Sent to Galt Educational through a ragey haze, or a hazy rage...

[ailbhe]

I received a catalogue in the post today. It contains many wonderful toys and learning aids, but displays a distressing lack of gender balance. The most obvious place for this is in the dressing up clothes, where the doctor and surgeon are male, there is a male nurse in modern nurse clothing with a non-gender-specified but female counterpart in outdated storybook style uniform, and a female vet. Teaching children in preschool what their gender-appropriate aspirations are is unnecessary and unkind, and there is no reason for role-play toys to do it.

I have always been delighted with GALT toys when used by real children, and was shocked and disappointed by the gender bias in the marketing material sent to me.

Regards,

Ailbhe Leamy

Comments

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Well said! I hope they listen.

[ailbhe]

Anything is possible.

[cangetmad.livejournal.com]

As I said last night, this is beautiful phrasing, and I hope it makes someone sit back and think.

[ailbhe]

Me three!

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

Is it the models they are using in the catalogue/packaging or the actual clothes (or both) that are gendered? Not that that makes a difference to your point, to which I hope Galt listen, as it's a very good one.

[ailbhe]

Male Nurse vs Nurse was the worst; the others were consistent Reasonable Uniforms and could have had children of any gender in them without raising anyone's eyebrows. But didn't.