The Rose Petal Cottage Dilema: Little Girls=Housewives

        Anyone can go to a Toys R’ Us store and observe how children’s toys have remained the same for decades. Sure, the packaging and the product itself may look different than it did twenty years ago, but the idea behind the production of these toys has remained the same. Much of American society still seems to embrace and even encourage young children undergoing a process of genderization. Not too long ago, Hasbro released the Rose Petal Cottage; a toy targeted at very young girls that aims to provide them with a “place to entertain their imagination.” A pedophilic “Male gaze” is at play here imposing antiquated, idealized visions of femininity on young girls. Everything about this toy is appalling. From the way Hasbro marketed their product, to the way girls are ‘supposed’ to play with the product, to overall consumer reactions, the Rose Petal Cottage reproduces common misogynistic ideas of femininity and what it means to be a woman and imposes it on young children.
        The toy itself is a fabric-sectional standing house that includes a child-size plastic washer and dryer, a nursery, and a kitchen. All separate rooms include accessories, but it should be pointed out that the kitchen not only comes with a sink and oven, but it also comes with an apron, oven mitts, a muffin pan, and fake muffins that young girls can pretend to bake. Hasbro’s production of the nursery assumes that the child playing already has a toy infant; the infant is central to the Rose Petal Cottage, for the baking, laundry, and caretaking is all done for the well being of the toy infant.
        There are several commercials for this product, and each commercial is targeted at a different consumer base. It could be argued that the commercial that targets mothers and urges them to buy this product provides viewers with the best insight into popular American ideas of gender. This is because the product is being advertised to a group that has already fallen subject to a process of early childhood genderization, and whether or not it is a conscious decision, mothers that purchase this product for their children are choosing to re-implement this genderization process on their own children.
The commercial opens with a young girl opening the door to the Rose Petal Cottage and inviting viewers in. A soothing adult female voice plays over images of the young girl playing “house” in the cottage. The voice persuades viewers: “Now there’s a place, where her dreams have room to grow…a place of her very own where she can decorate…entertain her imagination, and a special friend or two.” There is a laughable moment when the narrator says, “entertain her imagination,” the young girl smiles and says, “let’s do laundry!” The cottage gives young girls a set amount of space, where they have a set amount of freedom to carry out activities that were predetermined by the creators of the toy. Thus, the cottage gives the young girl no room to grow, or imagine new ways of doing or thinking when everything has already been decided for her. She can cook, clean, take care of the baby, re-arrange the furniture, do laundry, and have guests over. The Rose Petal Cottage provides young girls with the idea that their contribution to society outside of the private sphere, or the home domain is limited; there is no aspect of ‘choice’ involved. If a young girl were to take the message behind the Rose Petal Cottage seriously, she might believe that her future rests in the quality of her homemaking. It is hard to say which particular individual is behind the production of this commercial; the creator hides behind the Hasbro label. The diverse American public is not represented in this advertisement; both the mother and daughter are Caucasian, and are shown in middle-class home setting. This could almost be seen as a form of heteronormative, hegemonic propaganda that attempts to reinforce the importance of women staying in the private sphere; it shows two women that are perfectly happy in their home setting.
        This toy is being marketed not only to young girls, but to their mothers as well. In this advertisement, Hasbro wants to persuade viewing mothers that purchasing this toy will provide an environment familiar to her where she can bond with her daughter. Hasbro is trying to convince mothers that they can purchase this product to ‘normalize’ their family interaction. In the commercial, the mother follows her daughter into the cottage, where she portrayed as being overjoyed by the transformation of the cottage interior; her daughter rearranged the furniture and made it her own! Thus, it could be argued that the way this product is marketed reimposes “white-supremacist, heteronormative, patriarchal” ideas of family and gender on mothers and their children. The Rose Petal Cottage is marketed to mothers as a play area that will help their children learn family values and morals; by teaching her how to pretend to clean, cook, do laundry, and take care of children she might be able to learn how to perform these tasks outside of the cottage. The production of this toy also plays into the thought process behind consuming as a way to reinforce concepts of motherhood, childhood, and femininity in general.
        By the time children are old enough to play in the Rose Petal Cottage, they are probably somewhat aware of their societal positioning. Most young boys probably know that they cannot play in the cottage without being ridiculed because it is an obviously genderized toy. Thus, the cottage is isolating, and puts limits not only on young boys, but all children; it implements ideas in young children of the “right way” to play. With the ‘choices’ available to women today, it is almost disturbing to know that a product like the Rose Petal Cottage exists. The mere fact that this toy is sold in stores proves that most young girls will not be able to go through our societal concept of “childhood” without feeling the limits of their own gender.

***LINKS***
Here is the advertisement that I focused on, it targets mothers.
Another advertisement targets young girls, which you can find here.

A concluding thought: While this advertisement may be a few years old, new products surface all the time that send messages similar to the one projected by Hasbro's Rose Petal Cottage. It is very difficult to understand American society in the sense that young girls are told that they can do what ever they set their minds to, but are subjected to messages such as these their entire 'childhood.' I guess my question is, then, despite the new opportunities available to younger generations of girls, will these girls be informed of their actual choices? When will American marketers stop clinging to idealized visions of a perfect past (ex. 1950s housewife, I Love Lucy...) to sell new products?