What Japan did you live in? When I was there, all the archers I knew were female, and a lot of stories I read featured female archers. So I’d say the art is gender neutral, but men can participate in without being “feminized” or whatever. There’s a reason why Sailor Mars and Kagome are archers.
I think you make a good point, though I wouldn’t agree with it entirely. I certainly know parents of young girls - very progressive, non-gender-defining types who have girls who go nuts over princesses, glitter, unicorns and pink. I wouldn’t say it’s “in them” but I do think it’s a tendency of some girls to be more “girlie” and others to be less. What colors and role models “girlie girls” are drawn to is a matter of culture though, not genetics.
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Pretty sure I haven’t steered my 7 year old daughter into girl vs boy toys, but I’m also pretty sure if you put a standard Nerf gun next to a pink and sequined gun it wouldn’t take more than a nanosecond for her to grab the pink one. There’s a reason Justice is the hottest clothing store among pre-teen girls- shocking pinks, neons, and sequins/glitter on everything.
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One need only refer to engravings of early musketeers with their poofy pantaloons to understand that firearms were considered quite feminine at the time.
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Hooray for … new ways of marketing weapons to children, I guess?
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It’s a normal Nerf bow and arrow that has some purple and pink design on it. When Lego did this they were evil. Nerf pinks up their toy and it’s a cool toy line marketed at girls?
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I agree, it is kind of a bummer that it happens to be a toy weapon we are supposed to celebrate as progress in treating girls and boys more equally.
…if there was any sort of evidence linking “violent” toys with violent behavior (or non-violent toys with non-violent behaviour). These toys are about imagination, fantasy and role-playing - I doubt Nerf is trying to groom the next generation of card-carrying NRA loonies though.
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Pride. Can you stand it?
Her mom must think it is cold out.
“Dress in layers dear, that red tank top is not warm enough”
“Ok Mom”
“The blue lace shirt isn’t enough”
“Sheesh, ok Mom. Is this good enough?”
“No, still too cold, you need to wear a jacket.”
“MOOOOOM!!”
Oh my god yes. You only have to snag the side of your bosom with the string once when you’re learning archery to understand why that myth of the Amazons getting rid of one breast came to be.
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…and? Is there a shortage I’m not aware of? Because it seems to me that every store I go to has a pink “female version” of everything.
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Lego also took away the less-gendered aspects of their lines, they didn’t just change the color. Their “girl-targeted” toys are almost exclusively houses and shopping-related, or involve ponies. There are no female targeted fire-fighter sets, for instance, or ambulances, or anything that says, “You can do something other than shop, ride horses, and stay at home with your kids.”
So, yeah, Lego catches hell for it (as they should).
*I’m a huge Lego fan. They had an enormous influence on what I eventually chose to do in life - architecture. But I played with castles and city collections and pirates, not pink ponies. I don’t think the modernist houses I started building from Lego at age 12 would have been rendered quite so well in pink and purple.
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I think we credit the toy companies with too much influence. The ultimate decision on what to buy/not buy rests with parents. Parents need to be active in breaking down gender stereotypes for their children. We can’t rely on the toy companies to do it, and I reckon most parents hope they play a big role in shaping their child’s values and world view.
I agree with you on all those points. Still think it’s a bummer that this is what we choose to celebrate.
touche 
you’re totally right about that ActionAbe.
I guess the only thing I was trying to say is that I sometimes see a “full 180 denial” from woman and men alike these days that somehow the idea that girls like “that girly stuff” is solely, unequivocally, a construction of our chauvinist patriarchal society. While in practice I have not found this to be the case. (of course there are tons of exceptions)
That said, I fully welcome all intiatives to encourage girls to do “all that fun boy stuff that is always denied to them”.
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Here’s my problem with this. The “boy” versions of these toys are all marketed with aggressive poses in which the boys look “tough.” The “girl” versions I’ve seen are marketed with pictures of girls giggling and being social and “girly,” or at least what marketing hacks think girls should look like when they’re playing. That’s just weird.
To each their own, but my six year old girl would rather play with the big guns than the little ones marketed at the girls.
We bought a few of these for my cousin at Christmas. I was pretty disappointed in bot the bow and the cross bow. The crossbow was broken out of the box. And the bow is astonishingly flimsy. I don’t think it will last long. I wasn’t too happy with the idea of a pink sparkly girlilfied version of an otherwise pretty neutral toys. I also wasn’t particularly fond of the idea that this rebelle line was so limited to archery (archery is ok for girls because of the hunger games suddenly, but certainly not guns!) . Nor was I thrilled that a girl who was perfectly happy with standard Neff guns turned 12 and suddenly needed a pink sparkley one. But honestly these things are crap. Like I said one was broken out of the box, and the bow does not shoot far, or hard, or even straight. They’re obviously inferior to the blue n-strike plasters with boys plastered all over the boxes. We took the broken crossbow back and got her one of those. She likes it much more then the bow.
Ha! I’ll just bet you’re a Cleric! Or a (snort) Palladin…
Don’t be bitter
Yes But. If you have male and female children (again… anecdote, sample size of one, etc.) the differences in NATURE are very obvious. At least sometimes, for some people. And yes we should allow all differences to manifest themselves.
By the way, the model on this photo, she appears to be what, 25 years old? 
