the strong. Sad but true.
keegiebear 9 months ago
I'm pretty sure you just didn't notice before. The Nostalgia Critic has done a couple of specials looking at commercials from the 1980's and how crazy they were. They reminded me of adds from my child hood and they don't seen that different to what's out now.
I agree with you on advertising, witch is why I think toy and fast food adds should be more regulated.
Disthron 9 months ago
I used this vid for an exam on gender for my Media with Popular Culture degree today. I found your points really useful so thanks! I furthered the point about gendered technology by suggesting the idea that the tech games for girls being things to play alone, at home and often simulating situations around the home whereas the boys' tech games invite them to get out and be adventurous while connecting with others online reinforces the women suited to public/men suited to private sphere theory...
AnwynWilliams 9 months ago 4
@AnwynWilliams Oh nice, that is a really interesting observation! Did you mean Men/Public and Women/Private?
feministfrequency 8 months ago 3
@feministfrequency haha yes I did, think I got it the right way round in the exam though :) thanks again and I really enjoyed watching all your vids, really good points in them!
AnwynWilliams 8 months ago
I'm a guy and I work at Ross and love going to the boy's toys section of the store to see the newest transformers and Tron action figures that are stocked. When I see boy's toys, even as I just turned 20, my imagination gets going. When I go to the girls section, all I can see are things that are so shallow. Maybe it's because I grew up with Transformers, but I also grew up with Thomas the Tank Engine, which wasn't too polarized in regards to gender.
caspringer09 9 months ago
@caspringer09 I think the best toys are the ones that foster the imagination; Lego is about using your imagination to build things and be creative and figure things out, Transformers are puzzles which again fire the imagination, especially with each TF being a distinct character as well. Boys toys tend to be about mechanics. Should be noted that Action Man/GI Joe is basically the same thing as Barbie. It is kind of absurd that toys are aimed so specifically at boys or girls instead of both.
Relugus 6 months ago 3
Two or three years ago, I happened upon a commercial for Playskool kitchen and laundry toy sets. A toddler girl giggled as she played with the dishwasher, stove, washer, and dryer, while the voiceover said something like, "Give her the tools to grow up into whatever she wants to be." Riiiight, as long as that's a housewife!
All of society suffers from misguided perceptions of gender roles, but ads like these make it that much harder for parents to guide their children toward healthy identities.
strath007 9 months ago 37
@strath007 OMG that is crazy, if you ever find that online please send it to me!
feministfrequency 8 months ago 8
the values that she listed as a problem with boys are actually things I struggle with and I'm a girl.
SarahJ83 9 months ago
Thankyou so much for producing this video! I am writing an essay on gender stereotypes in children's advertisement and this has helped me alot! I think its amazing how advertisements like these are still allowed to be broadcasted, due to the tight broadcasting requirements that have now been produced. Wll ofcourse they are probably produced by men :/
saralay20 10 months ago
I don't have children, but I agree with what you said. I'm almost apt to say it's a form of child abuse to take advantage of a developing mind. I also don't think that's too extreme, either. It's detrimental to our society to have children "bred" this way and then grow up to carry on that "status quo" so blindly. :\ I'm sad.
punchdrunkatheist 10 months ago
Have you ever heard of this song called "William wants a doll?"
Nomad1718 10 months ago
There is a huge problem with gendering toys. Furthermore there's a problem with the fact that we seem to value boy toys over girl toys as the preference. One need only look at the fact that its generally viewed as negative if a boy wants to play with a doll or something labeled as a girl toy. I think that's actually a problem in this video. Girl toys are seen as 'less than'. Toys need to stop being gendered. Boy and girls can both play with blocks and build, and they can both nurture dolls.
jaystreete 10 months ago
I had this same revelation a few weeks ago. I was channel surfing, when I got to ytv (Canada's equivalent to cartoon network). I was appalled to see that the advertisements from when I was a kid in the 90s had hardly changed at all. Boys and girls were still segregated, and gender norms were still being highly enforced. I am so frustrated that there has been no progress on that front. I mean really, these gendered commercials hadn't changed at all! As you say, they are still so blatantly sexist
MsGuessit 10 months ago
@MsGuessit aw, I know YTV, I grew up in Canada! And ya, I hear you the ads were just as bad in Canada as they are in the US.
