Comments on: Risk: “Man Up”

By: Beppie

Beppie — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:22:44 +0000

Ooh ooh ooh! On my way into uni today, I saw a little girl wearing a yellow dress with red polka-dots!

*glee*

By: Torri

Torri — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 13:52:44 +0000

I’d like to know who decided My Little Ponies shouldn’t be having adventures and should do something much more exciting… like shopping and having sleep overs…
seriously WTH? I loved MLP when I was a wee one and while they were still quite gendered they were always going out to restore peace to their world!

I recently had a relative over with her 5 and 2 year old kids and was told about how one of the fathers at the day care made a homophobic comment about the 2 year old boy carrying and playing with his older sister’s pink hand bag, (I’m sure you can imagine) talk about gender being thrust upon kids before they can fathom what it means.

By: Helen

Helen — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 11:30:47 +0000

Even the Duck toilet duck has devolved from a cute fluffy character to Rambo on a mission to clean your toilet.

So, has that led to an upsurge in men actually cleaning the toilet? Ya think?…

Renee: Indulge your wee son with an easybake oven. I’ve told the story somewhere before about how in After School Care, my son and his tough little mate totally hogged the pink Barbie knitting machine and churned out miles and miles of multicoloured thneed. (Where are they now, I wonder?) Before that, there was the time he refused to take his sister’s tutu off in the morning, and the wonderful childcare ladies let him wear it, all day, they never said a word and he was happily wearing it when I picked him up. Of course the social conservatives would take that as proof that he’s beyond help ;-)

By: mimbles

mimbles — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 10:35:34 +0000

Bene, you’re making me feel old, my childhood Lego memories date from 30 years ago :)

By: Bene

Bene — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 07:10:07 +0000

I’m notoriously bad at Risk because I have zero strategic sense. That does not mean all womens are bad at Risk, though, or that it is a Manly Game full of Manliness. I’m glad neither my father and brother nor my friends in high school discouraged women from playing.

Also, Belville and girly LEGO are nothing new. I recall those lines being out in some form when I was wee–so that’d be fifteen years ago at least. I’m not too proud to admit that I wanted some of them terribly.

By: Renee

Renee — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 05:55:50 +0000

My boy wants an easy bake oven. He likes to cook. When I'm in the kitchen he always asks if he can help. Every time he sees the commercial he keeps asking why they can't make one for boys. Though he watches the food network and sees mostly male chefs the point that this toy is associated with femininity disturbs him. I guess my question is why do we assume that something like that need to have a gender at all. Cooking is an essential skill we all need to learn to do it to survive. Renee's last blog post..Drop It Like It's Hot

By: QoT

QoT — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 03:44:20 +0000

After listening to my ranting about this post, the SO went and played the “Risk Factor” game.

He found the car-driving minigame relatively amusing, but cannot fathom on what level that game is meant to make people – *any* people – buy Risk. Even if it weren’t a pile of misogynist (and misandrist, ironically) crap, it still has no relation to the actual product it’s supposed to be advertising.

By: albi

albi — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:31:02 +0000

Yes, laydeez, you’re no longer welcome. Nor are you girly-boys, either

Damn it! that’s me out.

By: Beppie

Beppie — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:20:18 +0000

Buying things for my kid cousins is like stepping into a battlefield of Pink vs. Blue.

Yeah, I find the same when trying to buy for my nephews and niece– the last couple of years I’ve gone with books and art supplies, but it can be so difficult to find things that aren’t explicitly gendered.

By: hellonhairylegs

hellonhairylegs — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:04:15 +0000

Well I guess I’m not going to buy Risk or any other games from Hasbro for my friend who is going to take over the world. She can calculate probabilities in her head. My sister is also an awesome Risk player. Watch her play any game with a skill based component and be in awe. Yet out of my siblings she is the most “girly”.

I hate gender based toys. Buying things for my kid cousins is like stepping into a battlefield of Pink vs. Blue. (Now that I think about it, wouldn’t it be cool if there was a satire version of Red vs. Blue with kids voices and biting social comentary?)