Parents are now voicing "concerns" over fast food restaurants such as McDonald's asking if their child is a boy or a girl to recieve Happy Meal toys.
The reason behind this sudden urge for a "gender neutral" approach, to what was once an entertaining way for a small child to recieve their meal, is due to society's new idea that children can and should be able to choose their own gender and identity at as low of an age as two years old. I don't know about you, but most two year olds in my life can't even tie a shoe - now we want to allow them to say if they are a boy or a girl? Seems a little far fetched and impractical, to say the least.
There are two issues at hand here with the gender neutral toys:
The first issue being that the reason places such as McDonald's ask you if your child(ren) is a boy or a girl is because most girl's do want the My Little Pony toy or Barbie as opposed to the boys who do want the Hot Wheels over a pink pony with a twinkly brush. If the child does happen to want the opposite toy, would it be the end of the world as we know it to say girl instead of boy, or vice versa? To these people - maybe. When did your child's gender become such a secretive and sensitive topic, was the gender reveal party not set yet?
The second issue with this is coming right back to parents out there who think their child should choose their own gender identity. Yes, sometimes young boys will put on their mother's heels and have a laugh walking around the house in them, or enjoy playing with a sister and her Barbie toys. Sometimes, your young girl may have an interest in her brother's Hot Wheels set, or maybe she enjoys the colour blue over pink. Does this mean she wants to be a boy and he wants to be a girl? Not at all. Children's minds are developing, they are growing and learning every day. Their interests change and vary each day, and there are different variables to those changes - such as having a sibling of the opposite gender. This is where children need the most guidance from the adults in their life to learn what it is to be a boy or what it is to be a girl rather than allowing them to become confused and decide themselves when they are already assigned with a gender of their own from birth.
In conclusion, most young girls want the girl's toy and most young boys prefer the boy's toy selection. In the odd chance that your young boy or girl want the opposing gender toy, you can decide whether to ask for that toy or not. However, is it completely fair to take away and change how most of us have always known McDonald's, and other fast food restaurants, simply because parents - not children - don't enjoy picking between two types of toys?
Let the girls have the sparkling ponies and let the boys have the fiery cars - you just stick to your Quarter Pounder combo meal.
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