A Gender-Inclusive Dollhouse Design by RayRayburn

Ray Rayburn

A Gender–Inclusive Dollhouse

Thesis for a Masters of Interior Architecture and Product Design Kansas State University

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

A Gender–Inclusive Dollhouse

The gendering of children’s environments, products, and marketing is a widely-studied subject. While there is much cultural critique of this phenomenon, there appears to be little in the way of translating this information into design solutions. The question addressed by this research is what are girl-type, boy-type, and neutraltype functional and aesthetic qualities and how can they be intentionally combined by a designer to appeal to children of all genders? The results of this research established a set of gender-inclusive design guidelines and applied them to a genderinclusive dollhouse design. The study used mixed-methods including

qualitative and quantitative research, including literature review, case studies, and a survey of gendered color associations. The literature review found that childhood preferences for toys have an impact on diverging developmental skills between the sexes. These preferences are informed by the gendered associations with differing functions and aesthetics of the designed environment rather than biology. The case studies found that most doll products are distinctly feminine in color, social norms, and marketing images. One case study of a gender-neutral doll product was consistent with research about gender-neutral colors and universal color preference.The survey of gendered color associations sought to

provide insight on bias people may have about which colors are considered neutral and whether they skew masculine or feminine. The researcher’s hypothesis was that the results would show a bias toward masculine as the accepted neutral. In order to close the gap, it is necessary to design children’s environments intentionally in a gender-inclusive way. The dollhouse design is based on evidence that there is childhood developmental benefit through creative spatial exploration and doll play, and that this applies equally to children of all gender identities and expressions.

Defining the Problem.............................................................................

Literature Review .................................................................................. Childhood development, toys, and gendered play.................... Gender and color preference ...................................................... Cultural context for doll play .......................................................

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Case Study Analysis ...............................................................................

Market Trends + Analysis......................................................................

Goals and Objectives...............................................................................

Codes and Standards .............................................................................

Executive Summary ...............................................................................

Inspiration + Definition ........................................................................

Ideation ....................................................................................................

Prototyping + Development ................................................................

Final Design Phase .................................................................................

Conclusion ...............................................................................................

104

Bibliography ............................................................................................

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A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

design. This doll house should be based on evidence that there is childhood developmental benefit through creative spatial exploration and doll play, and that this applies equally to children of all gender identities and expressions.

BACKGROUND

Defining the Problem There is much discourse and academic study of the gendering of products and marketing, especially when it comes to children’s products. While there is much sociological study and cultural critique of this phenomenon, there appears to be little in the way of translating this information into design solutions. The end goal for this thesis will be a set of design guidelines for gender-inclusive design which will be explored through the application of a gender-inclusive doll house design. This doll house should be based on evidence that there is childhood developmental benefit through creative spatial exploration and doll play, and that this applies equally to children of all gender identities and expressions. As I have come into my own understanding of identity as a gender non-conforming, non-binary person and become more immersed in the transgender community,

The concept of “childhood” as we know it in the Western world is a relatively recent development which developed with the progression of the industrial revolution. As people came to realize that the exploitation

I have found myself listening to people’s reflections on their childhood experiences. Transgender adults often talk about how they understood from an early age that their gender was different from what was being presented to them. We reflect on every aspect of our childhoods that was a reinforcement of these very rigidly defined genders and wish we had been allowed more freedom. The problem I would like to address is how to design products for children which are not so rigidly gendered, which allow freedom of expression for the children, and which do not reinforce these gendered expectations in the mind of parents.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES The end goal for this thesis will be a set of design guidelines for gender-inclusive design which will be explored through the application of a gender-inclusive doll house

Diagram showing concept of combining girl-type and boy-type colors, based on initial research and hypothesis.

of child labor was a bad thing, they began to ask themselves if children aren’t working, what should they be doing? Thus, people began to call on “experts” who recognized children as a group with a unique set of needs and began trying to define specialized recommendations for their health and wellbeing, as well as a romanticized vision of what it should be (Ehrenreich, 2005). 5

The purpose of dolls as toys in this era was to train girls to practice their fashion and develop their sense of taste, practice sewing skills, serve as company to a lonely child, and practice their mothering skills of nurturing and scolding (Child, 1834). Doll houses were produced as early as the sixteenth century for both adults for amusement and displays of wealth, and for children as domestic training. By the mid-seventeenth century, European culture had shifted from seeing doll houses as a male-centered object to a female-centered one (Chen, 2015). Today, there is a distinctive difference in the types of toys created for and preferred by children of different sexes and genders. Wong and Hines cite research by Block, 1983; Caldera, Hutson, & O’Brien, 1989; Sprafkin, Serbin, Denier, & Connor, 1983, to say that the difference in the types of toys for boys are thought to develop their spatial skills, whereas the types of toys for girls help develop their social and verbal skills (Wong, Hines, 2015). Wong and Hines cite Orenstein, 2011; and Paul, 2011, asserting that this difference in toys and the effects on childhood development is thought to further impact their cognitive and social skills later in life, divided along a binary gender line (2015). Consequently, researchers have advocated that girls play with “boy toys” to become more adept at science and mathematics. “Although not discussed as extensively, encouraging boys to play with girl-typical toys could enhance their social and verbal skills,” (Wong, Hines, 2015). We can therefore interpret that there is a cultural and economic gap to be filled by encouraging doll play across for the developmental benefit of

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

children of all genders.

HYPOTHESIS My hypothesis is that a gender-inclusive design language for toys needs to be developed by normalizing feminine design language in products for children of all genders, which will be beneficial to children because they will have access to all types of toys which have a variety of developmental benefits, rather than just one category assigned by gender. One of my assumptions, from my own experience with identity and being part of the LGBTQ+ community, is that gender is more complex than two simple categories. I also assume that this assignment of gender to an individual does not always match biological sex, and that this enforcement of gender identity and gender role based on biological sex is not only harmful to transgender individuals, it is limiting and harmful to cisgender individuals as well. I am also assuming, based on prior knowledge gained through undergraduate coursework in Women and Gender Studies, that feminine-typed traits are assumed to be negative and discouraged whereas masculine-typed traits are assumed to be positive and encouraged. We have a cultural bias to assume maleness and masculinity is the default and can be used in design as “neutral.” My goal, therefore, is not to design a doll house for boys. Rather, it is to create a design standard not based on gender differences and create

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

a doll house that is gender-inclusive, not gender-neutral. The features and function of this doll house will be based on empirical evidence of the benefits of doll play and spatial play within a doll house, with the intention that this is beneficial for children of all gender identities and expressions.

METHODS The qualitative methods I will use to collect and interpret data will be literature review and case studies. The quantitative methods I will use to collect and interpret data

The literature review will include subjects related to gender theory, product design for children, history of childhood, history of gender roles, history of toy design, developmental benefits of different types of toys and play in children, how parents choose toys for children, what toys children like and why, and how companies market toys to parents and children. It will also include articles on (the lack of) diverse representation in doll products and why this is important and necessary. The case studies will include the following: • •

• •

• • • • Diagram broadly showing concept of combining feminine, neutral, and masculine colors based on initial research.

will be surveys and some additional case studies. My peer reviewers will include my classmates enrolled in Advanced Studio Programming, Fall 2020. My professional reviewers will include Dr. Mekin Elcioglu, Assistant Professor at Kansas State University in the department of Interior Architecture and Industrial Design.

Identifying the qualities of gendered products and marketing to children Quantifying the gendered products and marketing of a particular range of toys (pink vs. blue, how many boy-typed toys also feature girls in the marketing vs. how many girl-typed toys also feature boys in the marketing) Identifying the gendered qualities of doll-type toys marketed to children (Barbies vs. Action figures) Case studies of attempts to create a gender-neutral doll line and their marketing strategies, including Mattel’s Creatable World dolls. Case studies of the design features of Mattel’s doll house products. Case studies of the design features of other manufacturers’ doll house products. Comparative analysis of doll-related play and marketing in cultures across the world Comparative analysis of how gender is treated with regard to toys in other cultures across the world.

These findings will be presented in a book with writing, images collected in research, conceptual design process drawings and photos, and final design drawings and photos. A prototype of the final doll house product will also be produced. The approval or disproval of my problem statement will be presented in the final chapter of the book and will likely influence the final design of the prototype. 7

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

2019, MacPhee and Pendergast followed up on this study to see if a cultural shift toward more egalitarian attitudes over the last few decades had translated into a change in these toys and spaces. The results of the study showed that no change has occurred, and children’s bedrooms are just as gendered as they were in the 1970s (MacPhee, Pendergast, 2019).

Literature Review INTRODUCTION The gender-typing of children’s toys are a complex mix of historical and cultural context, socialization of gender norms, and personal preferences. It is important to understand the history of doll play and how it has been gendered in various cultural contexts and the developmental benefits of doll play. More broadly, the gender-typing of children’s toys and their own preferences either conforming or not conforming to these norms must be understood in order to make a case for a gender-inclusive toy. The functions of this product should encompass skills which cross gender types so that children of all genders can have well-rounded benefits which last into their lifetimes. It is also important to understand children’s and adults preferences for certain colors, particularly if these carry gendered connotations. The colors of the dollhouse designed in this thesis will need to be very carefully chosen to appeal broadly to children of all genders and also encourage them to break out of some of these norms. Additionally, an understanding of how these

factors vary in cultural contexts beyond the United States, as well as the role of doll play in promoting diversity and inclusion will be important going forward.

CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT, TOYS, AND GENDERED PLAY Gender Differences in Toy Types Obvious differences in gender-typing of children’s toys and media have been evident for a long time, and formally documented for decades. In 1975, Rheingold and Cook published their study analyzing the contents of children’s rooms and noting how they differed between girls and boys. They found that boys rooms had “more vehicles, educational-art materials, sports equipment, toy animals, depots, machines, fauna, and military toys,” whereas “Girls were provided more dolls, doll houses, and domestic toys” (Rheingold, Cook, 1975). They also discuss the differences in decor, stating, “The rooms of boys were more often decorated with animal motifs; those of girls, with floral motifs and lace, fringe, and ruffles,” (Rheingold, Cook, 1975). In 8

Importantly, it is not just the aesthetics of the toys that communicate gender-typing, it is also the function. In a study of the favorite toys and entertainment media of 3-5 year old children, Francis found that boys’ toys centered on construction, literacy and technology and that these were lacking in toys and media for girls (2010). In their extensive review of previous research on this subject, Dinella and Weisgram identify that toys are both implicitly and explicitly gendered in various ways (2018). This includes verbal labeling, color-coding, and narratives about the type of play. For instance, they say “LEGO City encouraged boys to enact skilled professions, expertise, and heroism, but LEGO Friends focused on girls having hobbies; being apprentices; engaging in domestic, caring, and socializing activities; and emphasizing beauty” (Dinella, Weisgram, 2018). Educational and Developmental Implications The implication of this gendered divide in children’s products is that it leads to a developmental difference in boys and girls. For instance, Cherney and London found that boys in their study reported spending more time doing sports and physical activities than girls, which benefits boys’ development of visual-spatial skills (2006). In an effort to understand the gender gap in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) fields, Moe, Jansen, and Pietsch studied whether childhood interest in spatial toys and activities was a good predictor for women who would go into STEM fields (2018). Their results showed that women in STEM did prefer spatial toys and activities as a child. This is important 9

because this gender-typed difference in toys and activities in childhood have long-lasting effects. It is important to note that although more research has been done about the benefits of encouraging girls to play with boy-typed toys, little research has been done about the benefits of encouraging boys to play with girl-typed toys.

How Adults Set and Communicate Gender Norms A major factor in creating and enforcing these gender norms for children is the adults and parents in their lives (i.e., Dinella, Weisgram, 2018). In their 1975 study, Rheingold and Cook concluded that the gender differences in childhood bedrooms were more of a reflection of parents’ choices and behavior, as opposed to the preference of children (Rheingold, Cook, 1975). However, while the results of MacPhee and Pendergast’s study were consistent with Rheingold and Cook concerning the evident gender differences, MacPhee and Pendergast concluded that parents had less effect on this gender-typing than the genders of siblings and whether or not the child has spent time in preschool (2019) One study found that not only were parents responsible for communicating gender norms to their children, there were also differences between the genders of parents in the way they communicated these norms. Endendijk et al., investigated the social relationships between children and parents and how parents communicate gender stereotypes using a picture book of gender stereotypes and observing parents read this book to their two and four-year-old children. They found that fathers made more comments confirming gender stereotypes than mothers, particularly if they had two sons. Gender talk was more implicit with mothers and more explicit with fathers (Endendijk et al., 2014).

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Another study found that there were many demographic factors which affected parents’ attitudes about gender roles, but that these attitudes did not necessarily carry through to their judgments of toys for their children. Kollmayer et al., investigated the role parents play in selecting toys which reinforce the gendered socialization of their children. The study found that the judgments by parents about the desirability of toys based on gender type did not accurately reflect their own gender role attitudes. The traditionalism of parents’ gender role attitudes did not affect how positively they viewed same-gender-typed toys, but it did affect how negatively they viewed cross-gender-typed toys. Contrary to the authors’ expectations, younger parents had more traditional gender role views than older parents. In support of the authors’ hypotheses, fathers had more traditional views than mothers, and parents with lower educational levels had more traditional views than parents with higher educational levels. Although mothers and parents of higher education had more egalitarian views, they did not have more egalitarian judgments of gender-typed toys. It is also notable that the authors expected parents to view cross-gender-typed toys as less desirable for boys than for girls, but they found no significant difference (Kollmayer et al., 2019).

Children’s Gender (Non)Conformity The evidence that children develop an understanding of gender and conform to these gender norms is somewhat mixed. One study found that gender-typed toy preferences were less apparent than expected (Dinella, Weisgram, Fulcher, 2017). However, some researchers found that children begin showing these differences in gendered toy preferences as early as infancy (Todd, et al., 2017). There is also evidence that these differences become more complex with age. For instance, Todd et al., found that both boys and girls showed an increasing preference for boy-typed toys as

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

they get older (2017). In contrast, Cherney and London found that boys’ preferences became more masculine overall, but girls’ preferences only became more masculine with toys, games and activities. They found that girls’ television preferences instead became more feminine with age (2006). Another study which looked at types of play in children 2-6 years old found that there were changes over time in how boys and girls developed certain types of play (social, cooperative, associative, and level of complexity). Initially they found that girls had the developmental lead in preschool, but boys caught up and surpassed girls at later ages (Barbu, Cabanes, Le Maner-Idrissi, 2011). Not only do children’s tendency to conform to gender norms change over time, their attitudes about gender norms change over time as well. One study interviewed children four to eight-years-old about gender norms. They found that the participants found reversal of gender norms acceptable and rules that enforce gender norms to be unfair. They also found older children to show more flexibility about gender norms than younger children (Conry-Murray, Turiel, 2012) A study on autism and childhood understanding of gender norms found that autistic and typically developing children were aware of gender norms and were alert when viewing someone violating these norms. They investigated how biological sex, gender, and autism spectrum disorder affected the social attention of children. Typically developing (TD) children as well as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) children paid more attention to actors of the same biological sex. Both groups of TD and ASD children also paid attention to male actors playing with female-typed toys. The authors conclude that this is evidence that children are aware of social messages about gender norms and pay close attention when those are violated. Additionally, ASD girls paid more attention to faces (as opposed to toys) than ASD boys, indicating that they are more 10

socially attentive (Harrop et al., 2019). However, while there is evidence that children are aware of these norms and tend to conform to them, there still remains the question of whether these are innate biological sex differences or whether they are influenced by the social construct of gender. Escudero, Robbins, and Johnson investigated whether sex-related preferences for toys are innate nature tied to biological sex or learned by nurture. Infants and young adults were shown real human faces and doll faces to see if they had sex-related preferences in their reactions.They were also shown real and toy versions of inanimate objects. Infants had no preference for men versus women, or human versus doll faces. Young adults preferred faces of the opposite sex over objects. This study is important because it challenges the claim that sex-related preferences are not innate, but learned through social development (2013).

gender playmates, and boys were more accepting of gender-based exclusion than girls. Children who viewed non-stereotypic images showed more flexibility in the choice of a differently-gendered playmate, but showed no change in gender-typed toy preference (Spinner, Cameron, Calogero, 2018).

With the understanding that children’s conformity or nonconformity to gender norms are most likely social, some have investigated how this correlates with various other factors such as their gender-typed toy play and parents’ sexual orientations. One study found that parental sexual orientation had no effect on children’s gender conformity or nonconformity. They did, however, find that younger children’s toy play was predictive of children’s gender nonconformity five years later. (Farr et al., 2018)

Girl stereotypic and boy stereotypic toys defined by Spinner et al. for their 2018 study.

Outside of the familial example, another research group studied whether images of children (such as those used in advertising and media) playing with certain gendertyped toys could influence the viewer’s behavior. This study showed randomly assigned children to view an image of a child playing with a toy, either gender stereotypic (boy playing with toy car, girl playing with toy pony) or counter-stereotypic (boy playing with toy pony, girl playing with toy car). Children who viewed stereotypic images were more likely to choose same-

The implications on this for toy design and marketing may be disappointing at first glance. It reveals that showing counterstereotypic children in marketing images is not enough alone to bridge the gender divide in which toys children choose to play with. However it does reveal the enormous social impact marketing images can have on the gendered nature of play. The scope of this study does not explore the evidencebased benefits of cross-gendered play with other children, but considering the limitations of a binary gender-based toy

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

culture and the benefits of broadening these categories, it is reasonable to assume that broadening these categories in how children choose playmates would also be beneficial. This is especially impactful when one account for the existence of intersex, transgender, and non-binary children who may not fit comfortably into the existing categories. Outside of a Western-European context, gender norms in children’s play have also been observed. Mayeza’s paper examines five to seven-year-old children in a South African Black/African township and the way in which those children play during free time at school. The author discovered that gendered norms and expectations were present during free play and suggests that the teacher take a more active role to challenge these boundaries during play time (Mayeza, 2018).

