A little holiday gender policing, courtesy of JCPenney
Thanks for the reminder JCP! For a minute there I thought these gender norms were being broken down. I guess not! There is definitely no WAY a little boy might want a doll to play with, or anything pink. EVER. And damn those confusing gender-neutral names!
Thanks to Stuperb for the link
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No no, little boys can't like dolls or pink things because then there's the possibility that they might be gay (*rolls eyes*)
Wouldn't it be great if the gifts revealed Tonka trucks and Nerf guns - presents that displeased poor Kelly, who really wanted ice skates and an American Girl?
Looks like Santa's the one who's been naught this year.
JC Penney is on a roll today on Feministing! They sure do love gender roles, apparently. They also seem to dislike _my_ business... ^_~
Geeze JCP....anything else you'd like to throw in your holiday commercials? Perhaps a little gay bashing, maybe some racist stereotyping about Hannukah? C'mon, you're really quitting before you've exhausted all forms of discrimination...
there's also an assumption that all these pink things are appropriate & welcomed by a female Kelly, which isn't necessarily the case, either.
excellent point, helenboyd.
What do you want to bet if that guitar were brown or black, the kid wouldn't care?
It's a freaking color, people. Is reflection of light really that easily gendered?
The weird thing for me is trying to figure out the audience for this.
I mean, not to ruin it for anyone...but what with not Santa being real...and this commercial clearly not being targeted at children, but rather adults--what adults in this kids life do they really think would get it so WRONG? It's not just about the color--clearly this isn't what Kelly wanted--so who are these grown-ups in his life that clearly don't know him at all?
Additionally, how bummed would a kid be to open up gifts on Christmas morning and find a JCP giftcard? Just what you always wanted--now you can pick out your OWN over-priced linens and kitchenwares!
Behind that camcorder there's a parent thinking "Oh, SHIT. I read "Buy gifts for Kelly" on that to-do list and it COMPLETELY SLIPPED MY MIND that they were for my own child!"
Yes....all kids want for Christmas is a gift card for JCP. I can just see the happy faces now.
nope. little boys never ever want anything to do with pink stuff.
http://wubby.typepad.com/wubby/2008/11/connor-rocks-widget.html
This JC Penny ad just confirms the fact that we have such a polarized view of gender. If you are a girl, you must like pink and play with dolls. If you are a boy, you must play with only "manly" stuff like cars and trucks. We rely solely on our cultures definition of what constitues a boy or girl. This seems to be unfair as most little boys have probably played dress up in feminine clothing at some point in their lives. There should be no expectations of what a young boy should like at his age. So what, he got a doll. Oh yes, I am sure this is a sure sign that he will grow up to be gay. Get a grip JC Penny and maybe take a look at some of the accusations that your ad is making.
Haha, my son is getting a dollhouse for Christmas. He loves the one at his friend's house. Yes, we have gotten many, many strange looks from friends and family when we tell them this. A dollhouse is going to "turn" my two year-old son gay, don't you know?
When I was 6, I remember asking a mall Santa for a Barbie washing machine.
I didn't give a crap that it was pink. I didn't care that I was Barbie. I just really, really wanted that washing machine.
And did I get it? No. My dreams of having my very own washing machine were CRUSHED.
That's a very sad story, but also very cute.
Why can't the little boy just get his washing machine, dammit!
When I was 6, I remember asking a mall Santa for a Barbie washing machine.
I didn't give a crap that it was pink. I didn't care that it was Barbie. I just really, really wanted that washing machine.
And did I get it? No. My dreams of having my very own washing machine were CRUSHED.
That's so stupid, it really is, a lot of friends of the family have young sons around the same age as yours and they LOVE my old doll house...and well, I don't think playing with a doll house as a small child is going to have any influence on your sexuality!
I can only hope somebody'll get that kid a copy of "Free to Be... You and Me" for Christmas. This time next year he'll be writing,
"Dear Santa,
Beyond your lack of consideration for my individual gender expression, there is a lack of consideration for the individual interests of all girls. I can only hope you messed up at my friend Alex's house as well, so she got the basketball she was wishing for.
