ABSTRACT
In 2017 toy catalogues, boys were four times as likely as girls to be shown playing with cars, and girls were 12 times as likely as boys to be shown playing with baby dolls. The Boys Reading Commission report found that boys’ underachievement in reading is associated with ‘Male gender identities which do not value learning and reading as a mark of success’. In 2012, half the UK toy stores reviewed by Let Toys Be Toys labelled toys ‘for boys’ or ‘for girls’ through store signage, or even labels on packaging. Let Toys Be Toys is a campaign asking the toy and publishing industries to stop limiting children's interests by promoting some toys and books as suitable only for girls and others as only for boys. This campaign was launched in 2012 to challenge the labelling of toy shelves as ‘boys’ toys’ and ‘girls’ toys’, and we've largely achieved that goal in the United Kingdom.
