Toys"R"Us scolded for gender discrimination

I think it's great that the kids are learning about this and that they're taking an initiative to sold the issues!

Children ARE limited by social norms and rules regarding gender.

Most girls will want to princesses whilst most boys will want to be knights. How much of this is biological and how much is cultural we don't know. But what we do know is that some "guys want to be princesses sometime" and they should not be made for feel that they're weird or doing something wrong. Kids are very sensitive to social influences and norms which is why this is such an important issue!

Now, you can argue of course that Toys R Us are simply advertising to the biggest audience. Which is fine from en economic viewpoint but not from an ethical one.

Anyone who has ever been a parent will tell you there are differences between boys and girls. They react differently to different stimulae, they behave differently without being coerced or instructed to do so. But, if Swedish people want to homogenize themselves so be it. Don't look at the catalogue. It is produced with a target market in mind, and obviously that market is not in Sweden, where according to some government agency (and a sixth grade class), everyone must look, behave and act the same. Now go out on the street in Sweden and see if the boys and the girls are doing the same things and acting the same way. Of course they're not !!!!! BECAUSE THEY ARE DIFFERENT !!!!!

Everyone should konw what Regan deregulation did to kids in the US. Just take a look at the obisity rates, school performance and so on. Thank God there are people in Sweden not just concerned with making profit but welfare of children. Thumbs up Sweden!!!

@BravoTango

Well said!! I have 3 children - both sexes represented. They ARE different - and we all like it that way. I like to call it 'personality'.

Why does it have to be so complicated!

When I was 5-7 I mostly played with my bro's cars and lorries and such. I even had my own vehicles.

I owned one doll and eventually cut all her hair off.

I hated party dresses.

Bro sometimes played families with me and he was Mrs T and I was Mrs B.

He used to get into fights at school because he was small for his age and I used to 'save' him.

Now I'm old, married a man and have kids and know what gender I am.

He's old, is a musician and artist, married a woman, has a family and knows what gender he is.

I think their stores are ageist.

I do not believe the school children in the artical cared or even noticed until the teacher pointed out something to be a victim about.

ah hahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahaha

I would point this out to swedish friends of mine, but then they would agree with this story.

Especially the swedish guys! hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Should give all the baby boys a doll each for Christmas, so they can practice nappy changing at an early age, in preparation for their main role in life.

Bloody Fairies,..ho,ho,ho.

jack sprat -> I couldn't have put it better myself!

hahh ahhahahahah

I agree that the children likely did not notice anything 'wrong' with the ad until the teacher indoctrinated them with his politically correct opinion. If I was in charge of the school system, boys would run laps and do push-ups, girls would do sewing and this teacher would be thrown off of the Øresund bridge.

@Kaethar - Children ARE limited by social norms and rules regarding gender. Most girls will want ... most boys will want ...

In some cultures children are limited by social norms and rules regarding gender, some cultures try to remove these "norms" but the GREATER reality is that regardless of the social norms, GENETICS is the greatest limiting factor in our lives! Genetics has caused males and females to be different from each other in VERY specific ways both mentally and physically. Simple obvious idea and yet there is so many people opposed to this idea.

It is interesting how upset people become when you state the FACT that men and women DO NOT THINK ALIKE! Our evolution has WIRED our brains differently! The brain imaging studies have clearly shown that the womans' brain patterns are alike and that the mens' brain patterns are alike! The imaging also CLEARLY shows that the womens and the men's brain patterns are NOT ALIKE! Social Norms or not, men and women have different thought patterns and thought processes! We see it in the brain scans!

Men and women are NOT equal in our general abilities! There are some things that women are better at and other things that men are better at! Sorry but that is just a FACT that some people refuse to face. It is not culture that created this, it is our evolution! Our culture mimics what evolution has given us!