Cash or gift cards would be best next year,
Kelly."
Oh come on! You can't be seriously pissed at this commercial?!? It's funny. It's meant to be funny. Get over it...I thought it was cute and funny. I don't think it was made to say boys can't have pink or dolls...it's just a play on it.
This is the reason why people roll their eyes when I say I'm a feminist...
I pick my battles...save it for things that really are against women. I have a sense of humor.
I played with GI Joe, Tonka trucks and other "boys" toys and I loved my **pink** barbie stuff. The boys I played with liked my "girl" toys as well. We didn't have this school of thought when I was a kid...and you know what...kids don't think that way either.
Ah yes, the ever-trenchant "get over it!" analysis. So very useful, so very much needed.
The only thing better than that is the "aren't there more IMPORTANT things to worry about like FGM?!?"
Take it from someone who's had family members who were forced to undergo FGM: there is *always* something more important. Indeed, I've been told I should stop agitating about FGM because "in the same villages, genocide is taking place, and murder is worse than having maimed genitalia."
By the way, the last bit of your post points out precisely why we should care about commercials. Somewhere amongst your group of friends were boys who shamed by society for liking "girl stuff" and girls who were denigrated for being "too masculine." Their suffering, and that of millions of other people, matters to me.
I consider it pretty "important."
I'm with you on this one. Aside from there being boys who like "girl" things and girls who like "boy" things, there are actually people who are stereotype conforming. There's nothing wrong with *them* either, which is the implication brought by a lot of the reaction.
This boy, Kelly, wanted "boy" things for Christmas and someone screwed it up and he's angry. I don't see that as inherently nefarious in some way. When I was small, I wanted both "boy" and "girl" toys and my parents got my "boy" toys -- but I played with the dolls and all that schtuff anyway.
I also take a bit of exception that just because the boy is pissed that he got girl things it means JCP assumes that all-consuming stereotype that being gay is somehow "made". That's a conclusion that isn't *in* this commercial at all -- it's a conclusion that happens when you're searching for the stereotype to apply instead of seeing the inherent stereotype.
You could say that this commercial uses the gendered toys stereotypes as a tool for humor, so the real discussion should be why is this form is gender molding funny in the first place instead of how awful JCP is for protraying a child who conforms to stereotype.
Man, you really don't get it, do you?
I understand the argument being made that because this boy got girl-aimed toys and he's a boy that he's angry and therefor it's a sexist commercial. I'm fully aware of the commentary being had, and I don't appreciate the idea that just because I don't agree doesn't mean I don't understand. Isn't that contrary to the idea of each person being able to think and to be whatever it is that they are?
It's rather arbitrary of you to just simply assume "[I] don't get it" just because I don't agree. That's also rather foolish.
This commercial AIMED AT ADULTS because it's about a gift card, is not about the toys themselves but the embarrassment of getting the wrong gift for someone else. It has very little to do with children and even less to do with the gender roles being used here as a form of humor. It's satirizing bad gift giving; it's not an apparent affront to parents who have "non gender conforming" children. I think the assumption that just because this commercial has a child in it, it must THEREFOR be aimed at children is really knee-jerky.
By using Santa, they don't have to really rely on any one particular person (because if it had been a woman who was a bad gift giver to someone else, it would be sexist on the "women are idiots" mantra) to drive the message of "don't be a bad gift giver" -- which is the real aim of the commercial.
So, thank you for accusing me of being out of touch with the argument, though. It did allow me to fully flesh out my idea. Thanks!
I'd really like to visit the enlightened little hamlet where you're from, where apparently there is no sexism and all little children are treated equally, regardless of race, class or gender.
The reason people "roll their eyes" when you tell them you're a feminist is because you, frankly, don't really sound like one, at least not someone who's actually thought out her position. They'd roll their eyes just as much if you told them you were vegan but really didn't see a problem with the way animals are treated, on the whole.
