rearranging the toy aisle



Thinking about how we could reimagine children's toys started out rough. At first, we thought about just flipping toys to be more gender neutral or oppositional (i.e., a pink Optimus Prime) but realized very quickly that wasn't going to be enough for the activity. Then we thought about how we could literally take toys apart -- in speech (what does this toy mean/symbolize? What constructs is it composed of?) and physically (Optimus Prime could ride a flying unicorn maybe). That was almost too complicated to do in the short amount of time we had. So, instead we decided to approach the infamous gendered toy aisle by redesigning by category. The end result was a play on the store Target, "Bullseye," a store "where gender is bull!" and toys are arranged by broader categories, not by gender. I think it's important to recognize and understand it shouldn't have to be an either/or situation when we go toy shopping. Children's passions, interests, and hobbies are vast and varying, and we should embrace and encourage the learning possibilities toys and other artifacts/objects can provide, not limit them by whether they're boy or girl. Girls can play with action figures, and boys can play with bake sets... or all at the same time.

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