feministfrequency 10 months ago
When I was volunteering at the children's hospital I also noticed that boys and girls I would look after were drawn to the same kind of toys. Yes, some of the little boys would carry the baby doll around with them and yes some of the little girls loved the trucks and cars. I hope society/peers/family never makes them feel like they're wrong!
wasabigirl1 10 months ago
...Heck, you know how they have Happy Meal toys delineated by gender? I would always make sure my parents got me the "boy" toy because it was cooler to me, haha. Was stupid that we had to specifically make that request every time, though.
wasabigirl1 10 months ago
I always found myself more intrigued by the male-oriented toy commercials and that was always what I asked for as presents. In fact, if family friends gave me dolls or Barbies I would politely thank them but then never play with them afterward. So glad that my parents never even brought up gender and what toys I was "supposed" to like; I still played with some of the girl stuff especially stuffed animals, but I never felt odd about the toys I played with...
wasabigirl1 10 months ago
You are brilliant. That is all.
PompamooseMagique 10 months ago 2
Suddenly I feel very proud over the fact that I at the ages 8-12 kept telling my parents that I wanted radiocontrolled cars and hellicopters, even though it got question because I'm a girl.
"Dad, Peter got a radiocontrolled helicopter for his birthday, I want one too"
"Hunny, are you sure? After all, you are a girl..."
"So? I want it. Can I have it? Please"
BonnieWrightFan4ever 10 months ago
Um, I can GUARANTEE they haven't changed much since 10 years ago when I was in 6th grade. I ignored the hell out of commercials by changing the channel because they irritated the hell out of me. I liked playing nerf wars with my brothers and building things with legos. In fact, back then there was a 'girl' version of Legos and my mom got me a set. It was pink and pastely. I didn't care what color it was, but my brother's legos were tons awesomer because he had a freakin' am-track. :(
ehrenyu 10 months ago
When watching commercials on tv, I feel like Crayola commercials are the only ones I see where girls and boys play together. Other commercials, they are very segregated. There was some article I read online about how the media and toys influence segregated childrens' play, and how that can be a problem when growing up and bonding with the opposite gender. I think we should influence both girls and boys to play together. The baby dolls, baking, housewife gender role toys bother me.
xxxmikanbouyaxxx 10 months ago
i can make my own magic snow. lmao
dagodfada22 10 months ago
To the first question, It's the latter, I noticed the difference when I was 10 or so and it's as old as toys themselves, As a guy, I played with legos and lots of build-able toys, now I'm an almost architect. I'll also admit the commanding aspect pointed out; must have been ingrained as now the only video games I play are strategy/war games. I love destroying my "enemy's" while listening to liberal and feminist podcasts.
Plaatboy 10 months ago
Lego is honestly the best children's toy ever because of this and every other reason imaginable.
Also, why the hell were you watching nickelodeon!?
MechaSixVII 11 months ago
The amount of people thumbing this down is sad. What exactly is so disagreeable? This is the reality of programming, folks.
Iebkuchen 11 months ago
I have been interested in this topic for a while now. There have been many changes made in the attempt to gender neutralize cartoons (at least here in canada), yet the ads remain very gender dividing. And while many cartoons can no longer sell toys based on their shows (which would be more gender neutral), the ads children do see are selling them these gender dividing toys. i've also noticed that boys ads use the words 'power' and 'control', while girls ads usually sing in rhyme. Good vid!
Snoot501 11 months ago
I remember Barbie being a doctor. Where did she go?
ScarletArson 11 months ago 3
@ScarletArson It was the only Barbie I sought out to buy as a little girl. And now I'm in medical school. SEE HOW BARBIE CAN BE USED FOR GOOD! :P
wasabigirl1 10 months ago
What an amazing and enlightening video. I absolutely agree that advertising to children is deplorable. I'd even go so far as to say advertising in general should stop.
duckiesgoqu4ck 11 months ago
when i little and parents were getting divorced i would books to escape which gave me a great imagination so when i played with Barbies they would never follow the normal games that the other little girls played. there were withes, spies, dragons, and etc. which i'm quite thankful for now b\c i didn't follow the "gender role". i also preferred the boys books over girls books. when i was 10 i go and get Artemis fowl books or the Alex rider series. these "gender roles" follow into books.
sweetlittlevampyre 11 months ago
i think its very easy to answer the chicken/egg question: advertisments dont promote things that fit for you. they promote things you normally dont really "need" to suggest you that you actually need them. and advertisments alsways reproduce stereotypes for they ads. not only on toys. i think this whole boys/girls toys and even clothing is real shit. but it produces most of our gender roles. some act within these for their lives and feel "secure" within them. some dont.
