Pinked!

     In the article "Pinked", by Peggy Orenstein she talks about how toys and many things have become gender oriented. For example, boys are supposed to play with certain toys and girls are supposed to play with certain toys. This was done by marketers who realized that they could make double the profits if they released toys in separate colors for each gender. The example given in the text was parents buying two different baseball bats for their kids. She states, "If you make a pink baseball bat, parents will buy one for their daughter". This is a smart tactic by marketers, but in the long run could be damaging to children. If kids grow up and think that certain color toys are only for one of the genders, then they are likely going to get bullied for playing with the opposite genders' toys. Kids should be able to play with whatever toys they want and feel comfortable. Like she pointed out in the article, kids will make fun of others and expect them to wear certain things. She tells the story about the girl with the Hello Kitty scooter with a "boy's" helmet and another boy exclaimed "How come your helmet's not pink?". Statements like these are what can make kids feel self-conscious and make them feel excluded from being friends with other kids.