Beloved books and toys face the chop because they’re not ‘gender equal’

Say goodbye to kiddy classics such as Barbie and Thomas the Tank Engine, in Victoria, at least. The Herald Sun reports that some Victorian councils are auditing libraries, schools and kindergartens to ensure books, games and discussion in order to better promote gender equality. 

The newspaper reckons that moves follow new research from the Australian National University that studied the influence of gender stereotyping in children as young as three. 

The ANU research published in March said that the City of Melbourne, who commissioned the study, had taken a “proactive approach to driving positive cultural change” around attitudes to women. The researchers included a series of recommendations for educators, including that they should “avoid hyperfeminised toys such as Bratz and Barbie dolls”, “use story time to introduce themes of gender equality” and “”minimise the extent to which gender is labelled”.

The ANU researchers also recommended avoiding the use of the terms ‘boys’ and ‘girls’. The Herald Sun reckons that the rules could see old-school stories such as Noddy and Winnie the Pooh blacklisted for not meeting the gender-equality requirements. 

Sunrise invited Senators Derryn Hinch and Sarah Hanson-Young on to its virtual couch on Monday morning to debate the move.

https://www.facebook.com/Sunrise/videos/10155439586380887/

“Let boys be girls? This is madness!” straight-talking independent pollie Hinch said. But high-profile Green Sarah Hanson-Young said the councils’ initiative wasn’t about encouraging boys to be girls, but allowing kids to be kids. “If boys want to play with their dolls and their  Lego, and girls want to play with their Lego and their dolls, they should be able to,” she said. “Not forcing those children into those gender stereotypes, I absolutely agree with.”

Commenters on Sunrise’s Facebook post about the issue were firmly on Hinch’s side, it appeared, with many Facebook users saying that the gender equality movement had gone too far and that it represented the creep of government regulation into everyday life. Others still said it was a knock-on effect of the same-sex marriage vote, with equality campaigners having been emboldened to move into the educational sphere.

One commenter, however, pointed out that it was difficult to see how much control the Council of Melbourne City, or any council, could have over the type of materials used by schools and libraries, given that both agencies were controlled by state governments.

Do you think it’s good to encourage children to play with a wide variety of toys rather than gender-specific ones? Are you concerned that a city council is attempting to ‘engineer’ gender equality in education?