Little girls tricked out in make-up, indeed!  These games are working to get LITTLE GIRLS to look and aspire to be like the picture of female perfection that IS BEING MARKETED TO MUCH OLDER MEN!!!

I know this may seem like a stretch but I really believe that we should make this connection: these products and their corresponding ads build on our already firm-in-place rape culture!  Parenting under these conditions is an issue that Feminist Movement should really take a crack at!

Its not the feminist movement but  every individal female who has girls or is an aunt godmother. Can people see that this is intentional that all the Women Movement has stood for is being taken away from them? If we want equality for ourselves and our daughters simple don't dress them like hookers and don't buy the games!! Instruct them in nongenderbased games and be a parent for God's sake. They will love you when they grow up. Also why do middleage women need to talk like OMG?? Come on take your blinders off!!!

I had to stop reading after the first few. Too depressing, too disgusting.

*sigh*

I once thought as time went by and our thinking evolved we'd stop putting kids into categories and let them be who God made them to be, let them find out for themselves without telling them "girls do this" and "boys do that."

Then again, I also thought we'd become less materialistic, and the consumer society we live in is pretty horrifying.

Sigh.  Don't mind me.  I'm just being a grumpy old fart.

I disagree miss lewis...Your not being just a "grumpy old fart".

I too had hoped that we had moved beyond a lot of these foolish steriotypes but I reckon the real grumpy old farts just dont wanna let go just yet...

I completely agree with your whole last paragraph!  I think what is important to note from this post is that advertisers and companies that produce children's toys are not interested in communicating that message.  As a result, they create products that cater to and reinforce gender stereotypes.  Their products become then linked to gender stereotypes to the point that, socially, an individual can stick out as a pariah if they choose the wrong product.

Look down any toy aisle in any store and it becomes quite clear that this industry is not at all interested (overall) in helping to give that choice to children.

Sure, some girls like that kind of thing.  However, as you ask, why might that be?  Is it because they feel it's expected of them?  Is it because "it's what all the other girls are doing?"

I have no problem with being feminine.  What concerns me are marketing strategies that reinforce the kind of values that make girls who aren't "pretty" feel worthless.

Would that more parents paid as much attention to the games their kids play as you apparently do.

Studies have shown (and I can't put my hands on a link at the moment) that girls enjoy video games that encourage cooperative play and the achieving of goals.  I would like to see more of those kinds of games rather than the kind that pander to the lowest expectations.

 I think there should be choices for a girl and yes some girls prefer "stereotypical" games, but as long as girls have a right to choose game that fits their interest, im ok with these games. when i was younger i was ashamed that I liked barbies, because i grew up surrounded by boys. If I like pink and other stereotypical things I should be able to have the choice to have fun accordingly.

I agree miss rodriguez.

Women can be successfull without acting like men while still letting more of their masculinity show and men can be successfull without acting like women while still letting more of their feminism show...In other words balance without negative expectations will make us all more equal and a better society.

Alyssa, you wrote: "when i was younger i was ashamed that I liked barbies, because i grew up surrounded by boys. If I like pink and other stereotypical things I should be able to have the choice to have fun accordingly."

I daresay a number of boys feel the same way you do about Barbies and the color pink.

Misogyny does not only affect girls.  Gay-bashing is in part a result of the contempt for all things female.  If boys who wanted to dress up Barbies (regardless of their sexual orientation) were allowed to do so in peace, this world would be a better place. 

I think what you're missing is that there are so many things being thrown at the females of today that the balance is out of whack!  They're bombarded right from the start with stereotypical actions, and it's way more easy for their role models to give into the Cinderella-way of bringing them up than to really find some good books, games, tv shows, & movies about strong women than to just let them view what's stimulating them from all angles as soon as they can comprehend.

Most people really DO still raise their sons/daughters differently when it comes to everything from color-choice, to holding & coo'ing to them, to picking out school clothes.  We're talking very young stereotyping that, by the time they hit even 7-8, (or younger) they're definitely forming an image of what is expected of a female to be. 

I'll write more as this comment page continues....

Yeah, or a princess who uses her intelligence and diplomacy to save her kingdom from a deadly war the king is about to start!

Well said miss cameron.

I too like lara croft and not just because she was sexily designed either but rather also because it was a thinking game...A rather frustrating thinking game that I had to use some cheats on but still, a thinking game with a capable woman who wasnt expected to wait for a man to save her or stay at home all the time...Not that theres anything wrong with stay at home ladies any more than theres anything wrong with stay at home men.