GENDER AND COLOR PREFERENCE In order to better understand how gendertyped preferences play out for children, some researchers have experimented with color-typing certain gendered toys to see if it affects children’s preferences and abilities. For instance, Fulcher and Hayes found that the gendered color of LEGO bricks and the gendered type of object being built have an effect on how children play with them. They provided blue and pink bricks and asked the children during structured play to build either a dinosaur (masculine) or a cat (feminine). Children took longer to build a “feminine” object with blue bricks than pink. Additionally, boys built more masculine objects than girls during freeplay. An interesting finding of their study is that the blue vs. pink brick sets affected the masculinity/femininity of the objects built by girls but not by boys. They concluded that these findings have implications for closing the gender gap in children’s spatial reasoning, where girls tend to lag behind boys, stating that targeted LEGO sets at girls are not enough because they limit the kinds of structures girls get to play with (Fulcher,

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Hayes, 2018). A further analysis of their study indicates that the “masculinity” or “femininity” of the objects created were rated on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being very masculine 3 being neutral, and 5 being very feminine. While there may have been a statistical significance in the differences between these numbers, the averages remained ranged from 3.04-3.67, near neutral. They also predicted that girls would be more likely to use eyes in their objects created in free play and rate that objects with eyes would be rated more feminine. This hypothesis was not supported by their data. Additionally they predicted that boys would be more likely to use wheels in their freeplay objects and that objects with wheels would be rated as more masculine than objects without wheels. This hypothesis was supported by the evidence. However, a further investigation of their data reveals that the percentages of children using wheels ranged from 62.5%-90.9%, meaning more than half in every group wanted to use wheels (Fulcher, Hayes, 2018). Therefore, since most children of both gender groups studied, regardless of whether they were given the masculine or feminine color set, were interested in building wheeled objects, perhaps we should take this typology of wheeled objects being for boys with a grain of salt. To make their decisions about which colors and which objects fell under masculine or feminine typologies, they first asked 39 undergraduate students to rate two different LEGO sets on a scale of 1 (very masculine/marketed to boys) to 5 (very feminine/marketed to girls). According to their report, the LEGO Classic Creative Supplement was rated 2.21, more masculine. This set contained red, orange, yellow, green, white, gray, blue, brown and black bricks. The suggested objects to build were “a rocket, numbers, a submarine, a pirate ship, a jet, a shark, a dinosaur, and a robot,” (Fulcher, Hayes, 2018). The LEGO Classic Creative Supplement: Bright was rated 4.1, more feminine. It contained red, 12

orange, yellow, green, white, gray, light blue, pink, and purple bricks. The suggested objects were “a flower, a butterfly, a guitar, a bunny, a birdhouse, a birthday cake, and letters,” (Fulcher, Hayes, 2018). It is immediately apparent that the main differences in the colors in those sets are blue, brown, and black in the masculine

set vs. light blue, pink, and purple in the feminine set. Most of the objects in the masculine set are vehicular or mechanical in some way, as well as numbers which may be interpreted as emphasizing mathematical skills. Most of the objects in the feminine set are nature or domestically-oriented, and the inclusion of letters rather than numbers may be interpreted as emphasizing verbal skills. Similarly, Wong and Hines went beyond the preferences of children for gendertyped toys and sought to understand whether gendertyped colors have an effect on children’s toy preferences. Toddlers were presented with gender-typical toys (a train and a doll) in gender-typical and gender-atypical colors. The results showed that boys and girls were more likely to play with a gender-atypical toy if the color was typical for their sex. They also found that there were larger gender differences in toy preferences when the colors were gender-typical than when the colors were atypical. The authors conclude that this information could be used to intentionally encourage more equal opportunities by removing the gender colorcoding (Wong, Hines, 2015).

Colors and objects included in two different LEGO sets rated on a 5-point scale from masculine to feminine for a study by Fulcher and Hayes, 2018.

Although pink and blue are generally accepted as symbols of gender in a Western context, one study sought to understand whether gendered labels on colors affect children’s play. Additionally, this research team chose to study these effects in an Eastern cultural context to see if gendered color typing is consistent with studies in Western cultures.

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Using a preliminary study, they found that children saw green and yellow as the most gender neutral colors, and applied gender labels to those to see whether the label itself has an effect. Their findings were that Chinese children were not only affected by the gender labels, they also had similar gender-typed color preferences to Western children (i.e. pink was preferred by girls and blue preferred by boys) (Yeung, Wong, 2018).

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

or purple than boys, and boys were more likely to choose red than girls. In the adult group, blue was the most common favorite color for men and women, neither group was likely to choose pink or purple,

women and men both reported positive emotions associated with pink, even though neither men nor women were likely to choose it as a favorite color (Jonauskaite et al., 2019).

The gendered preference for pink is a subject which has been studied extensively by many researchers. In a study comparing children from 7 months to 5 years old, researchers found that the divide in girls’ preference for pink happens at 2.5 years old, around the same time they reach the developmental stage of understanding gender. They found that girls showed a significant preference for pink at this age, while boys showed an increasing avoidance of pink (LoBue, DeLoache, 2011). Interestingly, there is much evidence that although pink is widely accepted as feminine color, there is much evidence that blue is in fact a color beloved by all. A Swiss study investigated the relationship between childhood color preference and adulthood color preference in Switzerland to see if there is a gender divide using an online color picker with infinite possibilities to assess absolute color preference rather than relative color preference. They found that in the children group, the most common favorite color for both boys and girls was blue. Girls were more likely to choose pink

First, second, and third favorite color choices by three groups of boys in a study by Chiu et al., 2006.

and women chose red more often than men. Additionally, they tested emotional associations with colors and found that 14

First, second, and third favorite color choices by three groups o girls in a study by Chiu et al., 2006.

While blue, red, purple, and pink are common childhood favorite colors, another research group compared color preferences 15

between autistic boys and typically developing boys. This study investigated whether children with autism spectrum disorder have differing color preferences from typically developing children. Their subject group was boys between 4 and 17 years old. They found that boys with autism spectrum disorder were more likely to prefer green and brown than typically developing boys. They also found that boys with autism spectrum disorder were significantly less likely to prefer yellow, which may be because it is perceived as too stimulating to visual senses and hypersensation is a characteristic of autism spectrum disorder. A limitation of this study was that they only looked at 6 colors: red, pink, yellow, brown, green, and blue. They used the Munsell system of color notation for hue, luminance, and chroma (saturation)(Grandgeorge, Masataka, 2016). Another limitation is that this study was conducted only on boys and no girls. They also did not include children identifying as non-binary or report on whether any of the children were transgender. Researchers investigating infant color preferences in particular, have found no evidence of sex differences. Furthering the work done by previous researchers on adult color preference analyzed quantitatively (Ling, Hurlbert & Robinson, 2006); Hurlbert & Ling, 2007), Franklin, Bevis, Ling, and Hurlbert study examined whether infant color preference could be analyzed in the same way. They studied 4-5 month old infants and observed how long they looked and stimuli which

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

varied in hue on a blue-yellow axis and red-green axis. Their findings were that infants looked at red the longest and green the least. Additionally, there were no sex differences found in their results which contrasts with previous research done on adults (Franklin et al., 2010). Other research has found that infants prefer red and blue to any other hue. Zemach, Chang, and Teller’s study goes beyond previous research by Bornstein (1975) which determined that infants prefer red and blue compared to other wavelengths at high colorimetric purity. They rule out the hypothesis that infant color preferences are affected by luminance and colorimetric purity based on previous studies by other researchers. They also rule out the hypothesis that infant color preferences are by brightness. It is important to note that previous research shows that adults judge red and blue to be brighter compared to other hues at the same luminance, and these are the same colors preferred by infants. They test three hypotheses: reexamining colorimetric purity by conducting a similar study to Bornstein but with lower purities, measuring the detection thresholds of color in infants, and observing adult subjects matching the saturation levels of various colors. None of these studies could account for infant color preference, leading the researchers to conclude that the preferences are actually hue preferences and are not affected by other factors such as saturation, brightness, and colorimetric purity. A 2006 study (Chiu et al.) on transgender children’s color preferences found similar results as many other color preference studies: blue,

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

red, and pink/purple were top contenders. Three groups of children were asked to select a first, second, and third choice from a palette of 144 colors extracted from PowerPoint. One group of transgender children in a clinical setting, one control group of children from that same clinic who were not there for reasons related to gender identity, and one control group of children from the community. Unfortunately the study refers to transgender boys as “girls with gender identity disorder” and transgender girls as “boys with gender identity disorder” which confused the way they interpreted their data. This means that they focus on comparing the differences between transgender girls with their control groups of cisgender boys, and comparing the differences between transgender boys with their control groups of cisgender girls. They report only on the statistical differences between these groups and completely gloss over a significant finding of their data: the preferences of transgender girls are consistent with their two control groups of cisgender girls, and

the preferences of transgender boys are consistent with their two control groups of cisgender boys. There is one notable difference in their data which is that transgender girls prefer red more than cisgender girls. Additionally it can be interpreted from their findings that transgender and cisgender boys prefer blues with a darker luminance and transgender and cisgender girls prefer blues with a lighter luminance (Chiu et al., 2006). This is significant because few other studies offer insight into the specifics of the relationship between colors and gender beyond hue.

Judgment of Color Study In an unpublished study by this author and co-author Nicole Coon, the question was posed, how do people judge the gendertyping associated with individual colors? It is widely accepted that pink is for girls and blue is for boys, but how do we go beyond that? There are infinite colors to choose from which vary in hue, saturation, and lightness. How do these factors influence people’s judgment of the gender-typing of a color and where do those thresholds lie? Additionally, what unconscious biases do we have based on what is judged as neutral? Understanding perceptions of the brightest saturated colors will be important because studies show children prefer brighter primary colors (citation needed). However, the adults making decisions about which toys to buy will likely have a more nuanced perception of variations in color and will make their decisions accordingly. Therefore it is important to understand the thresholds of slight variations in saturation and lightness as well, particularly for the marketing of children’s products and providing increased variety in the products themselves as children get older.