Peoples reactions, for me, when I tell them I'm a feminist is one of "right, then, convince me of something." I usually offer up a point for debate, and if I can't convince them all at once to join NOW, then at least I 1) show that I can construct an internally consistent argument and am deserving of some level of intellectual respect, and 2) show them that they can already see how men and women are treated differently from infancy, and how this can have a dramatic effect on human development.
If I had to guess, I'd say you either just became a feminist this morning or this is an attempt at more 'sophisticated' trolling.
The reason I'm calling bullshit on this is twofold:
1. Anyone with half a brain-cell and a childhood can see that the bulk majority of media images, particularly advertising directed at children, is horribly, inexcusably gendered. Female infants need toys to bring out their 'natural' nuturing, empathic side, and little boys need toys that capitalize on aggression, territoriality and later, intelligence.
Even if there are some natural brain differences between men and women (which there possibly could be), it makes no sense to handicap half your population to feel it needs to act a certain way, when in reality the spectrum of human expression is much more complex than the gender BINARY that JCPenny wants us to believe here.
Things are the way they are for complex reasons - genes, memes, survival and profit. But feminism isn't about analyzing how we got here, although that can help us, it's about pointing out a dangerous meme system (the culture of the patriarchy) and by raising consciousness of it, hoping to provide the foundation for change towards a more empathic and stable humanity on the whole.
When a child views images, video or other humans in childhood, he or she internalizes those acts as an expression of what it means to be an adult of that sex.
Indoctrination begins at childhood. Seriously, infancy. If you can't see that, and if you don't see a problem with ads like this, then you're a troll.
Also, in order for this to be " a play on " something, that would have to mean that the director of this commercial had a pretty progressive view of gender. A lot of my friends work in advertising. The women are treated like sex objects, the men are allowed to have a boys' club. Try watching "killing us softly 3" if you'd like a primer.
"kids don't think that way either."
That is the point of these comments: That while kids certainly don't think that way, THEIR PARENTS DO, and their parents eventually teach them that boy = blue and girl = pink (among other things). Which is not cool. Enforcing gender norms IS IMPORANT. The fact that you don't think it is important says a lot about you and your "feminism".
I am insulted with the name thing :'(
But really, though. This is ridiculous. ever notice how little girls have no problem asking for power wheels or hulk hands for christmas, but God forbid a little boy receive a baby doll. it seems that men like to think they are the stronger sex, while they seem the most insecure...
Abby -
THAT was wonderful@ you win tne intratubes today!
jupiter -
i am almost 32. as a kid, i wanted G.I. Joes and transformers and Voltron stuff. my mom bought me barbies (thankfully my dad bought me what i wanted). she bought me barbies because i was a girl and she thought that, no matter what i wanted, i should have "girl toys". YOU, as a child, may not have cared how your toys were "gendered", and if you are lucky neither did your parents - but most people DO care about it. don't scold us when we protest the mass commercialization of gendering, it's as important as anything else; maybe moreso. the stereotypes children learn stay with them for life (unless it's a very unusual person able to self-analyze, which most people can't do, humans are masters of self-deception). that little boy being taught that PINK is for GIRLS is also being taught that girls only like silly things that have no use, that girls and the interest of girls are totally different from him and of no interest to him, that he has to maintain HIS difference so that he not be considered "girly" with the implication that being considered "girl" is insulting and embarrasing...
if you don't want to waste your time and effort combating the first stage of gender stereotype indoctrination, that's fine. but please don't waste OUR time concern trolling us.
You know, the little boy isn't happy with his presents. That's pretty clear from his cute little frown. But that's *all* that's clear. I don't think we can accurately read into the commercial that little boys are never happy with dolls, or that only girls like pink. All we know is that Kelly received gifts he didn't appreciate, and that he believes that Santa gave him gifts that girls would appreciate because he was confused by his name.