Some of the people really oppose this idea because well after all, IF we are different, how can we be equal? That is the great part about living in a FREE society! We are DIFFERENT but EQUAL! This, unlike what some religions would have you believe, does NOT mean that MEN are SUPERIOR or even that WOMEN are SUPERIOR. It means that the human race has worked with these strengths and weaknesses to COMPLIMENT the human race!

The real problem comes when a society FORCES someone into a cultural "NORM". Most girls will not want to grow up to be soldiers but the girl who decides she wants to be one, should not be prevented from becoming one! We are different but equal and we should be allowed equal opportunities if we so choose!

In the mean time we should accept the fact that girls and boys have different motivations and strengths! It is wrong to deny a child some activity because it is not appropriate for their gender! If they want to try it, they MUST be allowed to try it! Likewise, it is VERY wrong to try to FORCE a child to try to conform to a gender pattern that is inappropriate for their particular gender! You cannot UNWIRE our evolutionary instincts!

@Kaethar - How much of this is biological and how much is cultural we don't know.

Actually, we DO know a lot and we are continually learning more! Thirty years ago, I got to work on an interesting project that started to answer the NURTURE verses NATURE dilemma by bringing together IDENTICAL twins separated at birth! In other words, the "nearly" identical individuals "NATURE" were raised in totally different environments (NURTURE). The early results were actually very mind-blowing! We were initially seeing results that were showing genetics playing driving well over 80% of a persons life while the environmental factors were under 20%. There was some really scary stuff like, wearing the same EXACT shoes, being married to people with the same EXACT first name, and even naming their children with the same name! (Where does this leave free will?)

Over the years the research has continued and we have a lot better idea what we were not getting correct in the beginning of the study and what we were getting correct. The bottom line is that there are aspects to our personalities that are nearly purely based on our genetics and there are other aspects that are nearly purely based on our environment. Then there are those aspects that present as percentages of genetics and environment combined. Really cool stuff!

Start your search with "University of Minnesota, Twins Studies"

@BravoTango - "a parent will tell you there are differences between boys and girls... Now go out on the street in Sweden and see if the boys and the girls are doing the same things and acting the same way. Of course they're not !!!!! BECAUSE THEY ARE DIFFERENT !!!!!

Totally agree BT!

It just dawned on me though that there seems to be a perceived problem here where there is in fact no real problem at all! This news article has in effect created a mountain out of a mole hill. My daughters have been raised here in Sweden for the last 10 years and I see NOTHING in their education or psychological make up to suggest that they have been brainwashed in any way as to how males and female are absolutely equal. In fact my daughters are constantly reminding me how, I, the male, am missing the clues given by the females! They seem to relish in the FACT that males and females are different BUT EQUAL!

It was nice of the teacher to ALLOW the 6th graders in this article the opportunity to discover these differences in advertising - but it would have been EVEN BETTER if the teacher first had the children RATE the various pictures!

Guess what! Surprise! The girls like the girly pictures and the boys like the boyly pictures! Now the teacher and the students can really get to work exploring those difference!

@DamnImmigrant

you would get more than two thumbs up if I had more..... some sense at last.

;)

Face it: Men and woman are different with special traits. I've been struggling with a question for a while now but do know the answer after reading this article: Those Swedes that are stupid outnumber our Americans that are so. You guys make this equality thing embarassing.

Firstly I want to say that it makes me very glad that DoktorClarke is NOT in charge of the school system, the last sentence in comment #15 is just creepy.

Boys and girls are different and each gender is better at doing certain things than the other gender. Like it or not, it's the truth.

I agree with the people above that said the children probably wouldn't have even noticed anything had the teacher kept their mouth shut, but is it really a bad thing?

Advertising should show both sexes doing a variety of things.

They should show men in vaccum and laundry detergent commericals, helping around the house and doing laundry. They should also show women mowing the lawn and unclogging the drain. Along with that they should show girls being pirates and playing sports. They should also show boys cooking, or pretending to be a veterinarian or painting.

Why should they show this? For me, there's only one reason, it's the truth.

