Everyday Sexism Watch
Feministing reader Raine sent this in, and I just wanted to share.
I was recently at Chuck E. Cheese for my little brother's birthday party. They have a new feature that, for one coin, produces an "ID Card". You put in your coin and then push a button that either says "BOY" or "GIRL". I tested this with six cards- three boys, three girls. The three boys that I got were Pro Snowboarder, Policeman, and Fireman. The three girl cards I got were Diva, Popstar, and Cheerleader.
Ah, I love Mondays.
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World needs divas.
I see that "doctor" or anything like that isn't an option for either sex.
It's actually every bit as stereotyping for the boys as for the girls. Girls have to be glamorous and/or sexy and boys have to be hyper-masculine.
Oh, brother.
Though I suppose at least a "diva" or a "popstar" are front and center unto themselves. And perhaps even writes her own songs(though with today's manufactured popstars it's highly unlikely) A cheerleader? She just cheers FOR the boys. It's like this idealized role that's foisted onto girls, that they should want to be a cheerleader, but it's very much a supporting role.
Still, would it kill them to make a card with a girl on a snowboard or fighting fires?
Wow, only two out of six are actual careers, way to go Chuck E. Cheese! Perhaps you should replace "fireman"(sic) and "policeman"(sic) with "rock star" and "meth addict" and go for broke.
While I do think this is very sad (and unfortunately not surprizing), I don't think it's fair to say that snowboarding is not a career. Some professional snowboarders make lots of money. It's a sport, and each sport has professionals that make it their career. Also, being a popstar is a career as well. We might not liked the way the female popstars are manufactured and presented, but that doesn't make it not a career. Being a cheerleader I would say is not a career simply because from what I've heard it's never that person's only job (more like a part time job) because it really doesn't pay much at all. So the only one in there that isn't a job is just "diva." And I do think it's ridiculous that they put that as an option.
Hell, you can even be a professional cheerleader.
Whoops, it would help to read the whole comment before replying.
I'm with Danyell.
I'm a boy and would much rather prefer being a popstar than a fireman.
I think this goes back to shaming girls for being athletic and shaming boys for being performers, which I can tell you from my life (and living with an athletic sister) is still prevalent.
While I agree that this machine had a bad track record for you, you only bought three cards for each gender. I can't imagine that those are the only six options. How do you know that "Pro snowboarder" or "Doctor" wasn't next in line for GIRL or "Elementary School Teacher" for BOY?
I agree that perhaps 10 would seem a better average from which to judge, but you can't deny how dramatically slanted they all were for either gender "type". I'd be very surprised (and impressed) if the next 6 were amazingly neutral.
One problem that I have with this game is that you have the issue of only "boy" and "girl" buttons. This is inherently problematic since it renders invisible any and all people who are intersex. It's the same way that on forms you only have the M or F boxes to check. But then again, I'm not sure if Chuck E. Cheese would want too many intersex kids running around playing games anyways, if they have machines like this as "games" for children. Way to uphold the binary, Chuck E Cheese...
agreed. i notice to my great surprise (har, har) that there is no box for genderqueer either.
actually, why does Chuck-E-Cheese have gendered ID cards in the first place? i'm confused. i know if i were forced to pick, i would pick the "boy" one regardless of the shape of my parts -- the "girl" options always suck, in my experience.
Considering how they feel about gender identity to start with, I think intersex is a little beyond their grasp.
What, there are no male pop stars? Am I really that lucky, and my wish to destroy the Jonas brothers' career has been granted?
Pop star does sound a little more "girly" as a term, so perhaps "rock star" would be better for a little more neutral of a feel.
And there are male cheerleaders as well. For chrissake, our current excuse for a president was a cheerleader years ago. (I don't recall if it was at Yale or at his prep school prior to that.) So men can go give cheers if they like.
And don't tell me there aren't male divas. I mean, that's Rufus Wainwright, right there.
It goes without saying that there are women in the police force, and women who fight fires, and women who go out and snowboard.
Interestingly, the "pro snowboarder" card is completely out of the pattern for the boys' cards. The logical third party to the policeman and firefighter trinity is "soldier" or "marine." Something to that effect. It's interesting, as it's not what I'd think of first as a "macho job." As far as sports go, that's actually near the bottom to me, on the stereotypical macho factor. It's not known as a "manly" thing, it's more of a "on my way to becoming a man"-ly sport. It's for teenage boys, like skateboarding. It's not, say, football.
This reminds me of the McDonald's Happy Meal's. They always ask if the meal is for a boy or a girl, so they can provide the "right" toy. Blah.
This reminds me of the McDonald's Happy Meal's. They always ask if the meal is for a boy or a girl, so they can provide the "right" toy. Blah.