Now, that last part--that Kelly, the five year old boy, believes that only girls like dolls and pink--could be problematic. But the rest of the commercial is only playing on the ambiguity of the name. I'm not arguing that the underlying assumption of the commercial, that a young boy would enjoy a JC Penney's gift card, is a little weird, but I don't think we can fairly make all of the critiques that are being made here.
When is voicing my opinion trolling? Look, I grew up with a mom who wanted me to be a girlie girl. I had tons of girlie stuff. I did, however, have a grandmother that taught me that it was ok to like girlie things, but I could also be and do whatever I wanted. Hell...my kindergarten class had a "what do you want to be when you grow up" day. I said I wanted to be a race car driver...I was told I couldn't because I was a girl. You know what? It drove me to be who I am.
The media does not control what we think and do. To imply that is blatantly ignorant. Commercials do not indoctrinate young minds...our mentors and family are responsible for helping shape us.
I don't think the commercial implied that girls like silly things...the little boy just didn't get what he wanted. It was cute and he was informing Santa that he shouldn't jump to conclusions over a name.
I mean if I wanted Barbie Shrinky Dinks and I got Gun shaped ones I'd be pissed. Not because I had boy's set, but rather I didn't get the one I wanted.
I think it's fine for girls to love pink and dolls, and boys to like cars and football. That doesn't mean the boys and girls can't like both. I am not damaged from media portrayal of toys...I really can't say that I know of anyone who was.
I simply have a different opinion...you are the one who is attacking here. Agree to disagree...you may learn something if you choose to listen and understand a different point of view. What point would comments serve if everyone had the same opinion?
Just a thought.
It's great that you were so secure in your identity at such an early age. I was, too, except that I wanted to be Indiana Jones instead of a race car driver. ;)
But the fact is that commercials DO play a role* in "indoctrinating" people - children and adults - as to what behaviors are appropriate. I work in marketing. Believe me, if advertising had no effect on modeling behavior, I'd be out of a job.
*Not to say that advertising is the be-all end-all (peers are still more influential on a person's decision-making), but it's still got a powerful impact.
"The media does not control what we think and do. To imply that is blatantly ignorant."
Blatantly ignorant? Seriously?
The media is a HUGE influence on what people do, particularly young children who have enormous amounts of advertising specifically targeted towards them. The media may not control every aspect of life, but it controls more than you may realize, encouraging viewers to align themselves with certain beliefs and buy specific products
(shaping culture and society as a result).
You're entitled to an opinion, but to say that the difference between male and female toys at this young age is no big deal is seriously overlooking a MAJOR issue when it comes to gender roles in our society.
wtf.
no seriously, wtf.
you need to like, I dunno, read a book or something.
"Commercials do not indoctrinate young minds"
You must not have never heard a 5-year-old recite an entire commercial after seeing only once. Or heard a 10-year-old use an ad as a reason to believe in something.
You're right, that these should never go unchecked and parents should monitor what their kids see and counter the media with the truth- but it often goes unnoticed or happens over a long period of time until the parent is eventually shocked and wonders where their kid got these crazy ideas about life.
Kids are incredibly affected by advertising. And they should be, because billions of dollars are spent every year to make sure ads seem into their developing brains as deep as possible. I mean, where do you think the idea of "'tweens" even came from?
I understand if you think this one commercial is not a big deal, but please don't even pretend that the media is not a dangerous combatant against raising, smart, mentally healthy, confident children.
You are not a feminist. You are ignorant. Period.
"Agree to disagree...you may learn something if you choose to listen and understand a different point of view"
The same way you're choosing to listen and understand their point of view when you make dismissive comments like "Get over it" and "No wonder people roll their eyes at feminists?"
If there's something to be learned here, these seem like very poor teaching methods.
Personally, I'm of the opinion that the whole premise of the ad--that his own parents don't know him well enough to get him what he likes--is absurd. But I also see valid points in what others are saying about how this reenforces conventional gender roles.
Well aren't you an advertiser's dream.
You're too smart to be influenced by the media! Keep dreaming, girl.
When is voicing my opinion trolling?
When you tell a feminist blog to "get over it."
