I grew up with three sisters, and most of my cousins were girls, so I had
little choice in playing with girl toys around Christmas time. It was
either sit in the corner alone with my Tonka truck or join the in-crowd.
I guess that is why the story of how one girl challenged gender
stereotypes on behalf of her little brother caught my attention.
McKenna Pope, who is 13, decided to start a petition on behalf of her
4-year-old brother who wanted an Easy-Bake Oven for Christmas. She
found plenty of ovens but felt that boys might be put off by the pink
and purple colors. (Hey, I can speak from experience; nothing screams “I
like to be roughed up when there is no adult supervision around” like
showing up with a pink oven for play dates.)
Side note: The Easy-Bake Oven is overrated. They give you only about
four cake packets, which cost more than four real boxes of cake mix to
replace, so you end up heating leftover spoonsful of cornbread mix you
begged from your mother. Also, the entire contraption is built around a
40-watt light bulb, which means you could watch two seasons of
“Basketball Wives” before your pizza is done.
Rant completed; back to McKenna.
McKenna started a petition on Change.org to urge Hasbro, which makes
the Easy-Bake Ultimate Oven, to create more “non-gender-specific” colors
that appealed to boys and girls. The petition was very successful,
earning more than 40,000 signatures, including support from celebrity
chefs.
The majority of chefs are men, so the thought of a little boy wanting to cook should not be far-fetched.
Maybe they should make an Easy-Make Grill for boys. It would come
with grilling utensils, barbeque sauce packets, lighting fluid and fake
eyebrows that kids could wear and remove after lighting the grill, just
like their uncles.
Hasbro had a better idea. They invited McKenna and her family to
their corporate offices to meet with the Easy-Bake creative team.
McKenna was quoted as saying, "I'm thrilled that they not only recognize
the importance of a gender-neutral Easy Bake Oven, but also, they've
committed to launching one in 2013. Now, boys and girls can choose any
color oven they want!"
Hey, where was all this forward thinking when I was a kid? Do you
know how many beat downs I could have missed out on if I’d had that kind
of support? lol.
It is amazing how early we begin to send messages of specific gender
roles. Before kids are born, their rooms are painted either blue or
pink. Are we frozen in some ’50s “Ozzie and Harriet” notion of male and
female roles?
Our culture is evolving, and the historical roles for men and women
are being blurred. More women are heads of households. More men choose
to stay home with children. (Watch out, “Housewives of Atlanta,” there
is even a reality show about househusbands.)
Maybe big sister McKenna and Hasbro are on to something here. I mean,
how many Christmas pictures have you seen where a little girl
half-heartedly poses with a doll while shamelessly eyeing her brothers
catchers mitt?
The times are changing, so why shouldn’t toys? This could be the
start of a whole new movement in non-gender-specific toys for kids.
I can see it now: Move over, big head Barbie, and make room for big
head DaSean! DaSean comes with comb, scissors and clippers. You can give
him a high-top fade, etch designs or twist his locks. Don’t worry if
you mess up; just shake his head for more hair and start over, cause
DaSean don’t tip anyway!
Christmas should be a magical time for kids to wish for anything
their hearts desire, regardless of how it has historically been gender
associated. So go ahead, bake a cake with your nephew or toss a ball
with your niece. It’s all good in the name of holiday spirit. Merry
Christmas!