AngelofDespair86 11 months ago
This makes me feel so angry! How am I supposed to raise children in a worls like this?
wawaspa 11 months ago
I think I love you xD thanks for making these vids, you are an inspiration
TheOfficialRachael 11 months ago
As a parenting mentor, I recommend that parents not allow kids to watch TV at all for the first three years of life, and in very limited amounts from 4 onward. It has little value and huge negatives for brain, creative, and social development. For one, some studies strongly suggest close ties between early TV watching and ADD - it's all those rapidly changing images. Kids who learn to read from a parent do better in the early grades than kids who learn from Sesame St. Sorry Kermit!
Profriend1 11 months ago 40
@Profriend1 I'm sure there is some value to what you are saying, however I think that in some instances television and quality programing for young people can be useful, for example, I learned how to speak English because of Sesame Street which was a critical part of my development.
feministfrequency 11 months ago
@Profriend1 Actually, I taught myself to read at age 3 thanks to Kermit & Sesame St. I had a high school reading level by 3rd grade & had to be moved out of the regular classes into the "gifted" classes.
Amirastroupe 10 months ago
@Profriend1 I'm not telling you you are wrong, but I do have a different opinion... Or maybe I'm just an exception. I'm 18 years old, and the first child in my family. My parents turned on the TV all the time to keep me distracted while they cleaned or whatever. I thrived in creative and artistic subjects such as art and creative writing and was overly social. I am now in college studying digital media which is a major based strongly on creativity and social interaction.
KagomeChic 4 months ago in playlist Videos from feministfrequency
@Profriend1 Until my early teens, I had to ask permission to watch TV -- and had to say exactly what I wanted to watch when I asked. My parents didn't restrict much in terms of content, but I do remember not being allowed to watch G.I. Joe. To this day, I've never ever seen a clip.
I will do the same with my own children and I tell this to all of my friends in the hope that they will do the same with theirs.
raindrops283 1 month ago in playlist Uploaded videos
This is so awesome. I was very lucky to have an older brother growing up because I would play with hotwheels and barbies with him and he encouraged me to play with his toy soldiers. At the same time, we would play barbies (they were all girls) and stuffed animals. You could imagine I was very confused when I started school and boys were telling me I couldn't play with them and that I was less than them. And my friends did the same to the boys.
ruliak 11 months ago
"Trio means batcave building power" WTF does that even mean?
DidYouKnowIHateYou 11 months ago
roles of young children are changing although males are being the restricted ones: its alot more accepted for a girl to pick up a fake toy gun and play along than a boy to be playing with a barbie doll!
patsybob 1 year ago 4
(2) and what that woman does. I think regardless to what boys are exposed to, most young boys simply aren't going to be interested in some random woman. While Barbie definitely has its flaws, I at least appreciate to some degree that the franchise tries to send the message to young girls that they can pursue any career they want. Even though most the time Barbie is featured with a "woman" job at least there are some Barbies out there with "man" jobs.
00GreyEyedGirl00 1 year ago
(1) So do you believe there should be "boy" toys & "girl" toys at all? I feel like there are always going to be some toys that will focused towards one gender. For example Barbie. While there's nothing wrong if a boy wants to play with a Barbie, I feel like Barbie will still always be a girl toy, mostly because I think there are VERY few boys that would want to play with Barbie even if they did make her less "girly." This is probably because the franchise itself is focused around a woman...
00GreyEyedGirl00 1 year ago
Well...When i was small i liked to play with cars and guns. I didn't like to play with dolls. My family was kinda suprised.
FUCK YEAH
o0LunaticAsylum0o 1 year ago
Lol, I'm a boy but found those "adventurous" and building stuff uninteresting as a kid. I wanted a Barbie cash register. And my little sister (8 yr old) reacts more to the ads directed to boys, like Nerf, monster trucks, etc...
cleanmusic213 1 year ago
@cleanmusic213 Haha. I played barbie doll make-believe games (barbie at the store, barbie baking food, barbie hanging out with her friends for a tea party) and dress up with my younger brothers when I was small, and in return they'd play competition games with me: nerf wars, hide-and-seek in the dark tagging with flash lights, video games and various other things. K'Nex was SO awesome! We built this mega rollercoaster by pooling all of our K'nex together. I think our mom did it on purpose! XD
ehrenyu 10 months ago
I have also noticed that ads for boys have a man with a deep voice and ads for girls have a woman with a nice pretty voice.. geez
and as a side note, I am an 18 year old girl who played with cars, action figures and video games when I was young. dolls too but they got boring.
xCarrmenn 1 year ago
@xCarrmenn Same here, hon. Same here...
