Designing Gendered Toys

Abstract

We have analyzed the gender scripts of the toys of three Dutch companies. We found differences between them in the extent to which their games were gender specific or gender stereotypical. We explored potential reasons for these differences in the markets (educational or retail trade) these companies addressed, the user representation techniques they had used and the (feminist) values that the directors of these companies held. Gender specific and especially gender stereotypical games may play an important part in the gendering of children, so we interviewed eight girls (9-13 years old) on their computer game playing behavior and observed them while they played masculine connoted games. On the one hand, these girls felt free to play with masculine connoted games, on the other hand, they also spend time and effort to justify their choices, showing that their freedom to play with gender specific games with a masculine connotation was limited to some extent. We expect that interventions in the design process aimed at the user representation techniques used by the companies and the feminist values the designers held may be most effective in creating less gender specific and stereotypical games.