Careers for Girls
In 1990, Parker Brothers released a new board game called "Careers for Girls" in which players could choose from six jobs: supermom, rock star, school teacher, fashion designer, animal doctor, and college graduate.
By contrast, the career options in the non-gendered version of Careers included things such as Ecology, Teaching, Sports, Computer Science, Space, Show Biz, Big Business, and Politics. (The game was invented in 1955, and the various career options changed over the years.)
Of course, the company got slammed for being sexist and soon discontinued the "for girls" version of the game, claiming a "lack of mass appeal."
The Big Game Hunter blog offers more background on the history of the Careers game and its original inventor, James Cooke Brown (science fiction author and creator of the artificial language, Loglan).
Comments
Go to the toy section of any store and walk up and down the isles, this has not really changed. The key is buying what your child is interested in regardless of what gender the toy is geared to. When my dad came home from his heart surgery in 1968 I was 4. He brought me Tonka trucks and I loved them. He and mom knew what I was interested in, I was a tomboy, and they encouraged me. I had dolls and girly things too but my play and interests were not guided in a 'gender appropriate' way. My husband I and I were the same way with our children. Having a boy and a girl very close in age they played together a lot. so, one minute they'd be playing with matchbox cars and the next with Barbie dolls. Hubby did make sure there was a Ken doll for our son though. 😊
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 01/06/16 at 10:38 AM
GI Joe not Ken here Patty. Anyway women should be either pregnant, cleaning, cooking, or making me a "samich". :cheese: 😜
Posted by BrokeDad in Midwest US on 01/06/16 at 12:35 PM
Or French toast.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 01/06/16 at 02:05 PM
I played the non-sexist Careers as a kid. Of the possible choices of careers with a college degree, I remember the one my brothers and I most avoided was Medicine. Choosing that made you a doctor and you'd collect a hefty fee if another player landed in the hospital and didn't want to roll dice. But you got no fame or happiness and you couldn't improve things with another college degree. I'd say that was the least realistic part of the game.
Posted by Phred22 on 01/06/16 at 04:40 PM
Is "college graduate" really a career?
Posted by Courtney on 01/06/16 at 08:27 PM
Yes it is, "Do you want fries with that?"
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 01/06/16 at 09:07 PM
@BD: Nice knowing ya.
@Patty: Supersize them.
@Patty: Supersize them.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 01/07/16 at 01:42 AM
It continues today. Marvel refuses to make any Black Widow toys, despite how much she's in the movies. What, did their license to print money suddenly expire?
Back in the late 80s, I managed a mall chain toy store. The biggest boy's toy was GI Joe. There were 2 female characters, good guy Scarlet and bad guy the Baroness. They both always sold, because they were heavily featured in the TV show's plot.
I'm long out of that business, selling adult toys now (--err...I manage a liquor store). But I'll bet that a huge percentage of the toy market today is adult collectors and speculators. And I'll bet a lot of boys entering puberty would buy them all after getting their first "I feel funny" feeling while fondling their Scarlet Johansson dollies.
Back in the late 80s, I managed a mall chain toy store. The biggest boy's toy was GI Joe. There were 2 female characters, good guy Scarlet and bad guy the Baroness. They both always sold, because they were heavily featured in the TV show's plot.
I'm long out of that business, selling adult toys now (--err...I manage a liquor store). But I'll bet that a huge percentage of the toy market today is adult collectors and speculators. And I'll bet a lot of boys entering puberty would buy them all after getting their first "I feel funny" feeling while fondling their Scarlet Johansson dollies.
Posted by Bill the Splut on 01/07/16 at 07:40 PM
Or molesting their sister's Barbie dolls. When I hear 'adult toys' liquor is not my first thought Bill.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 01/07/16 at 09:58 PM
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Category: Games | 1990s