MassiveZero 1 year ago
Citing this for my research in political socialization.
Thank you =D
hope0hurts 1 year ago
heteronomativity is well stupid.....how are boys and girls suppose to be in relationships if they have nothing in common? :) and to think some ppl think feminism is unnecessary :(
PimpMyParadigm 1 year ago 4
Okay, What do you think are The elements of a good commercial targeted at girls.
elenlied 1 year ago
all of these ads are pretty much note for note what I grew up within the 80's, so as far as being a change, its not. But then again I believe the goal for society is to be improving.
gramamge33 1 year ago
Those commercials are truly disgusting on a deep level. However, I would not say that they've changed. They're almost identical to what I remember from the late '80s and early '90s.
sitakaliism 1 year ago
I suppose the question here, is, "Are these ads tailored to fit the kids, are these ads made to perpetrate restrictive gender norms, or is it both?" It's a chicken and egg question, and while i don't know the answer, i'd say it's a little of both. want some proof that it's not totally the media's fault? I was given the boy ads as a kid, I was treated like a boy by society for 18 years, and now I live as a woman, a totally normal, healthy, and socially adept one. You can't blame only the media.
xdearlifex 1 year ago
@xdearlifex as I mentioned in the video I don't only blame the media.
feministfrequency 1 year ago 7
i really agree. i remember being a little girl and feeling like all the creative building toys were "boy toys" and even not wanting to ask for them because of it.
nanditeplus 1 year ago 2
Quebec banned youth advertisements? That's awesome. I hope the other provinces do the same. Although that's doubtful.
IHaveFlagella 1 year ago
Lip piercing ?
I like!
Some great points and evidence!! X
applejuice710 1 year ago
Wow, you really make a good point about how building is demonstrated in guys commercials. Also how beauty is so apparent and important in the commercials girl commercials. Perhaps this is were the preoccupation with outward societal looks comes from.
drew335533 1 year ago 3
I strongly agree with the views portrayed here. Gender roles disgust me, but I think that it's not only the advertiser's responsibility. Parents can also influence how children view gender roles. For example, I am very much against the whole concept of being seen as "girly" because I associate it with weakness. I adapted this view because my mother used to constantly point out bad ways in which girls were portrayed (materialistic, passive etc.) in kid's TV.
Bauch373 1 year ago
@Bauch373 the problem with that is that it gets into the territory of gender policing. Rejecting "girly" things as inherently inferior doesn't solve the problem that, socially speaking, "feminine" is seen as weak and everything "masculine" is seen as a strength. In the ongoing slow shift of gender roles to be more inclusive of women, the only thing that has changed is that girls are now encouraged to aspire to be "like men". The reverse is not true of boys, and that's not a good thing.
tezcatbus 1 year ago
This is fantastic. I'm so happy to see that you recognize and share how manipulative these ads are. It's because of commercials and how much they affect me in a negative way, that I haven't watched TV for 9 years.
mariaperiwinkle 1 year ago 4
@595o I noticed a handful of commercials for modeling clay, play-doh etc. that were very gender specific with the young people in the commercials and the things they were building, but there were others where they had both boys and girls and seemed somewhat gender neutral.
feministfrequency 1 year ago
Thank you! I've been complaining about this for years! girls never get any good toys! The coolest thing we have is a freakin easybake oven.. LAME.
kittenster 1 year ago 2
0:38
No, you just haven't noticed it before. This stuff has been going on since the 1950s. Seriously.
cjsblessing92 1 year ago 3
LOVE how you are bringing discourse analysis to the public, showing people that these aren't individual problems or examples, they are patterns that are reinforced again and again in influential ways.
