Cartoon Network doesn't want the female audiance

It isn't predisposition. That's an oft-repeated myth. All the different institutions such as families, schools, etc. condition children to conform to gender norms and blah blah blah take a gender studies class.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2755553/?tool=pubmed

This study is pretty interesting. To summarise, it found male chimpanzees show a preference for "male" toys such as vehicles over "female" ones such as dolls, whereas females show no particular preference and will play with both. Which is not the same thing as "girls only like dolls", but because they found a difference people interpret it as that simplified dichotomy.

There's also a study on female chimpanzees carrying sticks around which the researchers compared to little girls playing with dolls, but that seems to me like a weird projection of human gender conceptions. IMO it's entirely possible there are innate gender differences but I think they tend to be grossly exaggerated by societal conditioning.

edited 19th Dec '13 4:16:54 AM by attercop

Honestly, I would say you most likely cannot generalize that to human behavior because the aspect of social conditioning is a powerful one.

Think of it this way: If it really WAS something innate, it would be universal, found across all cultures and time. This is not the case whatsoever.

It's probably bias.

The most ridiculous part of this, though, is that dolls are stereotypically girl toys, and action figures are pretty much dolls with a more masculine name so boys don't feel like they're playing with something 'girly'. You would figure that merchandising companies would capitalize on this, and make Katara, Toph, and Suki dolls/figures. Heck, sell Katara with a few of her in-show outfits and you could make her a more stereotypically female toy, without compromising the awesomeness of having that character as a doll.

To me, that's the weirdest thing about 'females not buying toys'. They do, and are stereotypically the ones who buy a certain type of toy that is already commonly produced. People are just not bothering to consider the ladies, in fact specifically not including them, and use that as a lazy justification.

This, precisely. The whole doll/"action figure" distinction was invented by marketing people in the first place.

The thing is, boys and girls play with toys differently. If you've ever worked with kids or had kids, you would see that boys like to play fight with toys, whereas girls like to do social things, like make a family with toys. The reason boy/girl toys exist is because they are designed to do different things. Boy's figures are usually made with tough plastic that can stand a lot of abuse, and girl's figures are made with a lot of accessories that can be fit onto it.

Obviously, this doesn't apply to every kid, but exceptions do not disprove the rule.

Don't some action figures have many accesories too? It depends on the francise, really.

And girls are likely to play fight with dolls too if they feel like it. Yes, there's a pattern, but girls tend to swing from one end to the other based on personality, and it's not unusual for boys to play house or something too if they feel like it.

I meant accessories as in clothes and whatnot.

I wish they stopped making little clothes for toys, because we all know that the barbies end up naked anyway.

It's true :P

I have a little brother and a little sister. I know by now that if something comes off, they'll take it off. No matter whether it's clothes on a Barbie or pieces of a race set.

Even things that don't come off they will; My nephew destroyed a lot of his toys and DVD cases because he was removing stuff that didn't come off but he thought they did.

In the case of DVD cases he hated the plastic that holds the artwork in place so he removes it.

Oh yes, DVD and video game cases. Ugh.

Still, the point stands that it wouldn't be that hard to make dolls of female characters. If kids want to have them play house, great, there's a mommy or a daughter if they want it. If the kids want to have them fight, great, the ladies can fight just as well.

(...I don't really know how most kids play with toys, as I was the youngest by a few years and I tortured my barbies, and my memories of babysitting usually include drawing or playing outside)

Yeah, I agree that the execs aren't making the best of decisions.

My God...

this must be why Panty And Stocking With Garterbelt hasn't shown up on Toonami or Adult Swim yet! The female protagonists in a comedy show!

That Ex-PLAAAIIINS everything!

That might be part of the reason too. It's on the level of Team America World Police for sheer quantity of inappropriateness.

edited 20th Dec '13 9:02:32 AM by Jinxmenow

I'm not sure if THAT'S why it hasn't been on Toonami yet. I just think it's a bit too much for TV to handle yet.

I agree that many toy companies have been missing a lot of wasted potential, though it also depends on the product.

For instance, since My Little Pony has become mainstream again, hasbro can sell ponies to both genders, and to a lesser extent multiple age demographics since general interest is high.

A lot of the problem I think is not necessarily the toy itself, but the approach companies take with it. As with the Avatar example above, it's a show with multiple levels of appeal and thus, equal interest for the toys.

Maybe they're worried that, if those toys are stocked next to each other in stores, kids won't be sure whether they're getting a boy toy or a girl toy, and so avoid them altogether for fear of making the wrong choice.

They should be trying to eradicate that distinction. A kid shouldn't be scared to choose whatever toy he/she thinks looks cool for fear that it's not meant for his/her sex.

Also, that distinction means less profit. Because money is the only thing corporations really care about.

In any case, children don't buy toys- their parents/legal guardians do. They can tell them what they want, but the grownups have the last word (and the money.) So *presumably* the merchandising is actually directed at them. Which is probably why the stereotypes over gender get passed on.

• whispers* then make a stereotypically female Katara doll with her many outfits from the show. That's better than nothing. Or since we're talking about CN, a female Miss Martian doll with her s1 outfit, her s2 outfit, and civilian clothes. Or Artemis' super hero outfit, Tigress outfit, and civvies.