I thought this commercial was pretty funny, but I do agree with all the comments I have read, however the commercial is trying to sell a product.
It is obvious in the commercial that the boy did not appreciate the gifts he received. It doesn't matter if they are pink or not. Santa obviously stereotyped the name Kelly assuming that it was a girl who would appreciate things like dolls and pink things. This isn't to say that all girls like things that are pink, or all boys don't like things that are pink. JCPenney is just trying to advertise their gift cards. They would not stereotype on purpose. The commercial would not have worked if the boy received gifts that he did like, be they "pink" or not. They based their commercial off the assumption that most boys would rather get cars and trucks, than dolls and pink things. Every character on t.v. portrays a gender and a sexuality. In this case the boy is playing the gender role and doing gender the way a script tells him so. The gender neutral name proved its point by being gender neutral. I once met a girl named Brett, and my first assumption was that she was a boy. But I was wrong. So Santa was wrong. Just get past the fact that not all boys would reject "pink" things and laugh at the commercial.
"They would not stereotype on purpose."
Seriously?
Okay, I've definitely read articles and know from experience that children and adults are generally happiest with gender-neutral gifts. If you don't know the gender, it doesn't make any logical fucking sense to run the risk of displeasing the recipient, so your best bet is to choose a present you think any child would like. Get the kid a planet earth DVD set, or an XO laptop, the eyeclops which is a sweet microscope you hook up to a TV, book of animal stickers, erector set, book targeted to children of that age, tickets to a play. I don't know, what do kids like these days? The truth is, that there are plenty of other toys out there that don't sex-segregate.
I for one didn't want tonka trucks, barbies, batman, monsters, godzilla, dolls, a lightbulb oven, a pretty princess playset OR a gun.
Got all the 'girl' shit anyway. I got pink, big fucking legos. I was so insulted. My brother got the small legos - I asked for an erector set, k'nex or legos, and I got the big fucking pink duplo legos. I'm a full 2 years older than my brother, but for some reason I was incapable of building things unless the bricks were big and pink.
I also got all the itchy, tight girls clothes from JCPenny from my relatives - every single item had to be taken back, every year.
Seriously, fuck the patriarchy and the stifling effects it has on childrens' minds. There are SO many women geniuses who are lost to society because of this crap.
Good point SaraLaffs. I'm in media and P.R., so I understand.
Media does influence people...to a point. Keep in mind that media reflects a culture more so than shapes it.
i respectfully disagree. it may be true that the media largely reflects our reality, but it does its own part to shape that reality as well. with kids tuning in to the TV as often as they do, it would be careless to suggest that television has no effect on their concept of the world at large. this ad certainly isn't the only item enforcing arbitrary gender norms, to be sure, but the fact that this ad is on TV at all tells us that the blue / pink, boy / girl dichotomy is something our society values. ergo, it acts as another passively disapproving voice towards those children who don't conform.
also...my impression of the ad was that it is primarily geared towards the parents...i think the ad has the potential to shame parents who DO buy pink toys for their sons, and to scare off the more fence-sitting types from ever buying barbies, etc. for a male child. the harmful implication of the ad is that it is more unthinkable for "santa" to assume Kelly wants pink toys if Kelly is a boy, rather than a girl: it is more unthinkable to give a boy pink toys than it is for him to give a girl pink toys, with the sole deciding criterion being the gender of the child.
Oh, JCP. Someone didn't watch the "Free to be You and Me" video about this exact topic.
I've got to say though that a lot of the gender identity comes from the peer group.
My husband and I were shocked this year when our son came home from kindergarten and announced that this year he wanted an all boy birthday party with no girls. We told him that wasn't an option.
We also went to one birthday party where the boys in his class were busy proudly declaring the table they were eating pizza at the "no girls allowed table". Another mom and I promptly sat down at the table and disabused them of this notion.
This is the same kid who loved playing with the kitchen set and pots and pans we bought him when he was littler, wanted a doll house, and loves playing with our family friend's little daughter. Mostly because she's nice enough to play what he wants although I tell him that he should play what she wants sometimes.
