What particularly bothers me is the categorisation of fairly mainstream consumables, like toys, magazines, books and so on, into "girls things" and "boys things".
Such as, for instance, Tesco.
But they're by no means the only ones. The Entertainer split their toys into "girls" and "boys" sections. What saddens me most about their segregation is that there doesn't seem to be anything allowed into the girly side that isn't pink, and all the science experiment kits and electronic puzzles reside exclusively in the blue boys' zone. What message does this send to aspiring young female scientists? Is it any wonder we have universities struggling to attract women to science and engineering degrees?
Having said that, it's always nice to see that there are plenty of rational people out there in the world who denounce such stereotyping and do their best to encourage the positive idea that boys and girls can share interests. I dislike being negative, so I'll end with a link to a wonderfully uplifting story about the power of the internet in breaking down gender-based stereotypes. It's about a young girl named Katie who got teased for taking her Star Wars lunchbox into school, which inspired an internet campaign.
And what has this got to do with museums, anyway? Well, I think gender stereotyping is clearly so rife in modern society that we should be cautious that we don't find ourselves getting swept up in the tide. Just because Tesco thinks that it's ok shouldn't mean that it is. By all means, offer a princess tiara making and a knight crown making session. But if you have a young girl who wants to be a knight, or even a boy who wants to be a fairy (and I've had both) then don't discourage it. Let them find their own interests; we should be here to help children learn and explore, not to discourage them.
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