There are alot boys and girls that are interested in doing a variety of things.

I'm a girl and was always more interested in sports and smacking each other with sticks (pretending they were swords or we were ninjas etc.) than playing with dolls. I know guys who growing up were always more interested in painting and reading than sports.

So yeah, I think it's silly and a throwback to older times when on tv or in magazines it's always girls with the pretend cooking stove or vet set and it's always boys with lightsabers and footballs.

There are differences.

For example, most women shouldn't be police officers, firefighters or soliders. My only reason for thinking that is that in general men are larger and stronger than women.

Maybe it would be better for me to say that IF a woman wants to and can physically, then by all means, she should be allowed.

My friend, for example is a typical big swedish woman, almost 6 feet and probably pushing 200lbs. She's not fat at all, she's just big. If she wanted to do those jobs she could.

I don't however, agree with women who want standards lowered for them to be able to do the job. Like not having to carry as much weight or having eaiser challanges in training. I am 5'3 and about 130lbs. I am athletic and teach karate. I know I couldn't carry a bunch of weight around or take down some huge guy breaking the law. There's no way I could wrestle with anyone big and get handcuffs on them.

So I don't get jumped on. :) There are also areas where women usually do better eg. memory, language and fine motor skills.

There are obivious and positive differences in the sexes. Men and women compliment each other.

However, I don't feel like society needs to keep pushing these archaic ideas of what is "womens work" and what is "mens work."

If you want to, and are able to, do work or other activities, that have been pressed upon a gender other than your own, more power to you.

No one here has claimed that men and women are exactly alike so why are so many people trying to convince others that there are differences between genders. This does not however mean that gender roles that are assigned to people are perfect and should not be tampered with. No one is forcing the Toys"R"Us to change anything, all they did was point out that Toys"R"Us was not catering to children who do not fit well in old gender roles. No one said that half of all dolls should be targeted towards male children and half of active toys should be targeted towards female children (which is the impression one gets from comments).

Did the kids really come out with this all by themselves or were they influenced by their teacher?

Having raised a son and a daughter, I certainly agree with those of you who have pointed out that boys and girls really are different from each other. I used to take my kids to Toys R Us and guess what - my daughter always wanted girlish toys and my son always wanted boyish toys.

I decided to sue Åhlens catalogue. The bastards depict women with bras and men without. It makes me sick, because if, as a man, I would like to wear a bra, the society would not let me... I am also would love to wear a skirt to my work at the nursery home. But the society is so evil... The other day I also saw humiliating commercial where only women were using breast pumps! What the hell? Can't I use a breast pump? And all of these L'Oreal advertisements - what right wing conservatives! Why the market of men is not targeted when discussing lipstick?

Not surprising there is a newspaper in English in Sweden... Women and men are bringing foreigners here in packs. Wasn't there a recent discussion here about the discrimination of women who do not want to wear top when bathing in public pools?

When I was a child, about 30 years ago in Italy, at Christmas my brothers received teddy bears, while me and my sister got dolls. Well, what happened is that my brothers took the dolls and they liked to sleep with them, because "the dolls are beautiful", they said. If you think about, what happened it it's perfectly natural, they were boys and they liked, and still like, girls.

So it's true that there are differences among boys and girls, but probably are not the same differences suggested by ToysRus.

Is this the kind of thing they get taught in Swedish schools? *SIGH*

I will sue Cheap Mondays for only making clothes for anaemic looking people and discriminating against the athletic build types. This constitutes a gross violation of my consumer rights. I will also sue all TV networks for not showing condoms ads and will ask to have all tampons and sanitary pads ads removed during eating hours.

I wonder how many of the boys that posed in those pics would have agreed to be playing with dolls in them.

The 13-year-old boy should focus more on puberty than Toys-R-Us ads.

@DamnImmigrant: You feel better after that rant? Now I suggest you reread what I wrote since you're not getting it.