Variations in luminance of blue varying by gender identity in Chiu et al., 2006.

The researchers’ hypothesis, based on cultural assumptions about the color pink, predicted that hues in the range between true blue and true red will be judged as 17

feminine, regardless of saturation and lightness. These include colors which might be described in name as pink, hot pink, rose, blush, lavender, lilac, periwinkle, purple, plum, berry. It was also predicted that increased lightness into the pastel range will increase the likelihood that a color will be judged as feminine. Saturation in this range may play a role, with decreased saturation making the color more likely to be judged as neutral or masculine. It was predicted that decreased lightness into the darker color range will increase the likelihood that a color will be judged as masculine or neutral with the exception of hues in the range between blue and red, as stated above. It is unknown how saturation of a color in the darker range will affect the gender-typing judgments of these colors. Additionally, it was predicted that participants will have a bias toward judging masculine colors as more neutral. This will be identified by creating two different participant groups and comparing their results, as described below. Participants were given an online survey with a range of colors varying in hue, saturation, and lightness using the HSL color specification method for digital displays. These colors will be displayed in a random order. In the first set of colors, participants were asked to sort colors into “gendered” and “gender-neutral” categories. In the second set which contained the same colors as the first set but displayed in a new randomized order, participants were asked to sort the colors into “masculine” and “feminine.” In initial analysis of the data, it was discovered that colors fell into three out of four quadrants: Masculine and neutral, feminine and neutral, or gendered and feminine. The implication of the last quadrant remaining empty is that no color is considered both masculine and gendered, supporting the hypothesis that there is a cultural bias toward masculinity as the accepted neutral. When analyzed for color trends, it was

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

revealed that the colors in the feminine and gendered quadrant did fall into the pink and purple range. Green and yellow were often deemed gender-neutral which supports the study by Yeung and Wong, (2018). Additionally it was found that lightness was a strong indicator for whether a color would be judged as feminine or masculine: lighter colors were feminine, darker colors were masculine. Saturation had little impact on how colors were judged. (Rayburn, Coon, 2021).

CULTURAL CONTEXT FOR DOLL PLAY Playing with Size and Reality: The Fascination of a Dolls’ House World Chen’s article discusses the history of the design and development of doll houses and the cultural purpose they serve. While the historic implication is that doll houses were an educational tool to prepare young girls for domesticity, Chen also argues that doll play has many benefits which are still relevant today, including fostering “imagination, creativity, and agency.” The article also examines fictional works which are set in doll houses. The theme of these stories take the reader into a miniature world and highlight the contrasts in scale and the differences between imag ination and reality (Chen, 2015).

The Girls’ Own Book This historic book from the nineteenth century is intended to be a manual of activities, crafts, games, and amusements for young girls. It contains a section on dolls and discusses why girls want to play with dolls, how they play with dolls, and what the expected benefits are (how this will train them to be adults) (Child, 1834).

For Her Own Good: Two Centuries of the Experts’ Advice to Women Victorian idea of childhood, scientific

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

motherhood (Ehrenreich, English, 2005).

abusing their dolls and staging doll funerals.

Made to Play House: Dolls and the Commercialization of American Girlhood, 1830-1930

There were also distinct class differences in the way children played since the romanticized idea of childhood was only beginning to develop. Middle class girls played with bicycles and roller skates, but working class girls were engaged in domestic responsibilities and family business. As the dollmaking and doll-playing world progressed, working class girls were engaged in the home economy of doll making, while middle and upper class girls were being given dolls which they did not actually want to play with.

This book examines American Victorian girlhood, exploring cultural narratives vs. the reality of how girls played, particularly with dolls (Formanek-Brunell, 1993). In the mid-nineteenth century European dollmakers dominated the market but American dollmakers were forging their own path making very different kinds of dolls. European dolls were seen as a representation of extravagance. They were fancy, refined, and cultured. In reaction to this, American dollmakers were taking two different approaches which European dollmakers viewed as crude. The masculine approach was focused on capitalism, mechanism, and patents. The feminine approach was emphasizing American simplicity, humble roots, domestic science, and maternalism. Businessmen lived very different lives from business women, and the dolls they produced were a result of their differing circumstances, business practices, values, and materials expertise. While men were focused on the entrepreneurial business world outside of the home, women were drawing on their roles in child-rearing to study their users (children) and develop a set of ideals for how these dolls should support play and development. While men were focused on mechanical opportunities for doll manufacture, women were drawing on their already established work with textiles and sewing which was often done from the home and with the help of labor from their children. The values of doll play prescribed by adults were often at odds with the actual way children played with dolls. Adults saw dolls and “playing house” as social training for housekeeping, health, and hygiene. Children just wanted to play outside and resisted the social norms imposed by doll play by 18

Early user studies of children and play: “A Study of Dolls” by G. Stanley Hall, American child psychologist, 1896. Martha Chase: doll maker. Observed while living in Vienna and Berlin that “German dolls were too heavy for small hands. The weight of the hard-headed china and bisque dolls, for example, was compounded by their equally solid sawduststuffed bodies. Mothers worried about the dangers of playing with the new dolls; they often cracked, chipped, melted, or broke. To ensure the safety of child and doll, caretakers restricted doll play to certain times and required adult supervision. Nevertheless, replacing broken doll heads was a routine practice among mothers.” (Formanek-Brunell, 1993, p. 66). While European dolls represented adults wearing the latest fashions, and maleproduced dolls represented the adult male gaze, female dollmakers like Martha Chase contributed to the increasing juvenilization of dolls: she made dolls that looked and felt more like real babies and children (Formanek-Brunell, 1993, p. 71). Chase and other maternalists wanted to reform gender rolls by producing girl dolls and boy dolls. Additionally, boys playing with girl dolls was seen as a potential opportunity for boys to develop sympathy and tenderness for the women in their lives later in adulthood. G. Stanley Hall wrote about this (Formanek-Brunell, 1993, p. 72). 19

“Ella Smith manufactured boy dolls in addition to girl dolls, and Chase’s character dolls of George Washington, Roger Williams, and other male historical figures were intended for her nephews and other boys. Ida Gutsell also patented a doll of ‘a negro boy’ adding to the already large number of black dolls created by middle-class white mothers,” (Formanek-Brunell, 1993, p. 73).

Dolls, Girls, and Disciplinary Surveillance in the NineteenthCentury Doll Tale This article explores the educational and disciplinary role of doll play expected in girls in the nineteenth-century through the lens of a fictional story about a girl and her doll. The story’s narrative takes a critical view of the heroine treating her dolls as objects, failing to tune into any parental instincts in caring for her doll, and engaging in malegendered play with her brothers by playing court and sentencing the doll to death. In a dream, she travels to the doll’s world and is held accountable by the dolls which are none alive and have agency. However, the author states that in contrast to other contemporary moralizing doll tales, this heroine is allowed to remain unreformed at the end of the story. The author asserts that this could be interpreted as a critique by the author of the use of dolls by adults to enforce gendered socialization of girls (Gonzalez, 2011).

Restitching and Strengthening Community: Three Global Examples of How Doll-Making Translates into Well-Being in Indigenous Cultures This article examines the role of dollmaking in indigenous cultures across the globe, including Canada, South Africa, and Australia. The dolls carry symbolism around spiritual beliefs, history, and community traditions. Doll-making in these societies are tied to the identity of the individual as well as community belonging. The dolls

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

provide a medium to tell stories, pass on cultural traditions, and heal from trauma (Kandasamy et al., 2016).

Playing with Dolls This essay examines the gendered and racialized messages of doll play in three photographs of Native American girls in the early twentieth century and the captions written by their creators. One theme which emerges is an intended contrast between “correct” womanhood versus “incorrect” womanhood in the attitudes of a white girl and a Native girl holding their dolls side by side. Another theme is the implication of white Christian missionaries who distributed dolls to Native children and their intended message of “correct” American gender roles, housekeeping, and lifestyle, particularly when it comes to child-rearing. Some native children imitated the cradleboards used by women of their own cultures to carry children, but this was condemned by the missionaries. The children who held the baby doll in their arms in the American style were praised by the missionaries (Jacobs, 2008).

Black Dolls as Racial Uplift: A Preliminary Report This article will be useful in discussing issues of diversity around doll manufacturing, marketing, and purchasing (Thomas, 2005). Some of my Best Dolls are Black: Colorblind Rhetoric in Online Collecting Communities This dissertation examines the role online communities surrounding American Girl Dolls (acquired by Mattel) play in shaping the racial ideologies of these community members. These ideologies are reflected in their decisions about which dolls to purchase and how they interpret and understand the products. On the one hand, the company puts forward an image of diversity, empowerment, and education. On the other hand, according to the author, the products do not support this message (West, 2014).

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

The Black Baby Doll Doesn’t Fit the Disconnect Between Early Childhood Diversity Policy, Early Childhood Educator Practice, and Children’s Play

specific script, the separation anxiety was found to be reduced. The methods, script, and observations of these sessions are included in the study along with advice for practitioners who wish to do this (Danger, 2003).

It has been assumed that the inclusion of culturally and ethnically diverse play materials in classrooms will positively influence the issue of race being addressed by educators and influencing children to do so as well. The authors found through observation of children playing in preschool and kindergarten class that this is insufficient. The authors examine and critique assumptions about the way children play and observe that their play imitates reality when it comes to social and systemic issues of power and oppression. They recommend that adult educators engage with students through play rather than passively observing from the outside. This way, they can actively foster positive associations with race as well as explicit dialogue addressing it (MacNevin, Berman, 2017).