LolaLocal 1 year ago 2
though i agree with most of these points, i don't think that toys meant for young girls are completely lacking in creativity. the ones you showed, even if they were stereotypically "girly", include glitter and paint and allow the child to express themself with them. i feel like art supply toys are usually targeted at young girls, and though they don't always allow them to build something per se, they do foster a different kind of creative development.
katiehanz 1 year ago
@katiehanz I already addressed this in another comment so I won't go fully into it but I think the creativity of girls toys are lacking in terms of fostering a sense of control and manipulation (in a positive way) of one's environment, girl's toys are focused on appearances and domesticity, which I don't think is fostering productive creativity and a solid groundwork for growth as adults.
feministfrequency 1 year ago 18
@katiehanz Right, but I think the issue is that these glittery painty products are marketed as "girls toys" and subconsciously sends the message that it's not okay if boys want to play with these.
You never see boys playing in commercials featuring dolls and or make-up. Conversely, you never see girls running around with the Nerf guns and or playing along in commercials featuring cars or action figures.
Sad.
vyzion360 1 year ago 3
@katiehanz Have to agree with @feministfrequency here - putting glitter on something doesn't make it more creative or foster creativity. I could not "express" myself with Barbie dolls the way I could with Kinex and Legos and Erector sets. Barbie just sat there and looked pretty, but the other stuff taught me spatial dymanics, physics, & gave me confidence that I could affect my environment.
Amirastroupe 10 months ago
ALL children should play with Legos, END OF STORY.
Czarewich 1 year ago 195
@Czarewich agreed!
feministfrequency 1 year ago 3
First and Foremost, i am a male, 13 yrs of age. (no that isn't a typo)
And i think that all of these commercials with neurological targeting our nations youth are adding fuel to a fire of stereotypical ideas of a mans role in society and relationships, and a womans. Furthermore i must say that ther is a LITTLE truth in the more boys liking guns and things like that. Now i am all for these nerf guns and things being sold to everyone and all. If a girl likes nerf guns, then she should use them.
gorillaguy32 1 year ago
Finally, a topic I'm in almost complete agreement with you on, although I should point out that every study I've read of MMOs says that women are incredibly strongly represented, and most of the marketing is targeted to men in an effort to try and keep parity in many of them. still, Most of my friends with children will not let them watch commercial television... ever, because of the known harm ads can do.
Terabiel 1 year ago
loved seeing a video on this, its an issue thats been bothering me for a long time.
i've noticed something else recently on a similar note that really irritates both me and my mom. have you ever seen the one a day vitamin commercials for teens? the vitamins aimed at boys advertise better muscle growth (with images of sports) while the girls get clearer skin and shinier hair (with images of dating and hearts). it's borderline disgusting. learning our gender roles never stops
JeeCheezin 1 year ago
This video made a lot of alarming points, but what I found most interesting and unmentioned was that none of the ads showed boys and girls playing TOGETHER. Even from a young age, kids are taught to segregate themselves. I mean how hard would it have been to show girls and boys playing together at least the Nerf ad? Also the two sand ads were downright hilarious.
Coming down on the advertisers would be a step in the right direction, but until then it's up to parents to guide their children.
ranadiel 1 year ago 103
@ranadiel There are a few commercials with boys and girls together, but they are few and far between.
feministfrequency 1 year ago
@ranadiel you know what they would do right? they would put some girls in cheerleading outfits on the sidelines while the boys nerf it out!!!! smh *sigh patriarchy ......isn't it "HOT"?
PimpMyParadigm 8 months ago
Great video. It reminds me of Uni course that I took back in the day called "The Politics of Sex and Sexuality" where we discussed topics of the gender binary and both queer theory and third wave feminism's rejection of it. As a male, who take many courses in the politics of gender, sexuality and feminism, and someone who considers himself both a feminist and a queer theorist, I really appreciate you bringing this topic back to the forefront. I'd love to get involved more in the cause!
deznyc 1 year ago
Something I always hated with dolls was that they were stiff as boards. You couldn't make them do anything except stand and sit.
Action figures=very articulated.
Boys do things while girls look pretty?
0Angel0A 1 year ago 4
As a father of two girls I have become rather sensitised to the role-models that girls are presented with. Finding movies with proactive female characters is surprisingly hard ("Kiki's Delivery Service" and "My Neighbour Totoro" are my favourite examples).
Mind you, I have to say that toy guns have always been marketted to boys and dolls have always been marketted to girls, so I am not convinced that this is an entirely new phenomenon.
conradleviston 1 year ago
@conradleviston Disney's Tinker Bell movies are pretty good in that department, if you haven't checked them out already - aside from being a proactive heroine, Tink's main skill is *building* things.
