As I walk in to a toy store I realize that each product is placed in a strategic manner to appease customers. Their main customer being a child and secondly their parents to approve, the aisles are sectioned off accordingly; toddler, four years old and up, and preteens. This sectioning each has its own subsection, meaning that the girl toys and boy toys are separated. This separation of gendered toys are evident to the customers eyes as the colors differ greatly and the aesthetics of the product covers also contribute greatly. The boxes in which each toy is contained in already determines whether its directed for a boy or a girl. Marketers use this technique to target certain audiences to develop a norm win which girls will continue to buy girl toys because they feel as if they are made for them, which they are. however, there are very few toys which are gender neutral but those are more targeted to older audiences because of the need to establish gender appropriations at an early age. This form of targeting is effective because girls want girly things and boys want boy things most of the time. This is evident through the increasing sales and demand for each gender.
The evident visuals of placing boy and girl toys separate give way to further sectoring the gender difference between both male and female. Toys in which are directed to boys have more of a rough play, adventure, or outdoors image and feel to the cover of the toy. It always surrounds being involved in some sort of group play and more of a masculine touch. With girl toys however, it always encompasses more maternal and caring characteristics. Girls are directed to caring for baby dolls or kitchen sets to make their own food. This targets girls into molding them into what society expects of them. Nonetheless, girls are pushed towards solidarity toys in where they learn skills that will mature later in life. On the other hand, boy toys are more directed to building up their masculinity to help them as adults in being thrown into the workforce.
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