TAKEAWAYS

Girls’ Doll Play in Educational, Virtual, Ideological and Market Contexts: A Case Analysis of Controversy This study came about in response to controversy which arose in the news and on the internet surrounding a doll fashion show event at a school. The author finds complex connections between education, culture, morality, politics and economics surrounding doll play, particularly in the context of conversations on the internet (Reifel, 2009).

Adaptive Doll Play: Helping Children Cope with Change

The disparity between gendered toy types is a gap in the market which a dollhouse is uniquely situated to fill. A dollhouse is a physical environment which facilitates doll play, which is considered a girl-typed activity which promotes social and verbal development. However, there is opportunity to promote spatial and creative play through the design of the dollhouse. This could invite girls to play with dolls and then facilitate visual-spatial development usually only available to boys. Conversely, if the visual-spatial element of the dollhouse is emphasized, this could invite boys to play with the toy and then facilitate social-verbal development through doll play which is normally only available to boys. A major limitation of most studies is that they only look at the categories of male and female, with the assumption that they are cisgender. There is room for further study on toy and color preferences including nonbinary, gender non-conforming, and transgender children. Additionally, most studies made broad assumptions about the gender-typing of toys and aesthetic qualities, and there is room for a study which asks participants to categorize objects or colors by gender. A deeper understanding of the nuances is needed to understand how people perceive gender-types and what factors influence those perceptions.

This case study was conducted with five sessions of therapeutically intentional, “adaptive,” doll play on one five-year-old child with separation anxiety at school. After five weeks of therapeutic sessions using a 20

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

The front and side walls are hinged and swivel outward for access to the interior space. The house is arranged in an architecturally realistic way with a central hall and stairs and full-depth rooms.

Case Study Analysis INTRODUCTION Dollhouses throughout history have been created at all scales for people with a wide range of economic means.

durability speaks to an understanding of the roughness of play which was not always accounted for in the delicate wooden miniatures of the 19th century.

Some have been very grand and replicated rich architectural detail at a miniature scale, commissioned for the children of wealthy families, and some have been home-made at a modest scale.

In addition to dollhouses, this case study analysis also looks at a doll line and related products which are intentionally designed to be gender neutral, Creatable World by Mattel. An aesthetic understanding of this product will be informative in designing the aesthetics of a gender inclusive dollhouse.

While the historic examples were constructed using wood which lends itself nicely to replicating miniature architecture, today those manufactured for the toy market are often plastic and brightly colored.

COLEMAN DOLLHOUSE, UNKNOWN MAKER, 1865, UNITED STATES

An important factor that comes up time and time again in doll spaces is providing human hands with access to the interiors of these miniature spaces. Sometimes there are elements which are hinged and open up, and sometimes the spaces are arranged with one full side open like a stage. Historic dollhouses represented interior domesticity with miniature realism, whereas plastic dollhouses of today are a cartoonish representation of real life. They clearly communicate “toy” and their plastic

This historic dollhouse, c. 1865, is currently housed at the Toy and Miniature Museum in Kansas City. It was made for the children of George B. Dawson, an iron baron who lived in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. The house is very grand and clearly made for very wealthy children which is apparent by its scale (9 feet tall) and rich architectural detail. The materials are wood, and it once had working gas lighting which used miniature metal pipes.

Coleman Dollhouse https://toyandminiaturemuseum.org/exhibits-collections/toys-collection/#6486

opulents than for actual play by a child. At 9 feet tall it would be incredibly difficult for a child to access the upper levels. The rich detailing could be delicate which would mean it is less durable for actual play by a child. Although a novelty feature, miniature gas lighting was probably dangerous during the 1860s and it would definitely be dangerous to actively use now, particularly in a dollhouse made of such flammable materials as wood, wallpaper, and fabric. Additionally, such a luxury example of a dollhouse, created for the children of a wealthy iron baron, would be inaccessible to families of more modest means both in terms of cost and scale: poor families would have less space in their homes to accommodate such an item. A factor in the scale of the house is also the scale of the dolls intended to inhabit it. With only three floors, the dolls must be quite large. Even with the added ceiling height of the interior spaces to give the house a realistically-scaled luxurious quality, the dolls would have to be almost 18 inches.

Strengths

Opportunities

The Coleman Dollhouse has many spaces and features for a child to engage with during doll play. There are at least 6 rooms and a hall and stairs. It is furnished with many detail items and the novelty of working miniature gas lighting. It is clever in the way the walls open up to allow access to the inside, and then close back up when play time is over, creating the opportunity for the child’s space to be tidier.

There are lessons to be learned about what adults valued at one time in a dollhouse for their children, such as the grandeur and the charm of a detailed miniature world. There is a reason adults are attracted to such “classic” dollhouses and wish to purchase them for their children. Perhaps there is a sense of nostalgia, or a sense of fulfilling their own childhood desires for such a dollhouse if their own parents didn’t have the means to purchase one.

Weaknesses

Threats

The Coleman Dollhouse is designed more for adults to display their wealth and 23

Dollhouses and dollhouse kits inspired by this classic historic dollhouse are available

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

today. They feature Victorian architectural detailing and are made out of wood just like the historic ones. An example is the Beacon Hill Dollhouse by Greenleaf Dollhouses. This is really a kit which requires some assembly and full painting and decorating which is touted as a feature to give it a customized sense of personality. The example of a finished house provided by the manufacturer shows detailing of similar precision and style to the historic example. This implies that the assembly and finishing of this house is intended for adults rather than children. In fact, the item description says, “Finished houses are not recommended for young children.” Therefore it is clear that this is not a product intended to be assembled and

It is notable that the Beacon Hill Dollhouse sits at only 40 inches, just over 3 feet tall. This is significantly smaller than the Coleman Dollhouse, even though it similarly has 3 floors. This means the dolls housed within would need to be significantly smaller as well.

NETTIE WELLS DOLLHOUSE, HARVEY JESSE WELLS, 1885, KANSAS CITY This historic dollhouse, c. 1885, is currently housed at the Toy and Miniature Museum in Kansas City. It was made by a railroad employee living in Kansas City, Harvey Jesse Wells, for his daughter, Nettie. The family

Left: Unfinished Beacon Hill Dollhouse exterior. Right: Finished Beacon Hill Dollhouse exterior. https://www.wayfair.com/baby-kids/pdp/greenleaf-dollhouses-beacon-hill-dollhouse-dll1023.html?piid=

Nettie Wells Dollhouse, c. 1885 https://toyandminiaturemuseum.org/exhibits-collections/toys-collection/#6487

Left: Unfinished Beacon Hill Dollhouse interior. Right: Finished Beacon Hill Dollhouse Interior. https://www.wayfair.com/baby-kids/pdp/greenleaf-dollhouses-beacon-hill-dollhouse-dll1023.html?piid=

finished, or played with, by young children. Perhaps an adult would do the assembly and finishing and an older child would play with it.

Nettie Wells Dollhouse, c. 1885 https://toyandminiaturemuseum.org/exhibits-collections/ toys-collection/#6487

lived in small places and moved around a lot, so it was necessary to build a compact and portable house. This modest wooden doll house has a

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

hinged roof and back wall to access the interior.

BARBIE R DREAMHOUSE BY MATTEL The Barbie DreamHouse by Mattel is intended to be a dollhouse for their Barbie doll line. Although not specifically stated, the target market for this product is clearly girls, due to the history of Barbie’s branding and consistently pink colors. Mattel does state that the age range for this product is 3+ years old.

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Spatial Arrangement The doll house is arranged with rooms on a 2D plan facing the user. Each room has a back and real or implied sides, but open front. There are 3 levels with an elevator and a slide down from the third level to a second level pool deck. • • •

Colors

Strengths

The main colors of this product are, unsurprisingly, pink and purple. There are some orange, turquoise, and yellow accents. The heavy use of bright pink and purple clearly communicate femininity and playful childishness.

Because it is made from plastic, it is durable and could be passed on to a younger sibling or future generations. It includes a variety of spaces with different household functions. It has the draw of novelty features such as an elevator, a slide, and a pool. These might be found in a luxury home, making this aspirational for most children and contributing to the sense of fantasy: Barbie can have it even if the child does not. In play, children are not as limited by the unfair constraints of reality. It has a garage, creating space for an additional toy type and sense of realism. It integrates sustainable domestic lifestyle details such as solar panels on roof and recycling receptacle in kitchen. Lastly, it uses bright colors and playful interior design choices to communicate that this toy is for children, not adults.

First floor: kitchen, dining, carport Second floor: Living room, bathroom, pool deck Third floor: bedroom, home office, slide down Barbie Dreamhouse color palette

Included Furniture • • • • • • • • • • •

Purple sofa which converts to a bunk bed Pink bed Pink and orange bedspread Modern orange chair with molded shell shape like Saarinen’s Tulip Chair 4 dining chairs, 2 orange and 2 pink Yellow rectangular coffee table Modern white round dining table with base like Saarinen’s Tulip base Modern toilet with pink lid Silver decorative light fixture Potted plant Miniature tablet for doll-size hand

Barbie DreamHouse solar panels https://barbie.mattel.com/shop/en-us/ba/barbie-playsets/ barbie-dream-house-fhy73

Weaknesses

Barbie DreamHouse full view https://barbie.mattel.com/shop/en-us/ba/barbie-playsets/barbie-dream-house-fhy73

Barbie DreamHouse furniture set https://barbie.mattel.com/shop/en-us/ba/barbie-playsets/barbie-dreamhouse-fhy73

Plastic, although durable, is not sustainable. Loose representation of mid century modern style which is currently popular might become outdated for future generations who inherit this toy, risking sending yet another plastic toy to the landfill. The emphasis on feminine colors

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

might alienate boys, non-binary children, and girls who feel they don’t fit cultural expectations of girlhood and femininity. Studies show at a certain age many boys and some girls start actively avoiding the color pink (citation needed).