SyeraMiktayee 1 year ago
@conradleviston She never said it was a new phenomenon! It's not new at all, of course. Her point is not how old or new this issue is, but that this problem should be eliminated.
paytotheorderofofof2 1 year ago
Some day, gender will be about as important as eye colour, and will mean nothing more than having certain organs and/or chromosomes, and any other things proven to come with that. There will be no or almost no transsexuals because feeling like a man in a woman's body will be as ridiculous as feeling like a green-eyed person in a brown-eyed person's body. But removal of parts that cause problems (e.g. periods) will be an option, like laser eye surgery. We'll need to fix the pronouns first though.
Cernoise 1 year ago
@Cernoise while I too hope for the day when the gender binary disappears and people can take on any role they want I think you may need to listen to more trans people. It's about more then not being able to do the things you want and behave in a way that's natural to you, it's about looking in the mirror every day and seeing something that's foreign to you.
In the world you describe there would still be trans people but hopefully reassignment surgery will be more available and more accepted
ReiSilver 1 year ago
@SSZZish Great, thanks for the info.
feministfrequency 1 year ago
In college last year I analyzed gendered behaviors in 150 ads during Sat. morning cartoons. I found that 100% of the girl-targeted ads were predominately passive (cooperative/nurturing play, whispering/silence, being sedentary etc), while 81% of boy-targeted ads were active (competitive/energetic play, loud voices, walking/running, leadership etc). In ads targeting boys & girls at the same time, 57% were active and 43% passive.
These results fit in exactly with this video’s observations!
SSZZish 1 year ago
i don't have a television so i didn't know about the ban, but the first thing i noticed when i moved to montreal from british columbia was that the girls were a lot less wrapped up in their appearances than the girls i met in bc.
the kids here are really cool. i see young girls riding around on skateboards, playing games with (and keeping up with) the boys, and acting like KIDS rather than bratz dolls. i wish my baby sister could have grown up here.
bittetotoro 1 year ago
Thank Ronald Regan for deregulating ads to kids, as well as union busting (unions = commies).
Two tiny things-churches should be places of worship, and these toys also train BOYS FOR WAR.
Great job, love your site!
piewackett1 1 year ago
Nice! I agree that advertising for kids isn't a good thing. (we don't have that in Norway BTW). Currently teaching critical thinking to my confirmation group (for humanist association), because critical thinking is the only tool towards unmasking stereotypic messages. Happy to say that, though female students are very underrepresented in computers studies in Norway, I think they are now in majority in biochemistry, physics and math and a few other related fields.
Losloth 1 year ago
Really nice discussion of the issue. I'm so glad my parents didn't enforce the gender binary of toys, yeah I had barbies, baby dolls, play food sets, and stuffed animals, but I also bad super hero action figures, legos, playdoh, and disk shooting toys.
The idea of actually banning advertisement seems incredibly foreign considering how ingrained and ubiquitous it seems in the US, but that would be a really great thing to happen. Though I really doubt we'd be able to get it passed here.
BethJoyD 1 year ago
Spoooot on! Especially the bit about technology. How to make technology "relevant for women?" - advertisers seem to think that making things pink does the trick! Thankfully I had a feminist mother aware of this that gave me constructive, more gender neutral toys and encouraged me to play with what I *wanted* to play with, not what I *should*. I'm a techy, build-y person, so I liked my LEGO, and the train set, and all sorts of computer games. The result? I study computer engineering!
Mirithing 1 year ago
In answer to your question at the beginning of the vid: you just didn't notice the uber sexism as a kid. These ads are almost identical to the ones I watched 20-25 years ago.
rdmertz29 1 year ago 3
All the more reason to try and keep your kids free from television advertisements at a young age. Use the internet to get videos that are shown without ads, or even buy some from stores (I can't say that there won't be gender diversity but it's more controlled). And it takes work on the part of parents to make themselves aware of what their kids watch and to present both sides. You can't just plop kids down in front of a TV and then complain when they turn out so wrong.
