No, toys should not be gendered
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Gender-specific toys harm childhood development
By prescribing certain toys to only one gender, we limit children's holistic development.
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The Argument
There is considerable evidence suggesting that playing with toys contributes significantly to a child's development. [1] In order to grow holistically, a child must be able to play with a wide range of toys, appealing to five areas of development- cognitive, social and emotional, speech and language, fine motor skill, and gross motor skill development.[2] By prescribing certain toys to one gender, manufacturers limit a child's opportunity for complete developmental progress through play. If boys play with "masculine" toys exclusively, they will miss out on the valuable language and imaginative skills cultivated by dolls, kitchenware, and dress up games. Similarly, girls must use construction and other action-oriented toys to develop fine motor skills. [1]We should not market toys to particular genders, because playing with both "boy" and "girl" toys is crucial to holistic development.
Counter arguments
We need not discontinue the production of gendered toys to solve this problem. It is entirely possible to produce gendered toys that contribute to all five areas of child development. If gendered toys are not contributing holistically to child development, we must create toys that remedy this issue.