This “word cloud” was created a writer named Crystal Smith and posted on her blog “The Achilles effect”. The author analyzed 32 different commercials from several leading toy brands marketed toward girls — including Zhu Zhu Pets, Zhu Zhu Babies, Bratz Dolls, Barbie, Moxie Girls, Easy Bake Ovens, Monster High Dolls, My Little Pony, Littlest Pet Shop, Polly Pocket, and FURREAL Friends. She then created this image based on the 432 words that were used in these commercials. The larger the word in the “word cloud”, the more often it is used.

See the original post here.

discussion

What types of words are featured most prominently in these toy ads for girls? Based on these findings, what types of messages do you think are being sent by toy companies about what it means to “be a girl”? Do you think the types of toys girls play with matter for their development as a person? Why or why not?

Compare this to the Boy Toys Wordle. What primary differences do you see? What are the implications of these differences for the behavior and perceptions of boys and girls?