Children's material culture Flashcards
What was the attitude towards play in pre-modern Europe?
Cultural attitudes towards leisure, both for children and adults, were overwhelmingly negative in pre-modern Europe; play was condemned as a sinful, idle pursuit and potential obstruction to learning.
What is the reformist view on toys?
playthings acquired educative and moralistic functions with the capacity to impart critical lessons for the adult world
What did John Locke say about children’s minds?
John Locke: tabula rasa theory of children’s minds, in which children were blank slates shaped by environment and education
What were dolls primarily used for?
originated as adult amusements or served very different religious or spiritual functions.
early dolls were primarily used for cultic and funereal rituals and were only passed on to children after being cast off many generations later.
What do recent criticisms say about post-was fashion dolls?
Recent criticisms of how post-war fashion dolls imbricate girlhood with adult sexuality, materialism, and glamourous fashion ability
What do dollhouses fluctuate between? And what do they display?
Dollhouses fluctuates between worlds of children and grown-ups: providing didactic lessons on material culture and household management to elite children and serving as miniature displays of the material affluence, familial status, and collecting practices of princely or patrician households.
What is pester power?
Pester power: 80s, was targeted to influence parental buying patterns and overcome resistance to objectionable, faddish playthings.
What is gender typing of toys and what are some of the factors that lead to it?
- Gender typing of toys is the process through which toys become associated with a particular gender within a culture.
- Factors that might lead to gender typing in toys: labels, colors, marketing
Why study gender-typed toys?
The toys, activities, and play patterns with which boys and girls engage can differentially impact their development.
How many hours of play do children in the USA get?
Children in the USA spend about 10-15 hours per week playing
What does symbolic play refer to?
Symbolic play often involves the use of toys, and the toys that children choose may evoke different themes and play patterns. Thus, if boys and girls are engaged in play with different types of toys, the themes and play patterns that make up their symbolic play may also differ.
What does gender-typed toy play encourage?
they may be honing and developing different skills contributing to gender differences in adulthood
How do toys send gender role messages?
Many toys throughout history have been created to replicate and teach appropriate gender roles to boys and girls
–> toy dolls and swords were common playthings for girls and boys, respectively, in medieval England to prepare them for their future roles as mothers and soldiers.
Toys may reflect the gender roles of society, but also might create and perpetuate stereotypical gender roles
What did toys for boys and girls look like in the 90s and 2000s?
- With changing technology and automation in the early 1900s, toys associated with boys also changed to emphasize science, industry, and construction, while toys associated with girls continued to emphasize domestic roles
- Throughout the 20th century, toys marketed toward boys incorporated technology and industry: cars, airplanes, model trains, chemistry sets, toy cameras, construction toys, and toy soldiers and guns. Toys marketed toward girls continued to incorporate domestic roles, though the number of accessories expanded: dolls, dresses, toy washing machines, strollers, doll houses, and play kitchens.
- Fashion dolls that emphasize feminine qualities and promote stereotypes and sexualization have continued to be developed