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

product which is just as richly detailed with more flexibility, collapsibility, and appealing to a variety of aesthetic preferences. This product needs to strike a balance between aspirational fantasy and relatability.

Fashion Doll Design, hopes that this product opens up a dialogue about making doll play more available to boys (Aziz, 2019).

DOLL KIT: Black Braided Hair

Products of lower cost and smaller scale are likely to be appealing to parents unwilling to invest the money and physical space in their homes in this product. Additionally, any home made from non-plastic materials such as wood will be more appealing to sustainability-minded parents who want to go beyond teaching their children about solar panels and recycling household waste.

• • • • •

CREATABLE WORLD, GENDER NEUTRAL FASHION DOLLS BY MATTEL

Barbie DreamHouse kitchen https://barbie.mattel.com/shop/en-us/ba/barbie-playsets/ barbie-dream-house-fhy73

The house provides limited flexibility in functions of interior spaces, little can truly be rearranged. This limits the flexibility and imagination of how a child can play with this toy, prescribing certain behaviors and activities. The luxury home features which would be aspirational for most children might, on the other hand, make it unrelatable to them. The scale of Barbie dolls necessitates that this house is on the larger side (3+ feet tall) which drives up the cost, making it less attainable to families of more modest means. The price listed on Mattel’s website as of 10/25/2020 is $199.99. Lastly, the completely open and non-collapsible design may contribute to clutter of a child’s room.

Opportunities There is an opportunity for making a

Creatable World TM Everyday Style Pack, 11-Piece Clothes and Accessory Fashion Set https://shop.mattel.com/shop/en-us/ms/creatable-worldeveryday-style-pack-es-220-gkv34

• • • • • • • • •

Threats

Creatable World TM is a gender neutral fashion doll line by Mattel. This new doll is intended to have no rules and give children the opportunity to create their own characters and play however they want. Kim Culmone, Senior Vice President Mattel

•

Light skin tone doll with short black straight hair Long black straight wig Undergarments: black sleeveless t-shirt and black shorts Red beret-style hat Black rimmed glasses Blue and red graphic print bag White t-shirt with graphic Blue jacket with tied belt Light patchwork denim jeans Orange skirt with blue, olive green, white camo print Blue and white striped button down long sleeve shirt with red, blue, green print Yellow knee-length breeches Silver pointed-toe flats white sneakers with blue soles Black high top boots

Creatable World TM Deluxe Customizable Doll Kit, Black Braided Hair https://www.mattel.com/en-us/creatable-world

CONTENTS • Dark skin tone doll with short black curly hair • Long dark brown/black braided wig • Undergarments: white sleeveless t-shirt and white shorts • Peach fedora-style hat • Black sunglasses • Dark tie-dye bag • Orange, red, turquoise striped t-shirt • Black long sleeve shirt with red and pink flowers • Black denim shorts • Camo pants • White and red bomber jacket • Blue ombre layered tulle skirt • Red high top shoes • Silver cowboy boots • Blue and white pointed toe shoes

DOLL KIT: Black Straight Hair CONTENTS 29

Creatable World TM Deluxe Customizable Doll Kit, Black Braided Hair https://www.mattel.com/en-us/creatable-world

DOLL KIT: Blonde Wavy Hair CONTENTS • Light skin tone doll with short blonde undercut-style hair • Long blonde wavy wig • Undergarments: white sleeveless t-shirt and white shorts • Black fedora-style hat • gray sunglasses

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

• • • • • • • • • •

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Brown leather-style bag Peach print short sleeve button-down shirt Green camo print jacket Gray sweatpants Black and white striped baseball tee with red raglan sleeves Medium wash denim shorts White ruffled skirt with red, orange, green, blue print Mint green slip-on sneakers Black wedge heels Brown high top boots

Creatable World TM Deluxe Customizable Doll Kit, Blonde Curly Hair https://www.mattel.com/en-us/creatable-world

• • • • • •

CONTENTS • Medium-dark skin tone doll with short wavy dark brown hair • Long wavy dark brown wig • Undergarments: black sleeveless t-shirt, black shorts • Round brim straw hat with black band • Silver sunglasses • Sleeveless, long button-down shirt. White with turquoise, red, orange, black paint splatters • Denim bag with metallic stripes • Denim jacket with mauve sleeves • Orange, red, black plaid shorts • White and red coral print skirt • Gray shark print t-shirt • Dark wash jeans • Red cowboy boots • Blue high top shoes • Silver wedge heels with rainbow stripes

• • • • • • • • • • •

Turquoise-rimmed glasses Green and blue bag with black strap Black knee-length shorts with magenta, green, blue print Red long sleeve button-down flannel shirt Dark blue snake print pants Medium-purple sleeveless athletic jersey Black high top boots White sneakers with red soles Black and white checkered slip-on shoes Crop black jacket Light wash denim skirt

EVERYDAY STYLE PACK

Yellow crop t-shirt with turquoise tiger print Denim capri pants with elastic waistband White overalls with neon yellow, magenta, turquoise paint splatters Turquoise pointed toe shoes Pink sneakers with white soles Silver high-top boots

DOLL KIT: Brunette Wavy Hair Creatable World TM Deluxe Customizable Doll Kit, Blonde Wavy Hair https://www.mattel.com/en-us/creatable-world Creatable World TM Everyday Style Pack https://www.mattel.com/en-us/creatable-world

DOLL KIT: Blonde Curly Hair CONTENTS • Medium-light skin tone doll with dark blonde curly hair cut in round shape • Medium-long curly dark blonde wig • Undergarments: black sleeveless t-shirt and black shorts • Turquoise, yellow, red striped bag • Turquoise beanie-style hat • Gray sunglasses • Blue hoodie • Red, turquoise, white, black striped skirt with ruffle edge • Silver athletic style shirt with black arm stripes

Creatable World TM Deluxe Customizable Doll Kit, Copper Straight Hair https://www.mattel.com/en-us/creatable-world

DOLL KIT: Copper Straight Hair

Creatable World TM Deluxe Customizable Doll Kit, Brunette Wavy Hair https://www.mattel.com/en-us/creatable-world

CONTENTS • Light skin tone doll with short, straight red (copper) hair • Long straight red (copper) wig • Undergarments: white sleeveless t-shirt and white shorts • Turquoise baseball cap 31

CONTENTS • Brown cowboy hat • Orange, red, turquoise striped t-shirt • Black high top boots • Silver althletic shirt with black arm stripes • Camo pants • Red-rimmed glasses • Blue and white bomber jacket • Pink ombre tiered tulle skirt • Pink high top shoes • White slip-on sneakers

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

EVERYDAY STYLE PACK

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

•

CONTENTS: • • • • • • • • • • •

Black long-sleeve shirt with pink and red flowers Blue crop t-shirt with magenta and pink tiger print White ruffle skirt with red, orange, green, turquoise print Black overalls Green beanie-style hat Gray hoodie Magenta capri-length sweatpants Gray sunglasses Black high top boots Gold pointed-toe shoes Light blue slip on sneakers

• • •

•

CREATABLE WORLD TM STYLE + STORE SPACE TM Creatable World Everyday Style Pack https://www.mattel.com/en-us/creatable-world

Pale yellow and white hinged box with clear turquoise plastic handle and turquoise plastic latch Comes with sticker set so user can decorate Exterior is perforated, reminiscent of a locker One side of interior has plastic bars (orange, lavender, turquoise, white) and silver plastic hangers for storing doll clothes Other side has full-length mirror and shelves with plastic mesh baskets for storing doll accessories (pale yellow, mint green, turquoise, orange, lavender). Can be opened at 90 degree angle to create an occupiable “closet” space for the doll, or open 180 degrees.

Colors

Storage box for doll clothes and accessories

Creatable World Style + Store Space color palette.

The main exterior colors are pale yellow and white with turquoise accent. Additional interior accent colors are bright and pastel secondary colors across the spectrum. Creatable World TM Style and Store Space exterior with stickers https://www.mattel.com/en-us/creatable-world

The pale and bright colors make it clear this is a toy for children and convey a sense of playfulness. There is a noticeable lack

Creatable World Style + Store Space advertisement branding color palette.

Creatable World TM Style and Store Space interior with clothing. https://www.mattel.com/en-us/creatable-world

Creatable World Tm Style & Store Space Tm promotional image with child playing https://shop.mattel.com/shop/en-us/ms/creatable-world/creatable-worldstyle-store-space-gnv67

of pink, the most conspicuously gendered color, although it does include lavender and mint green which may be considered feminine to a lesser degree. Using yellow, white, and blue as the principal colors is an effective way to make something

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

gender-neutral at first glance while also normalizing and integrating feminine elements within the scope of the product’s aesthetic.

Branding and Packaging

Creatable World TM Everyday Style Pack, 11-Piece Clothes and Accessory Fashion Set https://shop.mattel.com/shop/en-us/ms/creatable-worldeveryday-style-pack-es-220-gkv34

Creatable World Everyday Style Pack packaging color palette.