Thats a large part of the problem I think in that we as a society still have the patterns of extremes warping our collective and individual perceptions.

Miss demonbreun...Thats a wonderfull idea and one I'd love to see implemented in a game as well as other forms of media.

Yeah the message should be that you can be pretty but its your natural talent that should be emphasized. As a nurse of 39 years what I see is the beautiful young nurses get the best positions and jobs. Ask them why they went into nursing its because of Scrubs. Everyone is beautiful and look at the eating disorders, drug addiction that our society has because of the perfect body image. When are we going to stop buying into this crap?

It's Mr. but I'm not miffed - common mistake :)

Ha, ha!  This is a root of what we're talking about!  Even with the choice of a name for your male or female child (hence, JESSE), we are stereotyping our children!  You'd be surprised at how few females have a non-gender name.  Yes, they're out there, but there's a lot more Katie & Christopher's than Jesse's or Jordan's. 

I'm sorry, but I have to also take a 2nd. to respond to your post, Jillian.  What is wrong with the marketing strategy of these games is that boys won't be exposed equally as girls are when they're on the shelves.  I know that because brothers rarely follow their sisters into that corner of the game aisle.  If there's jewelry or design, the boys are rarely there...and esp. if there's only a girl on the cover of the box it comes in!  C'mon, you can THINK the boys will buy it, too, but I bet it's not 50% of the market.

My younger sister and I love to play "Boomblox." It's a game that makes you think about physics and the way structures are built, also some levels are puzzle-like, in some levels you are defending innocent cows and kittens from the attacks of the evil monkeys. It seems pretty gender neutral to me. It's not very violent. It's varied, exciting, fun and addictive. Also, there are cooperative games in a separate section, as well as competitive games and individual levels. I recommend it as an alternative to "girly" games. =)

You scare me, Jen...instead of taking that game & adapting it to girls by changing their choice of colors, etc......why aren't you "thinking" of how you can change that game to make it EQUALLY enticing for BOYS?  See?  Same mentality as those of yester-year.  It's little mis-thoughts like yours that come to mind, but need more tweaking in a completely different direction.

OOpsie!  And I forgot to applaud Michelle & her sister for picking games that stimulate your math/science minds along with some gender neutral games.  Gosh, I actually took a happy breath after reading your post! 

(you get it!)

Of course the free market decides many of these things.  There's easy money to be made in reinforcing stereotypes, just as there is in making sequels to blockbuster movies, because it takes a whole lot less originality.

It doesn't mean we can't talk about how obnoxious these product are and why we think or feel that way.

Nor does it mean that they are good and healthy for young girls.  Just as we don't allow children to smoke cigarettes, there is nothing wrong with parents, grandparents, aunts, etc. talking to each other about how to talk to their girls about it when their friends fall prey to it.

Yeah, Emma -- the Clique game turned my stomach. 

In part that's because it reminded me of all the nasty stuff I(and many others) suffered in junior high school at the hands of those either in cliques or who wanted to be in one, but mostly because the solution it advocates is to be like them.

What a terrible idea!

Oh trust me, I know. I was never popular in middle school, though I never wanted to be. However, some of my friends did and that was always terrible because they would start being awful to everyone in the group to end up sucking up to us again when nobody in the popular group stayed friends with them. I think that if the media strayed away from things like that game girls would be a whole lot better off.

What it's teaching kids is cruelty and superficiality.  I also noticed no girls of color or differently abled girls on these game packages.  Sends a very bad message.

I would gladly buy my granddaughter a jewelry making kit or a fashion kit if she's ever interested, but if it's packaged like these, forget it.  Making jewelry and learning to run a business has nothing to do with gender, period.

Right now, her favorite toys are trucks, cars, trains, and balls.  She is sweet and loving, and gentle with our pets, but shows no interest in dolls.  I'm glad she is allowed to be herself.  I know we face an uphill battle down the road when she sees advertisements that send the message that she needs to be a pink frilly little brat to fit in.  Who decided this crap in the first place, of which gender plays with what toys???  How stupid. 

Yes, Jennifer, I'm a grumpy old fart too!

I'm surprised no one here has mentioned The Path:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106642281

Emma, I'm glad you had choices, and made them to fit your personality & likes.  What we're really talking about is something deeper.  Did any boys play WITH you when you picked up a Barbie, or did some of  your more girly things?  Why didn't they?  You certainly made the choice to play with Hot Wheels and dinosaurs.....our society would frown on vice versa.

