Filed under: Consumer / Retail, General Peevery, Media, Parenting | Tags: annoying, brainwashed, consumerism, drive me up the wall, father's day, fishing gear for women, gender, gender segregation, golf clubs for women, grating, grilling set for women, mother's day, nervous breakdown, peeve, pet peeves, sarcastic, spongebob lollipop, toys r us, vent, zhu zhu ninja, zhu zhu pets, zhu zhu stroller
The other night, I was taking Smalls into Toys -R -Us to get another Department of Torture Electronic Mini-Operative Zhu Zhu Pet. Yes, I know they drive me insane, but what drives me more insane is the whining Smalls was doing before I bribed her to stop with another Zhu Zhu Pet. So, off to the toy store because somehow a child who can “forget” she needs to throw her dirty clothes in the hamper within two seconds of mommy telling her to, can remember an arbitrary promise/bribe that was made weeks ago.
After stopping to pick up some flip flops, a SpongeBob lollipop and a lightsaber, I decided to just ask an associate where the little electric rodents were located.
Me: Excuse me, Sir. Where are the Zhu Zhu Pets? (Because I’m running out of hands and I’m gonna be flat broke by the time I get past the checkout if you leave me to my own devices.)
ToyGuy: They are right over here. Wait, do you want the girl ones or the boy ones?
Me: No, they’re just hamsters. I mean, they’re not made for boys or girls.
ToyGuy: The regular ones and the babies are in the girl section, the ones in the boy section are like ninjas and stunt hamsters.
Really? The toy company obviously never met Smalls. Because, let me tell you, she has a mean drop-kick!
GIRLS ONLY!
NINJA = BOY!
This whole gender segregation is totally out of hand. If you look at a sales ad for Toys – R – Us, everything associated with “domesticity” is being modeled by girls. Babies, Barbies, animals, kitchens… You will never see a boy modeling a kitchen – a grill, maybe, but not a kitchen. You will also never see a boy with a babydoll. Just like you will never see a girl playing with a car or a dinosaur. Even Legos, which should be unisex and universal have segregated the toys to market pink house and horse sets to girls and blue house and helicopter (?) sets to boys.
LEGO® Pink Brick Box (5585) - LEGO® bricks in beautiful colors! Build a house, a pony, or anything else you can imagine with this special box filled with LEGO bricks in colors you love and elements like fences, windows, doors and flowers!
Following the included instructions and using pieces in the starter kit, kids can build a house, helicopter, dog, and car.
This gender segregation continues even as we get older. Mother’s Day rolls around and what are the ads for? With the exception of jewelry, most of the wares they are pushing consist of things for the house. Get Mom a photo apron or a set of coasters. Buy her a new vacuum, a photo frame, a coffee mug or a cookbook. And, what to get Dad this year for Father’s Day? Hmm… grilling tools, a brew-your-own beer kit, fishing gear, golf clubs, power tools… Actually, they do make power tools for Mom too… and golf clubs… and fishing gear…
popgadget.net
womensgolfgifts.org
fishergirl.com
Just search for “XYZ for women” – I’ll bet you a beer (YES, WOMEN DRINK BEER), it will come up pink. It’s enough to make a girl nauseated.
Happy Father’s Day to all of you Dad’s out there. Hope you get a hand painted masterpiece or a nice picture of you with your kids (the kind of stuff you should be getting on this occasion). Although, I may just get this for my hubby… what do you think?
bigshop.com.au
Perpetually Peeved 
