More About Gender-Typing With Toys

I think Joseph said that he found in his research information saying that the driveable cars made for kids are made more powerful for the boys and less powerful for the girls. Could I possibly have heard him right? Surely this can't be true! That would be totally unfair if the little girl can't keep up with the little next-door-neighbor boy, and she would never know why. What about families that have twins or siblings close in age--one girl and one boy--who decide to race their new cars? The girl might think that she actually is not as good a driver as her brother and this could stay with her for life! Gendered toys are one thing, but this is totally ridiculous. The toy manufacturers need to know that little girls like to go just as fast as little boys. Their reaction time is just as quick as a boy's and they can handle the faster car. So, I was annoyed that the cars are usually made pink and purple for the girls while the boys get to have jazzy red, but if it is accurate that they are made with a power difference, then that is way beyond annoying. It's downright wrong!
Another interesting and somewhat scary point from the presentations was Megan's reading of the tiara box. I wish I could remember it enough to paraphrase what it said, but I just remember it was giving little girls the idea that if they wore the enclosed tiara they could be just like a princess and look beautiful. I think the ending said something about living happily ever after, also just like a princess. We should not be giving our girls the belief that the happiness and success of their lives depends upon their looks and whether or not they have the right accessories. It is fun for little girls to play dress-up, but I think we may be going overboard with the whole Disney princess image. The prices on those Disney princess dresses were outlandish--I noticed one that was priced at $89 and one was $149. How ridiculous to put that much money into playing dress-up. One can only imagine how much those princess bedrooms must cost, especially the one with the bed in a coach. It was very pretty but I don't think kids really need that stuff. They might be spoiled into thinking that their surroundings have to be that extravagant and fantasy-like. Then what will they do when they grow up and possibly can only afford a bedroom with a bed and a few pieces of furniture? The gender-typing where Disney products are concerned seems to be the worst offender. I like Disney movies as much as anyone, but I wish they would tone down the influx of princess paraphenalia. Of course, as long as parents keep buying it, Disney will keep producing it!