In his blog entry titled "Toys: Nature vs. Nurture," fellow CI 5150 student Scott of particular toys is rather suggestive of gender roles." Although I agree with the argument that toys do indeed both reflect AND shape gender roles, I would like to extend Scott's initial exploration even further into the "shaping" end the spectrum, arguing that critical analysis of any department store toy aisle reveals a large degree of intentionality on the parts of designers and marketers to design, produce, and market toys that function primarily as "status quo training tools" (gender being one of many, many interlocking status quo variables), or in other words, status quo "shapers."
Where my previous blog entries for this course have been largely theory-based and expository in nature, I would like to explore my argument that critical analysis of any department store toy aisle reveals my aforementioned notion of intentionally in toy design, production, and marketing by...
1.) designing an ethnography-esque assignment that is an application-based exercise in critical gender analysis of toy design, production, and marketing
and
2.) modeling what such an assignment might "look like" for student use.
ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION
Again, as stated above, it can be argued that toys are intentionally designed, produced, and marketed to shape many, many interlocking status quo variables including race, class, and so on and so forth; however, the following ethnography-esque, application-based assignment will begin to scaffold such a complex deconstructive critical analysis by "singling" out and starting with the status quo variable of gender.
STEP ONE
As I've stated in nearly all of my blog entries throughout the course thus far, provide your students with whatever background context is necessary for YOUR unique learning context.
However, I recommend starting with the core idea and argument that like any piece of culture, toys are intentionally utilized by those in power as yet another medium to transmit and otherwise "teach" dominant, pervasive status quo ideologies, assumptions, values, world views, and so on. To begin to explore this concept of intentionality, as well as practice critically revealing and analyzing this intentionality in as CONCRETE vs. abstract of a way as possible for students, teachers could begin with potential scaffolding activities such as:
OBJECT BIOGRAPHY
-Have students dig through their closets, attics, under their beds, junk drawers, and so on to find a memorable / beloved childhood toy.
-Bring the toy to class for group discussion.
-In pairs, small groups, and / or large groups, have students critically analyze their toys via questions such as...
- What sort of games did I use this toy with?
- How did I use this toy?
- What might this toy have taught me?
- How might this toy have taught me these things?
- What ideologies, assumptions, values, world views, and so on does this toy appear to be supporting?
- How does this toy appear to be supporting these things?
-View collections of clips such as the following:
-Respond to similar a similar question set of...
- What ideologies, assumptions, values, world views, and so on does these toys appear to be supporting?
- How do these toys appear to be supporting these things?
STEP TWO
And here comes the fun part...
-Equip your students with digital note taking tools (NOTE: I don't really foresee quality being an issue here. For instance, I imagine even low-end cell phone recording equipment doing the trick. However, if students have higher-end equipment at their disposal, more power to them).
-Split students up into small groups (I'm thinking 4-5 students per group), and assign each group to visit a toy department in a nearby store (NOTE: depending on students' transportation situations and proximities to nearby stores, this step could present difficulties. To manage potential problems, perhaps develop and post some sort of car pool grid to help facilitate and organize travel. Also, perhaps perform and post a simple Mapquest, Google Map, and / or Google Earth search of all nearby stores with toy departments for planning purposes).
-In their small groups, have students...
- visit the store they choose / are assigned
- select X number of toys that they believe function as "status quo training tools" (depending on YOUR unique class context, I'm thinking of 4-6 toys per group for this assignment)
- photograph said toys so that box art and marketing is as visible as possible
- take digital and / or analog field notes recording:
2.) WHAT ideologies, assumptions, values, world views and so on the toy is transmitting, HOW it is transmitting these ideologies, assumptions, values, world views, and so on.
STEP THREE
-Utilizing their field notes, have each group prepare a multi-modal presentation to explore and argue WHAT status quo ideologies, assumptions, values, world views and so on their selected toys are being used to transmit, as well as HOW they are transmitting them.
*This presentation could take on really whatever sort of form you feel is appropriate to YOUR unique class context. For example, students could use PowerPoint, iMovie, Voicethread, as well as any number of other utilities to build their presentations.