This year I may finally get to buy him a baby doll. He hasn't asked for one, but he's getting a baby sibling and I figured it would help him with practicing.
This commercial specifically is no different. Most people decide what they're going to get their child soon after lists come out -- or at least know what direction to buy their child. This commercial talks about Santa and *he* gets it wrong (there's a severe lack of suspension of disbelief here).
This commercial isn't aimed at children, but adults, and aims at the idea that buying the wrong thing for someone is embarrassing (ie. Santa receiving Kelly's note). So, then, why don't you avoid that and buy the gift card so they can buy it themselves! I really don't think this ad is about children at all, especially since marketers for children's toys are now a LOT more careful about those stereotypes. This is supposed to remind you of that time you got something you didn't want from Santa when you were little; not about Kelly down the road who is the child of whoever and whoeverelse.
I am the parent of two school-aged boys, who are both completely in to "boy" stuff. My boys would probably have the same reaction as the boy in the commercial.
That said, I hate this commercial, and if I saw it with my boys, we'd be discussing it until they were sick of me and begging to be allowed to go back to watching their TV show.
We regularly talk about the fact that while they generally "boy" things, there is nothing wrong with crossing gender lines. I do struggle with this, as they are exhibiting all the stereotypical boy behaviors, though I take every opening they give me. They had a babydoll to play with, that did get a lot of play from the younger one, and a kitchen set, which I never considered gendered, but I guess some people might.
When my older son was a baby, I thought it was going to be easy to smash some of these gender roles with my own kids, but I'm learning how hard it is in reality. Commercials like this certainly aren't helping.
I think this commercial, more so than anything else, accidentally makes a strong point on exactly how much kid's toys are polarized by gender.
I mean, c'mon, a pink guitar? Why can't a girl just get a GUITAR? Is a regular, plain, wood guitar going to do her any bad? They play the same notes.
Do you know how easy it is to shop gender-neutrally for a kid if you just thought about it for a second? Here are some gender-neutral toys for kids off the top of my head: blocks (or regular Legos), books, coloring books (or most things made by Crayola), any "classic" wooden toy, learning toys (think "V-tech"), puzzles, boardgames, toys that let them pretend to be professionals (doctor kits and the like), toy animals...and that's without knowing the kid!
But no, we have to have an overly gendered system where you either get Bratz or whatever charged-up muscle-clad super-guy toy series is out on the market today for boys (seriously, which is it? When I was a kid it was GI Joe & He-Man).
I, personally, always think boys get the better toys. Have you seen some of the girl's toys today? They SUCK! And even the animals wear diamonds and make-up. Uck.
"I mean, c'mon, a pink guitar? Why can't a girl just get a GUITAR? Is a regular, plain, wood guitar going to do her any bad? They play the same notes."
Side note--one time we were taking the bus across town to band practice and two little girls, twins I think, came over to us entranced by my bassist's guitar. They seemed particularly interested in the mechanics of the bass--what the different parts were called, why it made a different sound than a regular guitar, etc. Super cute and encouraging.
More on topic, when I was a kid I wanted the Hess truck, you know the one with real working headlights, but my brother got it instead. I played with it though when he wasn't around. And although my brother was disdainful of "girl stuff" he would end up playing with my jewelry, usually wrapping it around his GI Joes for some reason. Mostly I tended to prefer gender neutral stuff based on characters I recognized though, like I had a Pac-Man puppet and a doll of a Smurf.
Thats pretty fucked up.
I can definitely see a child opening a card, and after some red, snot-running-down-your-face tantrum (you all know the face) over "Wheres my present?!" Forgetting the whole thing and losing it.
At that age kids dont understand money very well, and the idea of a gift card would confuse the hell out of them. Not to mention taking the child toy shopping is hell.
Dear Kelly:
Dolls can be boys' toys, too.
Love, Santa.
this is so crazy. I would hate to be this kid. i really got a good laugh out it.
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