That is, if in the real world girls need practice on how to iron so when they grow up their family's shirts are wrinkle-free.
I saw this "toy" at Big Lots in Augusta, ME today. In case you can't make it out, it's a plastic miniature ironing board and iron made by Black & Decker Junior. The photo on the front shows a young girl evidently enjoying pretending to iron something.
What really bothers me about this toy is how it is presented. This toy is for girls and every other toy B&DJ makes is for boys (with pictures of boys on the front so don't get mixed up and accidentally buy a table saw for your daughter!) It's almost like the creators thought "well, we're getting flak for only marketing toys to boys, so let's see, what do women like to do that we can make a toy version of? Oh yeah, women LOVE to iron!"
No, sorry, maybe some people like to iron, but I do not. It is a menial task that I avoid at all costs and only do when absolutely necessary. There is no higher level thinking involved in getting the wrinkles out of my dress clothes. The workbench toys, on the other hand, engage kids on a different level. They're creating somthing, using their imagination to decide what to make, how they'll design it, and [pretend] implement those designs. There is an element of creativity and choice involved. See how happy that boy is? He made a bird feeder! He didn't need to. There wasn't a pile of lumber accumulating, needing to be made into bird houses.
So I guess I'm not sure what B&DJ were thinking when they designed this toy, but they must not have thought very long. I mean, sure, part of it is emulation. I used to like watching my mom do housework when I was a kid and probably would have played with a child-size ironing board in order to act more like her. But seriously, of all the things to emulate, housework? Any why are only girls allowed to want to do this? Pretend college would be more fun, and something actually worth aspiring to.
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Growing up, my dad did all of the ironing, and had a ball doing it, so this toy is just so backward for me. It's taking the joy of ironing away from men like my dad!
The marketing is offensive and hugely problematic. But the existence of the actual product? Meh. Kids do love to imitate adults. Some of my three year old son's favorite activities are picking up dog crap and vacuming, neither of which are enjoyable or stimulating for ME.
I'm not on board with the hierarchy of activities going on here either. Manly man tools are creative! Girly girl housework is dull and boring. There's just as much creative thinking involved in, say, getting out a stain as there is in fixing a squeaky door. (mind you, this is coming from someone who doesn't even OWN an iron...)
Housework- the daily work involved in actually living- is not somehow less valuable than academics. Less interesting? Yeah. Less challenging? Yeah. Less valuable and worthy of emulating? Um, no.
I'm not on board with the hierarchy of activities going on here either. Manly man tools are creative! Girly girl housework is dull and boring.
Yeah... and some forms of "women's work" actually involve a whole hell of a lot of creativity. Cooking, baking, home decorating, organizing... oh and, child rearing!
I don't own an iron either... if my partner needs his shirt wrinkle-free he can hang it up in the bathroom while I take a shower! :P
I'm not on board with the hierarchy of activities going on here either. Manly man tools are creative! Girly girl housework is dull and boring.
Yeah... and some forms of "women's work" actually involve a whole hell of a lot of creativity. Cooking, baking, home decorating, organizing... oh, and child rearing!
I don't own an iron either... if my partner needs his shirt wrinkle-free he can hang it up in the bathroom while I take a shower! :P
I totally agree with your post except where you say that housework is less challenging then academics. I'm sure that's true for some but not necessarily all people. Otherwise I think your post was spot on.
I agree with UnHingedHips. I think the marketing sucks (why just to girls?) but the toy itself is fine.
I actually purchased a toy iron for my son (by B&D, too, I think) because he liked watching me iron (on the rare occasion I do iron). Whenever I break out my iron, he runs and gets his. It's kind of cute actually LOL. If I ever have a girl, I'd likely do the same. NOT because of gender stereotypes (obviously) but because my hope is that all my children learn to iron their own damn clothes when they are adults. (Boys and girls alike...)
Making sure kids know how to do their own chores is a good thing. It was the strangest experience when I moved out of my mom's place to go to school and ran realized how many kids (girls and boys, although sadly more boys) had NEVER done their own laundry. Or worse, never cleaned up after themselves and waited until their mother's came to visit to clean up after them!
Also, even though the tools are marketed to boys it seems like very few guys my age (I'm 22) actually know how to use tools. For instance, I remember putting a new door knob into my door. I was having trouble asked my ex-boyfriend and his friend if they knew what to do and were more clueless than I was. I ended up realizing I was missing a piece and fixed it myself. I often had problems with my bike as well and never asked them for help because I knew they'd be clueless and I was better off figuring it out myself. Very few of my male friends are good with tools and would not be able to do a simple repair. Sorry, tangent.
For some reason, I love these toys. I don't know why- I think I have a fascination with miniature things. I just had a baby two months ago so it's not time to be buying him any of these things yet but the way it's always worked in my mind is that I'd get him the tool bench but also the miniature washing machine, mini kitchen, etc. I'd want to him to have the whole set and I feel like play would be so much more interesting if it were "Let's hammer some nails for a while and then it's time to make some dinner." Maybe it's just the way I envision things but regardless of who they market to, I can't see myself not buying all the different types of toys for my son. Not to mention the fact that I would like him to be able to cook and look after a house once he grows up and, more importantly, think that it's a completely normal expectation of boys.
I wish I'd somehow been raised to enjoy housework, it needs doing anyway.