BlogHer - toys - Comments

Strange juxtaposition of that Oxygen ad

Healthy Media Choices — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:13:27 -0500

Thanks for the post. Lyn Mikel Brown and Sharon Lamb spell it all out in Packaging Girlhood and (soon to be released) Packaging Boyhood. Not only the stereotyping girl/soft - boy/tough but the nuances within genders (i.e. pink to red) need to be noticed and attended to. And, we need to vote with our dollars. Podcast of interview with Sharon Lamb can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/c3zqbj

Mary

Mary L. Rothschild, Director
Healthy Media Choices
www.healthymediachoices.org
Brooklyn, New York
Brattleboro, Vermont
Host: The Healthy Media Choices Hour
T

Hard to Argue

prosaicparadise — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:48:52 -0500

I would be hard pressed to believe that most parents are so free from culture bias that they would buy a pink purse toy for their son. Further, the fact that the marketing and packaging is clearly designed to reinforce that bias - are there pink toolboxes or blue purses? Nope. The clear dichotomy created by these toys is part of the problem and reinforces the stereotypes and the culture.

It's interesting to note how F-P carefully avoids gendered pronouns in their site's descriptions, and how gender-neutral the baby playing with the purse is portrayed.

It's hard to say if the prdouction of these toys is the problem or if how we use them is the problem, but it is clear from the choice of the design that pink/purse is aligned and blue/tools is aligned - two very clear dominant-patriarchal-culture aligned choices.

http://www.prosaicparadise.com/

Hear hear!

AmberS — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:45:47 -0600

Health Canada's taken the lead on bisphenol-A, so why isn't it following suit on phthalates? I can't figure it out.

Hopefully when the ban goes into effect in the US toymakers will stop using phthalates altogether. This might be one case where being the perpetually smaller neighbour works in our favour. :-)

~ Amber

www.strocel.com

Finding Elmo Live

alynsen — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:00:32 -0600

If anyone is having trouble finding an Elmo Live, they're giving one away this week here - just thought you'd like to know!

----------------

http://blog.thinklynsen.com

Just left you a comment on

Amy Gates — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:27:29 -0600

Just left you a comment on your post, Beth. Great ideas! Thank you. :)

Amy
Crunchy Domestic Goddess
BlogHers Act contributing editor

Happy No-Plastic Holidays!

Beth Terry — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:29:18 -0600

Thanks for writing this post. I started to leave a comment with other ideas, and it turned into a Blogher post all its own:

http://www.blogher.com/zero-plastic-packaging-challenge

Now I know why you were looking for a "'made by mom' holiday gift challenge" on Twitter!

Beth Terry

http://www.fakeplasticfish.com

More on the XRF Analyzer

thesmartmama — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 19:35:18 -0500

Yes, Anna, it can test for most elements-cadmium, bromine as a measure of brominated flame retardants, antimony, including in fabric, mercury, chromium, etc.!

Heavy metals

greentalk — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:41:31 -0500

This is a terrific article. Everyone living in a house or apartment which is built before 1978 should have their dwelling tested for lead paint.

SmartMama, is there a way to have your children tested for all those heavy metals and if they have high levels, to reduce them?

Does it test heavy metals in fabrics as well especially antimony in polyester fabric?

Just when you thought it was safe to go into the water? Anna www.green-talk.com

I call it "reclaiming" when

Daisy — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:39:13 -0500

I call it "reclaiming" when I have to recover the use of a messy area. i've had to reclaim much too much lately.

Daisy

Onward and upward

Suburban Matron — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:15:17 -0500

It's good to know it's not just me, y'all. Heidi, last night I tackled the wall of crap, and you're right, it WAS a small pile when I was through. I threw a ton of stuff away. And here I thought I'd been throwing out junk mail. Turns out that all the stuff from my daughter's school that I don't want to throw out right away. . .after a week or two it's garbage. I put things in a little file box--"pay/deal with now," "file," and "read and toss." We'll see!

And Adria, the envelope system IS very appealing in its simplicity. I guess the key is having the discipline to deal with your inbound envelope before it bursts. And I don't know that I could get anyone around here to check the outbound one. But I'm going to think about that.

But today the counter looks a LOT better!

You're two steps ahead of me

chezadria — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:03:34 -0500

You're two steps ahead of me when it comes to Flylady. I am still working on making my sink a habit, after an embarrassing amount of time.

I recently read in the new Change Your Life Challenge a method of dealing with paperwork that I'm going to try. I'll keep a 9x12 envelope and any paper that comes from outside my house goes into it until I deal with it. Inside, there will be 2 envelopes. One is "inbound" to me -notes, flyers, etc. The other is "outbound" from me - notes I've signed, order forms, etc. It's the kids' responsibility to get their papers in and pick them up when they've moved to out.

It's simple enough that it might just work.

Adria

http://www.chezadria.com

paper system

izaday — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:50:32 -0500

Heidi
eramblings.wordpress.com

Every two weeks (give or take), I sit down with the wall of crap that has conglomerated on my counter. I throw away anything that cannot be reprinted, refound or attained at a later date. I pile all receipts in a box specifically for receipts. Anything that needs to be filed, goes in the to be filed file at a later date. All trash and random items are then taken care of. I am usually left with a small pile at the end, but compared to what i had before it is good. It takes about 20 minutes. Do it in stages; baby steps. But you have to alocate time for this or it will never get done. I love your bedtime routine. I do the same. It helps me to sleep knowing I will wake up to a somewhat organized house.

In The Same Boat

deew27 — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:18:50 -0500

I'm in exactly the same place. The toys/kid stuff aren't really the issue, it is the paper. My mail sits in a pile for 1-2 weeks at a time until I have time to sort it. Then I have the "need to do somehting with this" pile, the "pay bills" pile and the "I don't know what to do with this" pile that usually sit on my desk. The stuff I don't feel like dealing with stays in the basket by the front door. My desk is unuseable most of the time and I hate that there is always paper everywhere.

-Dee

www.voicesinmymind.com - personal ramblings
www.gettingcrafty.com - craft projects and more
www.recipecorner.net - family recipes and quick-fix meals

Thank You

Southerngirl — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 07:24:30 -0500

Thanks Sarah. I feel better hearing that it is not just my house that looks like it puked.

Michelle

I blog at http://www.mommycan.blogspot.com/

I feel like ...

RaisingBoys — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 06:59:10 -0500

my entire house is a hot spot! Paper bills are scattered throughout the house, even though they are all paid online. Books and magazines that we will never find time to read are everywhere. Dirty and clean clothes are piling over hampers. And the toys ... there's no hope for those.

I've resigned myself to the fact that this is the way my house will look until they are at least 18. But I think I might actually miss the chaos when it's gone.

-Sarah

http://raisingboys.gainesville.com/