More gender roles!

I saw sociology when...
I was shopping with my mom for my little brother's birthday! We first went to Target looking for gift ideas. While we were there, we looked at toys and clothes. I couldn't help but notice that everything we talked about in class along with that project we did were so true. All of the toys in the boys section either involved guns, sports equipment, or monsters and dinosaurs of some sort. This compares to the girls section that has frilly little dolls like Barbies, baby dolls, and toy kitchens. Also, the colors for the girly toys were generally pinks, purples, and yellows compared to the blues, reds, and greens that the boys got. When we looked at clothes for my brother, Kyle, I noticed similar characteristics. For instance, my mom picked out a few shirts, and all of them were either blue or red. She got him a few pairs of athletic shorts (typical!), and then a new pair of gym shoes. His gym shoes have navy blue on them as well! But then when I went over and looked at the girl clothing, everything had either flowers or hearts on it, and were pink, purple, yellow, and other light pastel colors.
Putting color and design labels on little kids is where the gender roles first set in. When little girls or little boys only get these colors and these toys to choose from, its no wonder that they conform to these predetermined ways from a young age. Looking back at old pictures, my mom only ever dressed me in adorable, GIRLY outfits that a little boy wouldn't be caught dead in. Nobody really takes the time to think about it, but simply by the way kids are raised impacts who they become, following gender norms as well.