I got The Path to see what it was about.  It's not ideal for young girls.  I think you'd have to be an older teen.  It's also slightly boring and you're walking around for a long time.  Although the atmosphere is beautiful, there's not much interaction or expectations from the player.  I didn't play long before becoming bored.  I just thought I'd report back my experience :)

Thanks for the feedback on The Path. I still may have to check it out.

I actually think it'd be even better if the cliques were just as important a game for boys!  Why should the jacket (box), or consumer focus be directed JUST at girls? 

What you're missing is....if it's directed at girls....well, WHY?????

Jessica, the article is supposed to bring to light that companies ARE catering to girls....and not BOTH genders.  Why should ONLY girls be exposed to these subjects?  It has nothing to do with girls wanting these or not, but rather......why would they make a box (cover, jacket) that ONLY appealed to GIRLS?  Would a boy buy this with the way they look, or how they are advertised, or where they sit in the stores?   (I think not). 

The games you talk about YOU picked to play because they were non-gender games.  This is how these should be marketed, too....don't you think?  Or.........do you not like the idea of a boy maybe wanting to buy this game in a less FEMININE box?

Yeah I get you are saying that they are aimed at girls with girly things but how is it different from a war game featuring a man with a gun on the front or Golden Axe back in the 80's? It's just the "boy" versions have been around longer.

Princesses and soldiors are innocent childhood fantasies, they shouldn't be denied to children anymore than they should be pushed on them.

Sophie.....

This is where I worry about the new generation of "feminists".....you come into these conversations/articles from an angle that says, "the gender bias doesn't exist because I haven't noticed it in my lifetime." 

I still stick to the fact that, even back int the 80's, then the 90's, and into this century....I have NEVER seen games like those listed above in ANY section that even MILDLY resembles a section of a store a boy would look at!

Get real...sorry!

Games like WoW and Star Wars Galaxies do indeed have female characters but as a woman who played both of these games I must say that I saw noticeable differences between male a female characters. In WoW, which I adore playing, the female characters are all rather well endowed, while the male characters may or may not be incredibly muscled. In Star Wars Galaxies the female dancers have a repetoire of highly sexualized moved while male dancers are for less erotic in nature. What message does that send? I think the games in this article were chosen because they are the most prolific type available to young women. Games such as Rock Band, which features the ability to make your own character with a realistic body type, are starting to level the playing field that simply aren't common enough.

Kactus Kat, you wrote: "This is where I worry about the new generation of "feminists".....you come into these conversations/articles from an angle that says, "the gender bias doesn't exist because I haven't noticed it in my lifetime." "

Your remark makes me think of all the twenty-something girls I meet who speak as if they are either oblivious to or ignorant of the many hard-won gains they take for granted.

"Oh," they'll say, "I'm not a feminist.  I just believe in equal pay for equal work."

So very glad to know this, Alexa, and I appreciate your informative response.

"Jasmine and Ariel were my favorite "princesses"."

Alexa, just out of curiosity, did you ever read Hans Christian Anderson's "The Little Mermaid" on which the Disney movie was based?  If so, how would you compare the two?

You might like to read the original story.  IMHO it's soulful, poignant, and illustrative of the meaning of love in a way I've rarely read or seen.

I read it as a child, and it saddens me to see how many powerful fairy tales and folk tales have been essentially neutered by an entertainment industry that doesn't think kids can handle deep concepts like the ones Hans Christian Anderson's "The Little Mermaid" explores.

I guarantee you it will stay with you a lot longer and powerfully. 

In response to Alexa's reply, Jenifer....there is definitely a time-lag between the HC Anderson's book, and Disney's revamp into modern times. 

Nancy Drew has gone through several generations where she has changed, too.  I used to think she was very independent, "back in the day"...but now to pick up and read an "original copy" of one of her books, wow - what a difference I see! 

Lost in translation?  In generation is NOT the same as lost in gender-ation! 

The point of this is....do girls and boys have the same exposure to access to games as those above.  I still say, boys (and their parents) would never buy these games...and why should games be made especially for a boy OR a girl? 

Then they go to school, and have MORE gender separations in both the classroom, & their outside-classroom activities.

We need to be more aggressive in pursuing the focus at the levels where people/businesses really can make a difference as to how this next generation learns to appreciate that it doesn't really matter what game you pick up....everyone is an equal human being.