@Uncle: Men should have the right to wear a bra, as they do. Companies however will market bras to women since most of the target audience is female. When it comes to children it is UNETHICAL to market to the majority since children are easily influenced. They can't distinguish between what is right and wrong and learn along the way - by painting up a stereotypical image of what is "right" those who want to go outside the box don't dare to. That is why this advertising is being sued. If it was for adults it wouldn't be much of an issue since adults know who they are and what they like.

@kaethar .. this is the result of the "brain " by the teacher . She says that the lawsuit was the final step in 2 years of work by the sixth graders on gender roles. 4th graders ( when they started ) and and even 6th graders do not work on the study of gender roles. Kids of this age should be studying math and science and history not gender roles.

as to whether toys-r-us is as you say "painting stereotypical images in their advertising" .. of course they are selling to the majority market not the small percent who want to "go outside the box as you say". your comment on adults vs children is on mark but with the wrong conclusion. If adults want to go outside the box .. as you say go at it but leave the kids alone ..

@damnimmigrant

Your comment is too long. I can't even read it

@All

Isn't this just another case of political correctness going too far? What's the matter with you? There ARE differences between genders, physical as well as psychological. These sixthgraders in Växjö ought to get over it and continue with something more important! Who, or what political forces, are driving you to do this anyway? SSU?

I agree with Kaethar 100% on this one. Most of you commenting on how stupid this is are getting your panties ruffled up for no reason. This isn't about changing the ways boys and girls are, its about letting them be however they really feel, because there will always be masculine girls and feminine boys and every shade inbetween. Nobody is suggesting boys should be discouraged from playing with "boy" things or that girls should be discouraged from playing with "girl" things. There are boys that want to be princesses and there are girls that want to play with firetrucks. But in todays society it's fully acceptable for girls to play with firetrucks but not for boys to dress up as fairies and princesses. Well, Im a guy who liked to dress up as a princess and play with dollhouses, and I also played with dinosaurs and toy cars. Luckily my parents were okay with all that, so I wasn't scarred by repression, like all the people here who are so insecure in their gender identity that they get defensive whenever anyone suggests that gender roles don't need to be so strictly enforced. You keep shouting that boys and girls are different and that freedom is a wonderful thing because it lets us be free, well then why the hostility to this? The way I see it, this doesn't change a thing for the boys and girls that like the things associated with their own gender. This doesn't really affect them at all. What it does do is help those kids who don't fit into strict gender roles have a comfortable and fulfilling childhood. It's about the realization that some boys are girlish and some girls are boyish, and they shouldn't be stigmatized and repressed. This is about helping children, not about forcing a political agenda on children. It's amazing how many of you fail to see that.

I guess the penchant for boys to want to be little princesses too explains the overly metrosexual-feminine behavior by the modern Swedish male.

This story is the perfect case of political correctness gone overboard. And to think this is a 6th grade school project. Jawdropping.

Let's see here: advertising has quite an influence on our norms. In fact, it is there to influence us as much as possible. Lots of money is spent to make us act a certain way. Thus, I have no pity when action is taken against big business influence. I think it's sad that this article is basically saying the Ro only gave Toys R Us a slap on the wrist.

/it's good for us to teach out children these things: http://www.urinalgum.com/?p=491

Don't Swedes always make fun of the US for being so litigious? How Americans file lawsuits for everything? Now how many are defending a lawsuit that is trying to punish Toys R Us for not promoting 6th grade cross dressing? The sentence "sometimes guys want to be princesses too" makes me think if the next Toys R Us catalog is released without a boy in a dress they will be sued again. If Swedes disagreed with this lawsuit everyone could just blame it on a typical Western legal system that permits most lawsuits to proceed. The fact that a sizable number of Swedes agree with this is very hypocritical considering how hard they are on other cultures for being over-litigious.