ArcaneSky 1 year ago
Are there petitions or anything that we can sign to have these ads banned in the US? I wonder how much blame I could lay on the media for my parents forcing me to get my ears pierced as a girl. I never wanted my ears pierced, but it seemed important to several family members that I be "pretty like all the other little girls". I wouldn't wish this on my brother, but I did notice that nothing like this was forced on him. I was the dress-up doll, and I had no resources to fight it.
rozax740 1 year ago
@rozax740 I would check out the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and see what they are working on.
feministfrequency 1 year ago
Commercials aimed at children are TERRIBLE. Children don't even HAVE money, so all these commercials accomplish is making them nagg there parents anyways. No matter how a parent wants to raise there children, Television commercials will undermine it in some way.
I don't care about sex or violence in the media, and I'm no into Public Broadcasting. But I do think advertisements aimed specifically at children should be banned.
alexthegreater 1 year ago
Wonderful video. This is such an important topic and these commercials make me sad to see what information is entering children's minds and forming how they will behave as teenagers and adults.
However, playing with dolls like American Girl dolls as a child helped me create some of the most imaginative and creative scenerios as a child. I created stories that involved history and really, playing with dolls was something completely different that girls and boys could benefit from.
storybookheidi 1 year ago
@storybookheidi that is great that you were able to be creative with your dolls however the dolls are not designed or marketed to be highly creative and that is the unfortunate point. I am glad to hear that some young people can break out of that.
feministfrequency 1 year ago
I used to play that "Battleground" thing with my sisters. Apparently, we weren't paying enough attention. :p
Traitorfish 1 year ago
You know, ever since I went to a feminism class to see what it was like and was forbidden from entering and called a "fucking rapist" ive pretty much despised feminism.
HOWEVER - these are actually pretty good points. I was suprised. Maybe I shouldnt judge a whole idea by one experience.....
Eiraha 1 year ago 2
@Eiraha I'm sorry you had that experience (unless you actually deserve it, but I suppose that is an entirely different issue), feminism has many theories and perspectives that can, at times be contradictory. I'm glad you can relate to my videos.
feministfrequency 1 year ago 4
@feministfrequency Haha, I didnt do anything to deserve it. But I think I must have chosen the one insane group in an otherwise normal ideal. Theres always one ^^ This is the first video of urs ive seen, ill be sure to check out the rest.
Eiraha 1 year ago 2
@Eiraha @Eiraha I've never encountered nor heard of any feminist space anywhere that would treat someone like that, male or female, unless they did or said something to provoke it.
That being said, the feminist community worldwide is incredibly diverse - not all feminists agree on absolutely everything in relation to feminism, nor do we all act the same. You are right to recognize that it's unwise to judge a whole idea (or a whole group) by one experience.
xenophile84 1 year ago
:-D I remember how much I hated commercials. It was like, "Hey, why don't I get to use barbie dolls. And hey, why am I the one who's suppose to play stupid army and follow around idiots like a sheep?" So friggin' polarized. Pink and blue.
SomethingSea1 1 year ago 2
Remember the "Speak and Spell" and "Speak and Read"? Those were good gender neutral toys that encouraged intellectual development for all.
During brain development (under 15 years or so), if certain neural pathways aren't used, they may be irrevocably lost. And then folks wonder why there are "differences" between male and female brains... it's entirely a product of culture, not biology. We all begin life as equals.
Advertising to children should definitely be illegal. Nice job, as always!
MirandaZ2000 1 year ago 5
A world without ads would be a world with so many problems solved.
It seems my parents did everything right:
- NO (!) TV at home before I was 13
- no visits to Toys R Us
- I played with dolls AND with Lego and so did my brother
...and now I study Informatics :-)
I'll do the same with my daughter.
Pdbddhk 1 year ago 6
A couple of years ago when I was 7 or something I used to play with barbie and I actually used to make up "stories" and it wasn't about barbie getting married or that kinda stuff but actually she was the heroine and used to save ken. Seeing those commercials I was more intrested in the actionfigures and the cars than the dolls. I think your pointing out something very important 'cause it's gonna be those kids who will run the world one day and then it'll not be good with the gender roles today.
XSecretMistakesX 1 year ago
I firmly agree with the concept that products marketed at young girls and boys are far too polarized. As a girl growing up between two brothers, I was never conditioned to participate in the activities and and ask for the toys that girls "should" want. Prime examples of gender polarization, if you have seen them, are The Dangerous Book for Boys and The Daring Book for Girls--I've perused them extensively and found things that could be entirely gender-neutral in both.
ponieslalala 1 year ago
Oh and to answer your first question, I remember it being similar when I was a kid (in the 90s).
