All Boy

What does that mean????

by Carol Harrison, Bracebridge Ontario, Canada

December 28, 2006

Among your business ethics and principles is discrimination involving employees. A full-page advertisement promo in Oprah magazine says BOY He's all boy? What does that mean to you at Hasbro?

Hasbro is pigeonholing girls and boys into easybake ovens and trucks.

A cousin once referred to her rough-and-tumble son as being "all boy" whatever she meant by that. I suppose if he wasn't physically active, she'd have started to be concerned about his maleness.

Many boys grow up and as adults, become interior designers, decoraters, caterers, ballet dancers, work with flowers, clothing designers, artists....does this then mean they are less than men because they don't fit into society's role for men.

Boys who don't show an interest in trucks, cars or sports, are unfortunately considered 'sissies' while girls who climb trees, are athletic and aren't interested in fashion, make-up or baking, are seen as 'tomboys'.

This is society's way of making sure that girls do girl-things (so-called) and boys do boy-things, so-called.

Why can't manufacturers of toys, focus on children rather than on gender? It's because parents and society in general, are paranoid about their children growing up and being...well shall we say, confused about what gender they want to be.

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