*Regarding assessment, I find it reasonable to require students to pair a MINIMUM of 3 descriptive text or spoken sentences per image, depending of course on what sort of medium they use to present their findings. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE BELLOW MODELING, I will be pairing ~ 3 descriptive text sentences per image. However, overall assessment depends again on YOUR unique learning context and expectations. Good luck, and have fun!
ASSIGNMENT APPLICATION
For the purposes of the modeling portion of this week's entry, I will be restricting my critical analysis to how a number of toys currently on store shelves transmit gender-specific status quo ideologies, assumptions, values, world views, and so on.
The bellow examples are my best approximations what this assignment might "look like" having never done it. Feel free to appropriate and adapt however you see fit!
----------------------------------------
Pictured to the left is Handy Manny, star of the Disney Channel program Handy Manny. As indicated by the "Handy Manny" Wikipedia entry, the general episode formula for the popular children's program is the following: 1.) a resident of the fictional town of "Sheetrock Hills" contacts Manny's repair shop with a problem that needs fixing, 2.) Manny and his band of anthropomorphized tools set out to fix said problem, and 3.) Through teamwork, Manny and his team are successful.
One major ideology that Handy Manny transmits and teaches children is that men are "meant" to fulfill / it is "natural" for men to fulfill the authoritative role of worker / builder / maker in society. In other words, when there is something that needs fixing, Handy Manny helps to further invest men with the perceived authority / expertise / credibility that others seek out when something needs fixing. One way in which the product's marketing contributes to this message is the phrase "Let's get to work!" printed directly on the toy's packaging. As children pass by this toy and read this quotation (if they can in fact read), this direct address invites children and parents to further identify with Manny and the ideologies he represents as they play "handyman" with him.
Pictured to the left is the Fisher Price Play My Kitchen. One major ideology that Play With My Kitchen transmits and teaches is that women are "meant" to fulfill / it is "natural" for women to fulfill the submissive role of domestic processor in our society, while the dominant male (e.g., Handy Manny) is out gathering resources to process. In other words, when there is some sort of domestic need that needs processing (e.g, cooking), Play My Way Kitchen helps to further invest women with the perceived authority / expertise / credibility when dealing with domestic matters. Although textual marketing is scarce on this product, the visual says it all as an EXTREMELY young child is smiling and expressing emotions of happiness and relaxation with her domestic task at hand.
Pictured to the left is the Circo Cheerleader Dress. Enough said... One major ideology that the Cheerleader Dress transmits and teaches is that women are "meant" to be / it is "natural" for women to be objects of desire for the opposite sex. In other words, women are "supposed" to dress revealing / show off their bodies, and women "should" enjoy the feedback they get from men when they are objectified. Notice how marketing on this product is virtually non-existent. Instead, the product itself IS the marketing. In other words, when young girls see this flashy, pink dress, they may automatically associate the toy dress with the attention that "real" cheerleaders get. Therefore, they may beg their parents for the toy dress in order to get the same sort of feedback, and ta-da, the dress sells itself with virtually NO exterior marketing!
Lastly, pictured to the left is the Ryan's Room Knight and Shining Armor complete with helmet, breast plate, sword, and shield. Via the marketing slogan "A suit of armor to fit your brave knight!", one major ideology that this toy transmits and teaches is that men are "meant" to be / it is "natural" for men to be society's warriors / defenders / aggressors. In other words, men are "supposed" to dress masculine / show off their masculinity, and therefore "should" enjoy the feedback they get from being perceived as such. However, notice how differently the male armor vs. female cheerleader outfit is marketed; more specifically, the armor packaging pictures a young boy dressed for battle! This difference in marketing may also transmit and teach the ideology that women are "meant" / it is "natural" for women to enjoy dressing up for idle vanity, whereas men are "meant" to / it is "natural" for men to get dressed up ONLY when there is a particular role / duty to fulfill; in this case, a warrior preparing for battle!
No comments:
Post a Comment