Why stop at gender discrimination? This company is worldwide so its ads should reflect that. Since 20% of the world is Chinese then 20% of the people in ads should show Chinese kids. Anotehr 20% are from India. Then we can continue this process until only about 4% of the kids in ads are European-origin whites.

And why stop there? Shouldn't the ads reflect otehr diversities? I have seen fat redneck guys sitting in children's pools drinking a beer so let's include that. There are middle-aged guys who collect Barbie Dolls, old women who buy toy cats and dwarfs who ride children's bikes. Come on now Swedish teachers, it's time to promote true diversity!!!!!!

Swedes are lovely people, but their insane obsession with political correctness and social engineering is turning them into a bunch of weirdos, and they will accrue that reputation around the world if they don't watch it.

Advertisers spend a fortune on advertising goods. They should not be hidebound by the pseudo-intellectual political ideology of extreme liberals, or by any other group - they should be free to advertise as they see fit so long as they are not being obscene etc.

Like it or not, most toy trucks are sold to, and played with by, boys, and most toy kitchens are used by girls. The loony idealogues may not like that, but it is true, and if advertisers are reflecting the real world rather than the utopia of fruitcake liberals, then they should be applauded, not chastised.

This makes me sick to my stomach. The only thing this teaches these kids to do is weasel their way through life, which is exactly what this is. Who the hell cares what toys the kids are playing with? Would everyone be happier if the girl was playing with a GI Joe and the boy was dressed up as a Spice Girl? This need for extreme political correctness is making people soft, the fact that this was even made into a lawsuit is ridiculous. Shame on everyone who supported these kids. They're only kids, it's not there fault, but adults are encouraging them to essentially be pussies and file a lawsuit every time something hurts their feelings. Disgusting.

I think it is good to teach children that everything should be fair and the same for all, that will really set them up well later in life because the real world is just like that, fair for all.

The company is looking to make money and to do that, they create a want among the target audience. There is no other goal of the company, they are not looking to create inequality.

WHAT A CROCK!!! Now these kids didn't come up with this on their own. They had to learn these idiotic ideas from some adults in their lives. First, we're talking about kids who are approximately 12 years old here. Just how many gender specific toys are there for that age - very few. I went on the Toys R Us website just to see. From what I saw, 80% of the toys in the 12-14 year olds were computer games, board games, legos and the Wii thingy stuff. Sure, there was a barbie or two, and a few "boy" things. But I could probably count on my fingers the number of items that could only be played with by a boy or girl. Or, I should say the child would probably be teased if they played with it. So...unless the Sweedish have a very different catalog, I think these kids, and the adults behind this, are just blowing alot of hot air. Someone is doing this to get their 15 minutes of fame. Well, since we're all writing comments I guess it worked. This is the way I look at it, I've been a female for 48 years. I'm glad I'm a girl. I would much rather be a female than a male, especially as a kid. And I have a feeling that if I asked everyone I've ever known, they would also say they were glad they were the gender they are. I ENJOYED playing with "girl stuff" as a kid. Only thing that I didn't like is that my brother's GI Joe had a tent and Malibu Barbie didn't. So Barbie stole his tent. Besides..it went better with her camper. It had camping stools, a lantern, sleeping bags..all kinds of good stuff. Also, my brother would have rather DIED than someone force him to play "girl stuff." He LOVED his Tonka trucks, he LOVED being a cowboy. Why do people ALWAYS have to find problems when part of the population is HAPPY? If the people of Sweeden would take time off from doing sex research (as someone who worked in medical research at Hopkins for 15 years I've seen tons of their articles in journals) they would see the overwhelming majority of the world like who they are. Very few people want to be homosexual, they DO NOT want sex change operations. They LIKE who they are. Check out the Sweedish research and medical advancements, that's the majority of what they concentrate on. So....I guess it's no wonder they're teaching their children that differences in the sexes is wrong. Remember folks, God created TWO DIFFERENT sexes. If he wanted us to be like amoebas and not have any sexual differences, we wouldn't have all these different parts each sex likes so much on the other one.

sex toys can be used by both men and women.

