When I walked around the Time Square toys r us I saw that the majority of toys had to do with a movie or tv show. Most of the sections are broken up by the product and have some form of art or interactive piece tied to it. What I picked up on is there were a lot more sections dedicated to boys as opposed to girls. The first section was action figures based on a movie then directly after that was some stuffed animals and NewYork based products. Once you make your way passed there you are greeted with more boys toys. Here is the tricky part about that though, even with in the boys section there are scattered pink toys for girls which to me sort of made it seem like the toy manufacturers were making it ok for girls to play with the boys toys. Most of these toys were out doors things such as bikes, scooters and random sports products. These sections also had a good amount of neutral colors such as green, yellow and teal.
What caught me by surprise was the amount of action figures based on video games, cartoons, and movies. There was a whole side of video games and within the mix were all these action figures based on the game. Then when you go upstairs there is a whole section for super heroes and of course ninja turtles since the movie will be out soon. Even when you go to the creativity section where they have all the instruments, I noticed the boxes had boys on all the packaging except the pink one, so even the neutral teal with purple had a boy on the packaging. There was a whole section of building toys, legos, playmobil, megabloks and duplo. While I walk through all of these sections I kept asking where is the barbie dolls and baby dolls? All the way tucked in the back corner on the third floor. Over in this section there were dolls for all ages, and other products such as backpacks and dress up outfits. In the furthest back corner there was a big barbie house where all the barbie dolls were hidden, I mean literally hidden. You had to actually go in the house to see the collection of dolls. This surprised me most of all because there were all these sections for boys and yet the one part that is dedicated specifically for little girls is hidden off to the back depth of the store. The nickelodean section was the same size as the whole girls section. The boys have a whole floor dedicated to their imaginations yet the girls get a dark corner. The boys have hot wheels, action figures, sports and nerf guns, a whole floor dedicated to video games and electronics yet the little girls have a shelf of baby dolls. I don't know if this has something to do with the amount of creativity young boys lack or if it is that little girls don't have the same interest as they did when I was growing up. It is almost as if the manufacturers are focusing on what they can sell in package deals as opposed to sparking imagination. All these products based from movies are big bold and in your face. I even noticed the ninja turtles now have a play set that you can buy, when I was younger my brother and I made our own ninja turtles weapons and costume. The manufacturers are telling us parents what our kids will watch and play with now and I think it will only get worse as technology grows.

Children Toys: Toys "R" Us vs American Girl

 Honestly, even I would consider shopping for my child at American Girl vs Toys "R" Us despite that I know there is no difference in the actual toy. Elite Daily, posted this blog called "30 Inappropriate Children Toys That Should Have Never Been Created to Begin With."  They refer to toys such as the images below.

 

The first sentence states, "When it comes to letting your kid run wild in Toys “R” Us, it’s important to remember that not every toymaker thinks the same way we do."  The connection of this types of "unacceptable" toys is automatically connected back to Toys "R" Us store.  Thus, suggest at some point they sold it, and the blog continues to say there are probably still some toys such as these that are being sold today.  I think it will be thought-provoking to keep an eye for such toys at Toys "R" Us and compare to other "higher quality" stores. 

Talking "quality," perhaps even "educational" toys it reminds me of the store American Girl (Dolls, clothes and games for girls). The first time I went in there, it was for an interview, despite that it is a retail store, the store focuses a lot more on the experience that the children and parents have while they are shopping. Theres's a doll hair salon, there's a cafe, the dolls have their own stories with their movie and book in addition to historical characters. The idea that this store is dedicated to only "girls" gives it a certain class status. I actually know, from a friend that works there, celebrities shop there which says a lot about the image of the store has. 

 

Doll & book: Addy escapes to freedom, and now she wants to re-unite her family. 

 

Doll : Kirsten in a new land with a new language can Kirsten learn the true meaning of home?

 

   

"Ruby Rose Explores Gender In Powerful New Video 'Break Free'"

"Ruby Rose Explores Gender In Powerful New Video 'Break Free'"

Click on the link above and watch Ruby Rose's new video to her song "Break Free" which illustrates the fluidity of gender identity.

I thought this would be interesting to watch since teenagers have been stereotyped as "finding themselves" and looking for their part in the "circle of life." Yet, interestingly enough, the road to self identity and discovery doesn't have a specific age range in our lives. It's fluid -- coming and going as quick as it comes. One moment we know exactly what kind of person we are, but the next moment we could be questioning....Questioning if we're majoring in the right field; questioning the line of work we're in and its worth; questioning our sexuality and/or gender; questioning the meaning of our lives; questioning the role society constricts us in; etc. etc.
Our whole perception of the world can change with one action, whether it's from ourselves, a friend, a family member, or stranger. The reason I'm saying all of this is simple: the individual in this video is not a teenager but a young adult who questioned their identity. This resulted in them stripping away the societal constraints of idealized femininity and became the identity they wanted to be. All of this brings us back to the teenage stereotype. Teenagers are said to always be looking for themselves and their "identity." Why? Why is it generally considered a "teenage phase" when we will go through questioning for the rest of ours lives (with a prime example being the infamous "mid-life crisis").

