By Paul Tran, Courier Staff Writer
The Easy Bake Oven is a popular children’s toy that allows kids to safely create their own confections.
It’s a very common toy for little girls to have, however, parents often refuse to buy them for their boys due to gender stereotyping. After interviewing 40 Logan students, 20 girls and 20 boys, out of the 15 girls that wanted Easy Bake Ovens in their childhood, 14 of them had them. Of the 17 boys that wanted ovens, only 7 of them received one, and 6 of the 7 shared them with their sisters.
“I feel mad that I didn’t get an Easy Bake Oven because I wanted to bake pizzas and they’re just so freaking amazing,” Jonathan Larracas, a Junior, said.
When you look at an Easy Bake Oven, it’s white, pink and purple color might make you automatically assume it’s a "girly" toy, but it serves a purpose that appeals most children; it makes food.
An Easy Bake Oven can be a child’s introduction to the culinary arts, an area both men and women may do respectable work in. It allows them experience an aspect of grown up life that no other toys can give them the opportunity to do.
These ovens are powered by 100 watt lightbulbs, and food is pushed in and out through sides of the oven with no contact with the bulb and providing little danger to kids. They are made of hard plastic, which would be durable against even the rough treatment of boys. There is no reason boys shouldn’t be allowed to have one.
Zohal Sharif, a Courier Staff Writer, said, “My 7 year old brother wants an Easy Bake Oven, but my mom will not buy one for him because she think that it is strictly a girl’s toy. I think Easy Bake Ovens serve a gender neutral purpose.”
Denying children this toy is unpractical, as it provides children with a realistic experience they won’t be able to receive from anything else. If it wasn’t for gender stereotypes, the many boys who want to own an Easy Bake Oven would be able to receive them.
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