Yellow, blue, and green are featured prominently in Creatable World TM branding and packaging. This is consistent with research which found that yellow and green are perceived by children as the most gender-neutral colors (Yeung, Wong, 2018), and research which has shown blue to be the most universal favorite color among children and adults (Jonauskaite et al., 2019).

POLLY POCKET VANITY CASE, MADE BY BLUEBIRD This Polly Pocket toy by Bluebird was a combination dollhouse-like environment for the miniature Polly pocket figures and a vanity case for cosmetics. Much like the one listed by Etsy seller TinyAtticTreasures, the included cosmetics were long gone when this author received a similar toy as a handme-down from a beloved babysitter who had outgrown it long ago, leaving strangelyshaped voids in the tiered trays which swivel out or pull out like a drawer.

Strengths

Creatable World TM Deluxe Character Kit Customizable Doll, Blonde Curly Hair https://shop.mattel.com/shop/en-us/ms/creatable-world/ creatable-world-deluxe-character-kit-dc-557-gkv47

Creatable World doll kit packaging color palette.

It is multi-functional: not just a toy, but a storage device for other items, including a mirror for the convenient application of cosmetics. This is an interesting combination of a toy with another functional object. The handle on top makes it easy to carry and the tiered compartments close into a neat and compact form. The miniscule scale of Polly Pocket figures mean that the physical environments designed for them can also be very small. This is a stark contrast to the large scale of the Coleman Dollhouse or the Barbie Dream House. Although the spaces designed for the figures make up only a fraction of the space, the abstract voids provide an opportunity 34

Polly Pocket vanity case vintage 90s, Etsy listing. Seller: TinyAtticTreasures https://www.etsy.com/listing/811169581/polly-pocket-vanity-case-vintage-90s?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_ medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_b-toys_and_games-toys-dolls_and_action_figures-dolls-other&utm_custom1=_k_Cjw KCAjw_Y_8BRBiEiwA5MCBJvwPEPHmVrl5S9cmpCOUSKC_Z71m4t6aOTNjgg_aDf6gjXo26-ZP_xoC7SEQAvD_BwE_k_&utm_content= go_1844178614_68548284606_346429831604_aud-952490158070:pla-316646169271_c__811169581_12768591&utm_custom2=18441786 14&gclid=CjwKCAjw_Y_8BRBiEiwA5MCBJvwPEPHmVrl5S9cmpCOUSKC_Z71m4t6aOTNjgg_aDf6gjXo26-ZP_xoC7SEQAvD_BwE

to imagine additional spaces. This author recalls pretending the whole case was a hotel, using the smaller voids as guest rooms and the large void in the bottom drawer as a swimming pool.

Weaknesses This is clearly a gendered product. The pastel color choices including pink and the floral motifs communicate that this is a product for girls. Additionally, it could be 35

critiqued that the function of this toy as a cosmetics case is gendered and harmful to children. It communicates that attending to personal appearance is the domain of girls, not boys. It communicates that beauty is something that girls should value and that beauty is what they should aspire to because it is what society values in them. However, it is worth noting that this author never once considered these messages while playing with this toy and simply wondered why this tiny doll hotel had a mirror, not even realizing until doing this

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

research that this toy was intended as a cosmetics case. This is an example of adults’ prescribed behaviors intended through toys contrasting with the reality of how children actually play. Similarly, girls in the 19th century did not play in the gendered ways prescribed to them and much of the social critique aimed at those toys simply did not apply to the reality of the situation (Formanek-Brunell, 1993). It is worth considering in our critique of today’s toys that the adult preoccupation with the social and cultural narratives of toys may simply be going over the child’s head. Lastly, the miniature worlds of Polly Pocket were a choking hazard for children due to the small parts.

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

castle at the theme parks. The blue roof is a stylized choice which reflects the more common historical material slate. Slate is a blue-gray, so a more saturated and stylized version of this material would be blue.

Trendmasters Cinderella Castle, Polly Pocket Style, 1996. Image and listing retrieved from Etsy.

BARBIE FOLDING PRETTY DOLLHOUSE

Polly Pocket vanity case vintage 90s, Etsy listing Seller: TinyAtticTreasures, Etsy.com

DISNEY CINDERELLA CASTLE, TRENDMASTERS, POLLY POCKET STYLE, 1996 Colors featured are sparkly transparent blue and white. This toy has many interactive features. Some parts light up and there are sound effects for the clock striking midnight. This was not produced by disney, but reminiscent of the Disney Cinderella

This plastic fold-up Barbie House was released circa 1996 (CITE). It is formed by three quadrants which fold up inside the outer shell which forms the exterior of the house. Each of the three rooms has two walls and is open on two sides. The interior walls have doorways, a built-in entertainment center, a kitchen, and a fireplace. The three rooms are a kitchen, a living room, and a bedroom. This toy is a girl-type because it is geared toward doll play and facilitates a domestic scene. It also uses primarily pink, white, and purple colors to communicate the girl-typing. These colors do not represent a realism in the colors and materiality of a home interior, they are instead more abstractly-applied. 36

Barbie Folding Pretty House, 1996, Plastic.

The openness of this dollhouse means multiple children can sit around it on the floor, accessing it inward from 360 degrees. The exterior shell of the 3-quadrant design makes the fourth quadrant the implied exterior which means there is a fourth space which may continue out into the room if the children choose to play with it that way. The collapsibility of this design means it can be packed away and stored easily so that it does not take up too much space. The folding design means there is nothing to assemble, it simply folds open intuitively and is ready for play. 37

MELISSA + DOUG PLAY CASTLES Fold & Go Castle vs. Fold & Go Princess Castle These two castles offered by toy company Melissa & Doug exemplify a typology of product versions which are gender-coded. They are not labeled “girl castle” or “boy castle,” but the gender-coding is clear. The generic Fold & Go Castle represents the masculine-coded play experience, which is also treated as the neutral version. The Princess Castle is coded using the word “princess” in the title which not only sets

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

during medieval castles, but are associated with neoclassicism, rationality, and masculinity. The princess castle features pointed arches which come from the gothic period. They have made the keystones of these pointed arches hearts, which clever, but a pointed stylization choice which strays from historicism. The drawbridge still has a perfect arch which does not match the rest of the castle. This inconsistency is small, but communicates that thought and intentionality are not important in a product for girls, and neither is consistency or historical accuracy. The balusters under the windows are another odd detail which was added. They have a distinctly neoclassical flavor which again contrasts with the gothic character of the pointed arches. Are they supposed to be balconies? Why are they there? Additionally, the tops of the crenulations on the princess castle are slightly rounded. It seems like they took the keystone of a real arch and then just alternated it with regular segments of an arch to vaguely reference crenulations but in a non-realistic way. They felt the need to say straight lines are too masculine, we need to curve this somehow.

Annotated images of Melissa and Doug Fold & Go Castle and Fold & Go Princess Castle. Original images retrieved from https://www.melissaanddoug.com/fold-and-go-castle/3702.html and https://www.melissaanddoug.com/fold-and-go-princess-castle/3708.html

this apart as an “other” version, but marks the feminine version as an other rather than something neutral. The design qualities present in these two versions also reveal some specifics about gender-coding in children’s products. The masculine-coded product emphasizes history, realism, medieval feudalism, adulthood, seriousness, neutrality, and architectural representation. The feminine-coded product, by contrast, emphasizes fantasy, stylization, romanticism, youthfulness, playfulness, colorfulness, and architectural inventiveness. The princess castle adds additional touches of femininity with the colors pink and purple and heart motifs.

Even the prince and princess, which present an idealized heteronormative romantic narrative, are wearing pink and purple. The prince is wearing purple perhaps because it is the less feminine color of the two. Even the horse the princess rides is romanticized as a pure white horse with a blonde mane, whereas the knights featured in the general Fold & Go Castle ride brown horses to code them as more masculine. The result of this is that children will code into their Gender Schema that girls ride white horses, boys ride brown horses. White is a girl color, brown is a boy color. The boy castle has perfect arches which may or may not have been historically accurate 38

Above the drawbridges, there are a series of motifs. On the medieval castle there are 4 fleur-de-lis. On the princess castle there are 3 hearts. A fleur-de-lis is a historical motif which might actually have been featured on a castle of the time. A heart is a more contemporary symbol. It is also notable that they felt the need to differentiate the number of repetitions of these motifs. The boy castle has 4, an even number, whereas the girl castle has 3, an odd number. Again, this is coding unnecessary things into a child’s gender schema where even numbers are associated with masculinity and odd numbers are associated with femininity.

Folding Medieval Castle vs. Folding Princess Castle Similarly to the Fold & Go Castles there is a dichotomy between historical “medieval” versus fantasy “princess.” This, of course, 39

makes no sense because princesses did exist historically in a medieval setting. Again there are differences between architectural realism vs. fantasy and inventiveness such as realistic stone colors (gray) vs. fantasy feminine-coded colors (pink). The princess castle also has vines with flowers growing up the side to make it more feminine. Is nature feminine? Where is the nature in the medieval castle? The roofs on the princess castle are mostly peaked whereas the roofs in the medieval castle are occupiable spaces with crinolations for military defense. To really get into the historical function of these two roof types, both existed and both were necessary. In snowy climates, steep peaked roofs were important to keep the snow off. A flat roof is a collection area for snow which can increase the load on the structure and requires maintenance if the space needs to be occupied. It’s not unreasonable to assume both would have existed simultaneously, even been retrofitted to fix some of these problems as time went on. Something odd is that the medieval castle is mostly symmetrical and the princess castle is mostly asymmetrical. How does this translate into gender-coding? Although symmetry was not emphasized in art and architecture until the renaissance and especially later during the enlightenment of the 18th century, this retroactive application of symmetry to the boy castle is rooted in the enlightenment connection between rationality and masculinity. Asymmetry, then, is posed as the opposite, and therefore feminine element. It is whimsical, emotional, seemingly not rooted in logic. Asymmetry is posed as less intentional, less educated, less civilized.

