WiT Webinar: Equal Play? Analyzing Gender Stereotypes, D&I in Toys
Zoom
Event Details
DATE: Tuesday, April 16, 2024
TIME: 1:00 - 2:00 PM EST
COST: MEMBERS: This Webinar is free for WIT members. | NON-MEMBERS: The non-member fee for this Webinar is $29.
Toys are learning tools that communicate to children how they should move through the world and the kinds of things they might be interested in and aspire to. But if the message is that girls should be calm, nurturing, and beautiful, while boys are encouraged to be strong, aggressive, and competitive, then such toys reinforce rigid, unhelpful gender norms. And if children of color and differently abled children are barely being spoken to or represented at all, then these kids are rendered invisible. We will examine the results of a study conducted by The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and provide a checklist to help disrupt stereotypes and broaden diversity and inclusion.
Attendees can expect to learn:
- How to reject outdated assumptions about gender and play.
- How to make toys ads more racially diverse.
- How to flip identity-based stereotypes on their head.
About the Presenter
Laurel Wider, Founder of Wonder Crew, Psychotherapist LICSW - Laurel Wider is a psychotherapist and social impact expert, having created an award-winning doll line geared toward boys after her 4-year-old son came home from preschool and announced that 'boys don't cry'. Wonder Crew, the first doll inspired by boys to win the TOTY Doll of the Year Award, grew from a Kickstarter to national recognition with features in The Wall Street Journal, Upworthy, Parent's Magazine, The New York Times, ABC News, The Atlantic and more.
Jodi Bondi Norgaard, Founder of Go! Go! Sports Girls, Keynote Speaker, Author More Than A Doll - Jodi Bondi Norgaard is an expert in creating change and breaking gender stereotypes. She is the founder of Dream Big Toy Company and the creator of the award-winning Go! Go! Sports Girls line of dolls, books, and apps for girls encouraging healthy and active play over beauty and body image. She has been featured on national media including The Today Show, The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson, Forbes, Parents, Upworthy, Ms. Magazine, NY Times and more.