I dunno. As a girl I played with action figures as well as dolls, and ran around with waterguns, etc. And I know guys who played with dolls or stuff like that. I guess the toys you want to play with don't really have much to do with your gender, and I don't see making advertising more flexible on who gets to play with what as a bad thing. I mean, if you're a parent and you are horrified if your little girl wants to play with swords or your son wants to play with dolls, that's your problem - but don't screech about how awful it is when children who aren't yours get to play with whatever toys interest them.

Everyone just seems to be so upset about this, like it's awesome or it's awful. I don't think it's such an extreme thing - but I'm glad it's being more equal.

If you can't make your point in 10 lines then it is probably a ramble and not worth reading.

More mindjobs aimed at economical equality ... I don't think Toys'r'us is gonna lose any sleep over it, fake breasts for boys to play breastfeeding just won't sell.

Fathers are well advised to check periodically with their sons what kind of drivel is being pushed at school and help them resist it. And the teacher, the school board and the ombudsman should get a job they can do instead. Seriously, this is beyond ridiculous already as it is.

I totally agree with Maggie Mallow (#41)

Boy's toys are way more fun. Specially for smarter girls. What the school should be doing is to encourage girls to be more actives, so we'd have less fat women.

I bet that for a younger child the pictures of the boys and girls playing with different toys would be for them just child playing with toys (nor girls or boys).

Just be equal to everybody, and we'll be all equal then.

All this talk about equality .. it can never be equal .. maybe it can be fair but equal is just silly ..

I grew up with such toys--and it didn't hurt me. This is pathetic--its just a doll! Toy's R Us should NOT give in to such nonsense!

It sounds like the children are being trained (brain washed) into metro-sexual good for nothings and butch girls that will take up slots in military/police units were they won't be able to keep up physically.

It's amazing the majority in Sweden puts up with this worthless commie garbage. I bet the the teacher is still very comfortable in a princes dress.

Why is everyone surprised at this? This is the next logical step for a country that allowed people such as Gunnar Myrdal to flourish and put forth kooky egalitarianism ideals. Simple logic really. Next will be, inter-species equality!! Hahaha

@Uncle: You should probably know that there are, in fact, bras designed especially for men. Happy day, huh?

I have a serious problem with this! This whole argument is based on the premise that nurture decides what kids do or don't like. Do these people think that maybe evolution has something to do with this? Evolution gave each gender certain skills and maybe that has something to do with children liking certain toys,not just nurture? If, people are so stupid to push their "equal to death" agends using impressionable kids(Who seriously did not look at the Toys R Us magazine on their own and decide it did not support gender equality idea enough for their liking and further decide to sue!) they may as well sue every other aspect of life that does not seem "equal enough".

starting with...

*The bible: It should not be read becuase there are not enough heroic females

*Evolution: It gave men more upper body strength, making them more(I have to include "not completely" for all the people who will lose their minds over this)capable of certain jobs than women.

*All Western Governments: They don't have enough female prime ministers or presidents.

* History: It was not fair enough to women and should be sued.As well as Thomas Jefferson for not saying "all men AND WOMEN are created equal..." By the way if he does'nt appear in court its becuase he has the power to come back to life but chooses not to for something stupid.

*Victoria's Secret: There is not a mens section with equally as sexy "PINK" panties.

*Children: Sue children if they don't think and/or persue playing with dolls and trucks.

And finally sue parents for not pushing this forced agenda. And when their sons get laughed at for playing with dolls, parents should be sued if they don't draw swords immediately and fight to the death!

BUT HEY! What do I know? I only had fun playing with dolls as a child and I don't regret one second of it. And forget the toys that are made for all kids like play food and blocks and play dough thats not enough even though it seems like enough when children are lauging and enjoying childhood and not crusading for adgendas they are being manipulated into supporting.