Christmas 2013: What Little Girls and Boys Want is Really Depressing

Girls want something slightly surprising for Christmas this year: iPads and tablets, which tie with Disney Princesses for the No. 4 spot on wish lists, according to the National Retail Federation’s holiday survey of more than 6,200 consumers, released Thursday. But don’t go doing a STEM jig or anything, because otherwise, the report is business as usual when it comes to toys and the stubborn gender divide.

“Usually, it’s appearance-related kit and caboodle for girls, like Barbie and her entourage, then domestic and nurturing-related, so baby dolls. For boys it’s violence-related, vehicles, an exciting-adventure category and then the whole building-and-science,” Judith Elaine Blakemore, children’s gender development expert and psychology professor at Indiana University tells Yahoo Shine. “So if you look and see only those things, except for the iPad, you’re not seeing anything different.”

Bummer. Because the No.1 toy for girls? Barbie. For boys? LEGO.

“Plus, you can get Disney princess games and apps for the iPad,” she says. “Sorry.”

Double bummer.

It’s curious, though, about the iPad and its place at the table. It doesn’t even make the top 10 for boys (it’s down at No. 13), and, on the girls’ list, has moved up from last year’s No. 9 spot. Plus its ascent comes on the heels of a few exciting, against-the-grain developments: Toys R Us’ announcement in September that it will put an end to gender-specific marketing in the UK; Lego’s recent introduction of a female-scientist mini-figure to its lineup; and a just-gone-viral video from startup toy company GoldieBlox, encouraging little girls to ditch sparkly pink pretend for play based on engineering.

Though those examples could just be grasping at straws here, Peggy Orenstein, author of “Cinderella Ate My Daughter,” says she, too, is trying to look past the “stereotypical and dispiriting list.” She tells Yahoo Shine that, if you were to look at how the average American eats, you’d also be disappointed, but that there are plenty of alternative and important movements around health, sustainability and more.

“I feel the same way about toys,” she explains. “The big picture is a little grim, but there are people all over the country creating and participating in a culture of girlhood that goes beyond the obvious and stereotypical. And just the fact that the GoldieBlox video has gone mad viral would seem to me to indicate there is a hunger for a broader definition of what it means to be a girl, what it means to raise a girl. So I remain hopeful, even as that list gives me kind of a stomachache.”

And, as Blakemore adds with a chuckle, “It’s really telling that there’s a top 10 for boys and a top 10 for girls. Why not just a top 10 list for kids?”

And now, the lists:

2013 Top Toys for Girls


1. Barbie

2. Dolls (generic)

3. Monster High Dolls

4. Disney Princesses
    Tablet/Apple iPad  (tie)

5. American Girl
    Lalaloopsy  (tie)

6. Furby

7. Lego/Lego Friends

8. Elmo/Big Hugs Elmo

9. Hello Kitty

10. My Little Pony
      PlayStation 4 (tie)


2013 Top Toys for Boys

1. Lego

2. Video games

3. Cars & trucks (generic)

4. Hot Wheels

5. Xbox One

6. PlayStation 4

7. Skylanders

8. Remote-controlled vehicles

9. Action figures

10. Bicycle
      Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (tie)