FatherTime89 1 year ago
I'm a cisgender heterosexual who played with both toy guns and EZ Bake Ovens when I was a kid. For the longest thing I thought it meant something was wrong with me, then I realized I was perfectly normal.
tmamone83 1 year ago
It's taken me a long time to break out, at least partially, of all the social conditioning bullshit media throws at us.
katieisblue 1 year ago
great video :) this is why prefer adverts where girls and boys...oh my word.... PLAY TOGETHER. i believe these tend to be adverts for toys that are about moving your body(like reaction games or jumping/dancing games) than toys which are played with using your imagination.... i wonder if that means anything at all.
awesomedinosaur 1 year ago
you really did an awesome job on stating how the advertisements still stereotype genders... but i really do believe that some girls' toys inspire creativity and imagination as well but in different fields.
btw.. love the lipstick color! XD
iMayEatYourPeople 1 year ago
@iMayEatYourPeople In what ways? Because all the ads I saw were obsessed with style, fashion, being "girly", playing with dolls etc. I don't think that fosters the same level of creativity as the toy commercials marketed to boys about building and constructing.
feministfrequency 1 year ago 4
@feministfrequency that is actually what im saying is fashion being creative? are you underestimating it?.. please dont.. and its not like the whole fashion industry is dominated by girls as much as the construction industry is dominated by guys.. there are girls who managed to be engineers and architects and stuff and guys who ventured later into the fields of design, after playing with these toys.
iMayEatYourPeople 1 year ago
@iMayEatYourPeople The division of "girl things" and "boy things" is the real problem here and at a young age an obsession with beauty and clothing is only marketed to young women. Sure, clothing design as an adult can be creative but that isn't, at least in my opinion, what is promoted in these commercials or toys. In this case, the emphasis on fashion isn't about being creative it's about making sure you and your toys look good.
feministfrequency 1 year ago
this topic has been bugging me for so long, i am glad you covered this! great video!
ClosedForRenovations 1 year ago
I remember studying the difference in toys marketed towards gender, but my teacher also brought up how it can be used with board games as well. She pointed out commercials where the boy won the game at the end of the commercial, jumped up and down in victory, and the girl would jump up and applaud with him, like she was SUPPOSED to be happy for the boy to win. I don't know about you, but I hated losing. If I have kids, I don't think I'll have a TV in the house...
babileilei 1 year ago
I'm unsure whether ads for kids need to banned although the rest is pretty good. Although if you want to see how despicable gender roles in toy ads have gotten look up Clarke's Law For Girls' Toys
FatherTime89 1 year ago
I could go off on a rant about the software communities and how they keep women out by actively setting up barriers with sexist images and misogynistic culture that is based on hating women or making men they feel "less than" into a woman through words.
I guess I was lucky to have a brother and a mother that cared enough to give me boys toys if I ask for them, rather than trying to say "those are for boys". Thus I was raised on NES and Legos.
Maverynthia 1 year ago
Very illuminating post, I do wonder how much effect it does have because I grew up liking a mix of boy and girl toys, and I'm a transwoman and as I've grown up I've met lots of women who collect GI Joes and the like, where as even as a supposed boy I loved Jem, Rainbow Brite and My Little Pony (of course I wasn't allowed to have the toys), in addition to GI Joe and Robotech, and She-ra.
I agree that marketing to kids needs to change though, and it is one facet of hte problem of forced gender.
PetiteOzma 1 year ago
Also, kids of different genders don't play together
calliereynolds 1 year ago
If we ban advertising directed at children, how can we be sure they will turn into the obedient consumers of tomorrow? OK, seriously, banning them is a great idea. Meanwhile, kill your television.
When I was in elementary school, I remember having the very clear realization that God made a mistake in making me a girl. This had nothing to do with sexuality, but with the fact that I loved math and science so much and was so good at them.
Of course, I don't believe in God anymore, either!
scientiaarsvita1 1 year ago
@scientiaarsvita1 Love your comment but I don't advocate killing your TV, we just need to transform the media so we have awesome television shows, real news coverage and no advertising!
feministfrequency 1 year ago
Wow, watching those commercials now I don't know whether to laugh at how comically stereotypical these ads are or cry at the state of gender indoctrination at such a young age.
Great video, very illuminating. Keep up the good work.
cannedkitty 1 year ago
JOB. WELL. DONE.
MireilleeL 1 year ago