One of my earliest memories is from Kindergarten, when I wanted to play with some dinosaur toys. A group of boys were playing with them, and when I went to join in, they said, "These are boy toys, you have to play with the girl toys." They pointed to my female friend, who was playing with some puzzles. I remember being utterly confused as to why I couldn't play with dinosaurs, and why they were only for 'boys'. Luckily, I never encountered this problem again, and I remember my parents being super supportive of anything I was interested in, regardless of gender stereotypes.
Which is why this makes me sad:
Which is why this makes me sad:
 BOYS ONLY: How to Survive Anything! Table of Contents: How to Survive a shark attack How to Survive in a Forest How to Survive Frostbite How to Survive a Plane Crash How to Survive in the Desert How to Survive a Polar Bear Attack How to Survive a Flash Flood How to Survive a Broken Leg How to Survive an Earthquake How to Survive a Forest Fire How to Survive in a Whiteout How to Survive a Zombie Invasion How to Survive a Snakebite How to Survive if Your Parachute Fails How to Survive a Croc Attack How to Survive a Lightning Strike How to Survive a T-Rex How to Survive Whitewater Rapids How to Survive a Sinking Ship How to Survive a Vampire Attack How to Survive an Avalanche How to Survive a Tornado How to Survive Quicksand How to Survive a Fall How to Survive a Swarm of Bees How to Survive in Space |  GIRLS ONLY: How to Survive Anything! Table of Contents: How to survive a BFF Fight How to Survive Soccer Tryouts How to Survive a Breakout How to Show You’re Sorry How to Have the Best Sleepover Ever How to Take the Perfect School Photo How to Survive Brothers Scary Survival Dos and Don’ts How to Handle Becoming Rich How to Keep Stuff Secret How to Survive Tests How to Survive Shyness How to Handle Sudden Stardom More Stardom Survival Tips How to Survive a Camping Trip How to Survive a Fashion Disaster How to Teach Your Cat to Sit How to Turn a No Into a Yes Top Tips for Speechmaking How to Survive Embarrassment How to Be a Mind Reader How to Survive a Crush Seaside Survival How to Soothe Sunburn How to Pick Perfect Sunglasses Surviving a Zombie Attack How to Spot a Frenemy Brilliant Boredom Busters How to Survive Truth or Dare How to Beat Bullies How to be an Amazing Babysitter |
These books aren't from the 1950's, nor the 1980's (my Kindergarten years), but are from... 2012! I've seen this before ('Boys' Weird Slime Lab and 'Girls' Perfect Perfume Lab is another example), and I was hoping that I wouldn't see it again. Colour gender stereotypes always annoy me, but I don't even have words for the level of stupidity displayed in these gendered books. The only similarity between them is "Surviving a Zombie Attack"! As some have suggested (here too), why not publish them as "How to Survive Nature" and "How to Survive People" or something? And the 'Boys Only' book has "How to Survive a T-Rex"! I would have loved that as a kid!
It's interesting that as adults, if someone dared tell us we couldn't have a particular hobby or career because of our sex, we'd knock them down (figuratively, of course). This doesn't mean people don't try, but we ignore them anyway. But as a child, would you know better?
Oh, and this apology? Not good enough, Scholastic! Apologies normally include words like "sorry", or at the very least, "regret". And don't advertise other parts of your website at the same time! Gah! Words, I have none!
It's interesting that as adults, if someone dared tell us we couldn't have a particular hobby or career because of our sex, we'd knock them down (figuratively, of course). This doesn't mean people don't try, but we ignore them anyway. But as a child, would you know better?
Oh, and this apology? Not good enough, Scholastic! Apologies normally include words like "sorry", or at the very least, "regret". And don't advertise other parts of your website at the same time! Gah! Words, I have none!
