Miss Moon recently changed her name. No longer Marlowe Grace, she insists on being
called Marlowe Grace Gaskin Moon Rapunzel Princess Superhero. And she wears a
cape, a tutu, fairy wings and tights as she builds with Duplo or “cooks” a meal
in her kitchen. She is awesome.
She really loves building things so it is no surprise
that Miss Moon loves Kinder Surprise.
A chocolate egg with a cool toy inside – what’s not to
like? Her regular babysitter brings her
one from time to time and Miss M loves to put together the little dinosaurs,
cars, dragons, trains, etc…
As much as the tiny parts could make me crazy, I love
them for being such fun little toys that encourage building and using your
hands to put something together creatively.
Or I did.
We were watching a movie a couple weeks ago when we came
across a commercial for Kinder Surprise for Girls. WHAT?
Aren't ALL Kinder Surprise for both boys and girls?
My awesome little girl who loves pink, princesses,
fairies, dirt bikes, dragons, dinosaurs, and watching Top Gear and Ironman
competitions as well as Sofia the First is now the victim of gender bias. She
looked at me and said, “Those are for girls”.
Great.
She saw a regular kinder surprise and told me “Those are only for boys. I'm not allowed to play with them”
At 3 yrs old, my really cool kid is being sold a bill of
goods by some really stupid (a word I don’t use lightly) marketers.
It’s like the Mattel execs who thought that moms needed
help to know how to play with Hot Wheels with their boys. Mom “has never
played with them,” said Matt Petersen, a vice president at Mattel. “She doesn’t
get why cars, engines, and all the shapes and crashing and smashing are so
cool.”
Give me a break.
What’s next, pink Hot Wheels sets so mom can play too??
Don’t get me wrong – I really have begun to embrace
pink. In the past I was pretty anti-pink
but now I rock hot pink knee socks when I run and figure if Miss Moon wants to
hop on a dirt bike wearing a pink tutu and fairy wings she should. But this.
This has me pissed off (another phrase I don’t use).
Shame on you Kinder Surprise. Shame. Shame.
Shame.
My dream for my child, my amazing daughter is that she grows up knowing she can be anyone she wants, do anything she dreams, and go anywhere she desires. Supporting gender-specific toys is akin to telling her she can’t be a doctor, astronaut, carpenter, or superhero. That she must fit in the little box that some bozos on Wall Street and Madison Avenue decided she should wear.
I for one won’t
buy in to that particular box.
As for my awesome pink tutu wearing, dinosaur loving,
princess superhero? Well, tonight we are
going to play with blocks while wearing tutus and watching Cars.
Take that Kinder Surprise.
