In Sweden, Toys R Us has gone gender-neutral in its Christmas catalog this year, after the state Advertising Ombudsman ruled that toy catalogs are oppressively gendered. After receiving ideological re-education guidance from the state [actually, according to a Swedish reader, an industry council] Ombudsman, the toy seller repented of its thoughtcrime. Full catalog here. Hey babe, equal freedom for all!
Might I just take this opportunity to say: Save us, Merle Haggard!
(H/T: Death And Taxes)
Sands says: “Sorry guys, gender is a social construct —there’s been enough research on that.”
Yeah, if it weren’t for those pesky social constructs, men could start bearing children.
Niall says: Oh, I see. The fact that I think critical theory is largely quasi-intellectual bunkum, a combination of statements of the obvious gussied up with pseudo-academic language, and tendentious ideological statements disguised as historical critique, means that I can’t possibly have read or understood it.
Wrong.
And I’m perfectly capable of understanding the different meanings of sex and gender, thank you. It’s just that not everyone accepts every last jot and tittle of gender theory, hard as that may seem to believe.
Helen says: “It think its weird and embarrassing for a boy to be interested in princess costumes.”
Ouch! My little son loves princess costumes.
He also loves ballet, and baseball, and knights in shining armor — actually, being the knight is what he likes. He really loves dressing up as lots of characters.
He’s only four, so some of these interests will fall away — probably the princess costumes, I would imagine. But I hope not the ballet and baseball! There are few things cuter than a little boy taking ballet, or a little boy playing baseball. 
GCR says: There’s actually a campaign right now to get the Easy Bake people to market their toy more to boys:
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/cleanplatecharlie/2012/12/13_year_old_girl_wants_easy_ba.php
I’m a woman who learned to cook and bake just fine without one — and still enjoys doing so — but I hope they succeed! But if they don’t, little male aspiring chefs shouldn’t let that stop them.
J DeSales says: I remember this guy who talked all the time about how men used to be real men, but today, they just can’t measure up, they’re all weak and feminine and have lost their sense of virtue and duty. His name was Nestor and he gave a lot of speeches in the “Iliad” on this topic.
I also remember Augustus setting down laws to make it so men behaved like upstanding symbols of masculinity as opposed to the effete beings of the late Republic. And I remember the writings of Savonarola. The writings of Russian priests during the reign of Ivan IV. Depictions of the fops and the dandies. This is a trope as old as literature and politics, that men are no longer like men in the good old days. It’s a central theme in the epic of Gilgamash for crying out loud!
Sands says: “Spoken just like a person who’s never really read or understood “critical theory” (and who misses the distinction between sex and gender).”
Ok, well…that settles it, huh? Keep right on believing that testosterone, estrogen, testicles, and ovaries have no bearing on the behavioral differences between males and females, and we will just keep right on laughing.
Polichinello says: I was a rebel and took Industrial Arts instead of Home Ec. The first year, I was one of two girls. The next year I was one of 10.
And here we have the liberal thought process in miniature. Since she was an oddball, the world must be made to conform and flatter her oddball quirks. Never mind that 8 or 9 out of 10 girls preferred to not be there. No, that can’t be their choice. That’s PATRIARCHY!!!1!!!!1!1!!
…and thus we’re off again down that rabbit hole of the “gender is a social construct” retardation–and I mean “retardation” in its literal sense, as it’s an exploded ideology that screws up normal thinking.
RB says: Maybe when he grows up he’ll realize he always wanted to be a lumberjack.
I’ve heard that Scandinavians were historically pretty egalitarian, but then I also heard my ancestral people had good taste, too. That toy is terribly tacky-looking.
Naturalmom says: GCR, thanks for that link to the petition about the easy bake oven.
BN says: “And I remember the writings of Savonarola.”
Oh, yes, and let’s not forget how well that episode played out.
BN says: “Ok, well…that settles it, huh? Keep right on believing that testosterone, estrogen, testicles, and ovaries have no bearing on the behavioral differences between males and females, and we will just keep right on laughing.”
When you’re done hee-ing and haw-ing, take a moment and consider the possibility that you’re over-simplifying or misunderstanding the idea that gender is a social construct. It doesn’t mean that there’s no connection between biology and behavior. It means, among other things, that some of what we see as “natural differences” between men and women are the result of society, not biology.
Take, for example, the history of the color pink.
GCR says: Sex: When you’re born (or beforehand), the doctor sees what body parts you have and tells your parents, “It’s a boy!” or “It’s a girl!”
Gender: Based on what the doctor says, your parents buy you clothes in a certain color, decorate your nursery a certain way and pick out a name deemed socially acceptable.
Polichinello says: It means, among other things, that some of what we see as “natural differences” between men and women are the result of society, not biology.
Take, for example, the history of the color pink.
Congratulations, you found one example, and it’s an utterly trivial and (quite literally) superficial one at that. This is like the foolishness of those who insist that because they can blend food items from different parts of the world, there’ll be no problem shoving large amounts of diverse people together.
Yes, there are indicators and signs society uses that are quite arbitrary, but that’s not really relevant or revelatory. What is relevant is that we have a need for those signs. We feel the need to choose a color that will indicate masculine or feminine. That those colors could be just as easily reversed is besides the point; indeed, it argues against you, since the colors’ very roles presuppose the biological structure of two sexes.
J DeSales says: Mr. BN,
Did you read my comment? I was not saying “Savonarola said it, therefore Rod’s point on manliness is great!” or even “Savonarola said it, therefore his point is terrible!” I was just noting that men have not been men since history began and that Mr. Dreher and many other commenters here are using an old trope, one that is practically meaningless. My choice of Savonarola is because I’d rather choose someone well known than pick out more obscure figures. If, in every age, men have not been real men, then we have to question what a “real man” is and whether he has ever existed.
Essentially – every age is decadent and effete, at least while it is going on. Afterwards, it becomes austere and masculine by people looking back. Perhaps it is time we realize how trivial such “commentary” is and put an end to it.
An interesting question to ponder…
If gender differences didn’t exist would it be necessary to construct them?
(I’m thinking, yes, indeed it would.)