Your thoughts?

Teen Aliens or alienated teens?

By portraying the hunted aliens of the TV series Roswell as teens, the show draws parallels between the experiences of alienation felt by teens and those felt by theoretical aliens. But whats most interesting are the questions posed about the relationship between teens and adults, particularly in a post Columbine society. In the show, the character of Sheriff Valenti represents a majority of the adult presence. Valenti not only automatically see's aliens as dangerous, despite the only evidence of their presence being that a girl was saved, but refuses to believe any of the teenagers that he asks questions of. This distrust is further manifested when the three aliens are driving down the road and get pulled over by him for no reason. One of the aliens even days that he pulls teens over for no reason just to scare them. His constant surveillance and deep distrust of teens is what causes all of the problems for the aliens in the first place.
If not for the aliens, this series could have been a drama about the post Columbine society, despite being developed before Columbine. Instead of questioning the atmosphere that could cause a teenager to feel so distant from everyone else that he turns to mass killing, they blamed things like the music he listened to and the clothes he wore. Instead of working with teens to produce a more open environment where everyone could be heard and understood, adults mistrusted their children even more and policed them like never before. Much like in Roswell, fear is not the answer. Mutual conversation and understanding is.

"Roswell" and "Alienation"

“Roswell” is a very interesting and intense show that premiered in the late 1990s, in 1999. Right after the tragic occurrences that happened in Columbine. The show uses the theme of the supernatural and has the main characters as “aliens”. When we use the word “alienation”, we are describing an experience in which you are being isolated from a group or activity in which the students should be involved, such as fitting into “regular” high school setting. The adults in charge, and that being set with “Roswell” being set in a small isolated town such as the town where the Columbine School shooting took place, therefore set the tone of the way the students felt about school and fitting in as a whole, but question them and making them feel more “alienated” as well. They even go as far to send the “aliens” own peers to investigate more information. Columbine relates to this because those kids two were outcasts and had set the tone in their town to be questioned, just because of their choice of lifestyle. After the Columbine issue I feel like it targeted different teens and showcased how something like that and an ever-changing generation to be different needs to be embraced, children should be allowed to the express themselves, and should be able to get professional help if needed. Maybe if these students did feel a sense of belonging and people were not so ignorant, this tragedy may have not occurred.

Roswell: Alienating Aliens

The effects post-columbine were typical of any other major catastrophe in America; people demand for justice and an increase in security protocol to prevent such a horrific event from happening again. People began to question those around them and wonder if they are a threat. I'm sure after columbine many social outcasts and goth high-schoolers were looked at as though they too were murderers just waiting to strike.
In the pilot of Roswell, we are given a glimpse into a town where businesses bank off of the commercialization of an "alien invasion" that occurred there in the 1940's. The humans (specifically the local sheriff and police department) are terrified of the aliens walking among them and their potential powers. So they fear them and want them gone yet still choose to profit off their existence. Max, the love interest and alien character in Roswell, is portrayed as normal, sweet and shy. He certainly doesn't seem to be on a mission to take over the world or destroy humankind. His only distinguishable difference is his ability to consume massive amounts of Tabasco sauce. Yet he's still classified as different and someone to keep a distance from. Even Liz, the main human character, struggles to accept Max's differences and treat him like a human.
As we see in the show, there is a strong level of fear between the human students and the "other". The same holds true post-columbine. I think the scene at the crash festival sums up the way many people must have felt post-columbine. The festival recreates the alien crash (as Dave Matthew's Band "Crash Into Me" plays- ha ha, Roswell) and the burning of the alien bodies as the crowd cheers on. It's like a public lynching as the three alien characters watch on, seeing others celebrate the destruction of their people. Viewers in 1999 might have felt a modicum of sympathy for the social alienation Max faced, but I think they would have related more to the "better safe than sorry" approach. This would mean monitoring any potential threats, whether they be alien or a high-school gothic Marilyn Manson fan.

Roswell and teen culture

While watching the show Roswell I couldn't help but notice the relationship between the three "aliens". They were looked at as weird and outcasts because they only hung out with each other and didn't interact with the other students. little did everyone else know it was because they had to keep a secret that they were aliens, but non the less that made them a target. It was easy for people or the sheriff to suspect that the boy did something because he was already labeled as an outcast and not many people knew much about him. I think this says a lot because people tend to blame others based on appearance, mannerisms and interests. It is a lot easier to but the blame on someone you don't know rather then a friend or acquaintance. Since it was a small town everyone basically knew everyone. Since the "aliens" were outcasts no one had enough reasoning to defend them. 

With that being said the sheriff had his eye out for the boy and started questing him and even pulled him over for no reason just to see his reaction. I think relating back to columbine this show portrayed just how society can target people based on appearance and interests. The sheriff had no reason to question him and target him out of everyone else but because no one really knew him or felt he was an outcast that made him an easy target.