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Annotated images of Melissa and Doug Folding Medieval Castle and Folding Princess Castle. Original images retrieved from https://www.melissaanddoug.com/folding-medieval-castle/1329.html and https://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Princess-Dollhouse-Drawbridge/dp/B000NKH0E6

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Brands Number of Products Analyzed

Market Trends + Analysis              

             

            

3StarStudioArts (Etsy) American Plastic Toys Archamelia Barbie/Mattel Best Choice Products Birdswoodshack Calico Critters ChezDidi (Etsy) Childcraft Crate and Barrel Disney Frozen FAO Schwarz Fisher-Price/Little People GiftWoodShop Hape Hearth & Hand with Magnolia Hey! Play! Kadell Kid Connection KidKraft L.O.L. Surprise! Li’l Woodzeez Lori Magic Cabin Melissa & Doug My Girl’s Dollhouse Nikolasmalengos (Etsy) Norman & Jules Peppa Pig PlanToys Polly Pocket Pottery Barn Kids Rulke Shopkins Teamson Tender Leaf Toys TessBeMine (Etsy) THe Queen’s Treasures TheDesignStoke (Etsy) UBesGoo V.I.P. Vampirina

139

Dollhouse products analyzed The data collected does not represent the entire market. Rather, it represents a large sample of products easily accessed and purchased through internet searches and common retailers. The search term “dollhouse” was used primarily in Google, Walmart, Target, and Etsy.

                                          

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

The Queen’s Treasures Fold & Store 2-Story Doll Townhouse for 18” Dolls, by The Queen’s Treasures https://www.target.com/p/the-queen-s-treasures-fold-store-2-story-doll-townhouse-for-18-dolls/-/A-

So Stylish Mansion Dollhouse with EZ Kraft Assembly, by KidKraft. https://www.kidkraft.com/us_en/so-stylish-mansion-dollhouse-with-ez-kraft-assemblytm.html?gclid=CjwKCAjw0On8B-

For 18" Dolls : American Girl Dolls as standard

For 12" Dolls : Barbie Dolls as standard

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

$399.99

Faintail Hall Tender Leaf Toys

https://www.maisonette.com/product/fantailhall?gclid=CjwKCAiAv4n9BRA9EiwA30WND9 xz_nvsjKm-ji0KbHqefljd5a9in95moUdVt0GD6jkjeNQHUhHy6RoCkdoQAvD_BwE

Best Choice Products 4-Level Kids Wooden Cottage Uptown Dollhouse w/ 13 Pieces of Furniture, Play Accessories https://www.walmart.com/ip/Best-Choice-Products-4-Level-Kids-Wooden-Cottage-Uptown-Dollhouse-w-13-Pieces-of-

For 3-6" Dolls :

$14.97

Llama Music Party Compact Polly Pocket

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Polly-PocketLlama-Music-Party-Compact-2-Micro-DollsAccessories/642954515 46

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Image Citation

GreenToys Dollhouse from Pottery Barn, made from recycled milk jugs, $50 https://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/green-toys-dollhouse/?pkey=s%7Cdollhouse%7C30

Materials Breakdown

Claims of Sustainability

Plastic: 43 Wood: 92 MDF: 3 Paper: 1

Brooklyn House Norman & Jules, $164 Made from recycled birch plywood

Who is using plastic?

GreenToys Dollhouse Pottery Barn, $50 Made from recycled milk jugs

Who is using wood?

Fantail Hall Tender Leaf Toys, $399.99 Claims to be made from “sustainable rubber wood” and replant every tree harvested Dreamland Tiffany 12” Doll House Teamson Kids, $129.99 Made from FSC certified wood 48

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

FAO Schwarz New Seasons Wooden Dollhouse https://www.target.com/p/fao-schwarz-new-seasons-wooden-dollhouse/-/A-79835940#lnk=sametab

Monster Mansion Wooden Doll House with 7 pcs Furniture for 12” Dolls, Teamson Kids. https://www.teamsonkids.com/642-teamson-kids-monster-mansion-wooden-doll-house-with-7-pcs-furniture-for-

Products Showing Boys

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Inspires and facilitates play, rather than prescribes it

Goals and Objectives Combine girl-type and boy-type toy

Develop aesthetic scheme options combining girl-type, boy-type, and neutral colors

Historical analysis of doll play shows that children, particularly girls, were rarely interested in playing in ways prescribed by adults. Girls preferred running and outdoor games to dolls, and preferred soft rag dolls to delicate porcelain dolls. They held doll executions and funerals and horrified adults with the way they abused their rag dolls, violated expected gendered behavioral expectations (Formanek-Brunell, 1993). This toy should need no instruction or guide. It should be durable and facilitate flexibility and imagination in the way children play with it. It should balance dreaming and imagination beyond reality while also being relatable.

This may involve developing user personas with varied childhood interests outside the construct of gender. Aesthetic schemes can then be developed for these personas, intentionally containing elements appealing to all genders.

The scale and spatial considerations may require an investigation of expandable and collapsible mechanisms. The scale and cost factor should permit families of modest means to reasonably purchase it and store it in their homes. The scale should be compatible with a variety of existing toys children may already have such as dolls, figures, stuffed animals, etc.

Sustainability

Meets demands of current lifestyle Since girl-type toys facilitate social-verbal play and boy-type toys are spatially engaging, this toy should do both. It should invite boys to engage in social-verbal play and invite girls to engage in spatial play. This may involve some kind of modular construction, allowing the child to create their own spatial environments for dolls, figures, etc.

needs of users

Develop a product that can be manufactured sustainably, using sustainable materials. It should be durable and timeless enough to be passed down to younger siblings and future generations. End-life considerations: investigate whether the product can be used as something other than a dollhouse when the child outgrows it, investigate materials which are biodegradable or recyclable.

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

more and more traditional manufacturing materials have been found to be hazardous to children’s health. Toys come in constant contact with children’s skin (and babies’ mouths) and substances can thus be easily absorbed or ingested. This standard specifies acceptable substance threshold levels, as well as methods of sampling and extraction prior to testing, for migration of antimony, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury and selenium. Toy materials with established acceptable migration levels include: • coatings (paints, varnishes, lacquers, inks, polymers) • laminates • paper and cardboard • natural and synthetic textiles • metallic materials • modeling materials (clays, gels) • children’s use paints • packaging material (QIMA, 2020)

Codes and Standards International Council of Toy Industries

ages of 36 and 72 months Subclauses distinguishing various cords, loops, strings, and straps. Perhaps the most common deviation of ISO 8124 from various national standards would be for labeling requirements, as it is difficult for an international body to establish definitive phrasing for countries with different languages. Labeling standards here are largely generalized, so even if you follow ISO 8124 closely, you should pay particular attention to your target market’s labeling (and language) requirements. (QIMA, 2020) •

The International Council of Toy Industries (ICTI) lists safety standards for toys around the world, including a section of unified International Standards as well as standards by 26 individual countries. The standards included in the International Standards which may be relevant to this project are: • •

ISO/TC 181: Safety of Toys ISO 8124-1:2014: Safety of Toys—Part 1: Safety Aspects Related to Mechanical and Physical Properties Part 1, with a few exceptions, covers all toys meant for children 14 years and younger. The focus of this section is on the physical and mechanical aspects of a toy’s various components. The standard was updated in 2018 to harmonize with recent changes to ASTM F963 and EN-71. Changes include: • Established minimum tip angles of certain ride on toys • Modified definitions, including “cords”, “elastic”, “A-weighted equivalent sound pressure level” and “pull or push toy” • Modified kinetic energy requirements for arrows • Warning clarifications for toys designed for children between the

•

ISO 8124-3:2010: Migration of Certain Elements The chemical makeup of toy products have come under increased scrutiny as 54

ISO 8124-5:2015: Determination of total concentration of certain elements in toys Part 5 is associated with Part 3 “Migration of certain elements.” It defines a method for determining the total concentration of the elements specified in ISO 8124.3:2010. Any material with total concentration limits below the prescribed threshold can also be considered in conformance with Part 3 of ISO 8124. (QIMA, 2020)

ISO 8124-2:2014: Safety of Toys—Part 2: Flammability This section is concerned with the potential of all toys to catch fire under the slightest ignition source. Under the standard, particular attention is paid to toys: • meant to be worn (costumes, wigs, fake mustaches and beards, masks, hoods, head-dresses, etc.) • toys meant to be entered by a child • soft-filled toys (stuffed animals, dolls) with either a piled or textile surface. (QIMA, 2020)

•

ISO 8124-6:2014: Certain phthalate testers in toys and children’s products Over the last few decades, research has brought new focus to the potential harms of these commonly used plastic softeners. Because they are used as intermolecular “lubricants” and are not chemically bonded to the host material, phthalates, particularly those with low molecular weight, can easily become separated from plastic. Phthalate residue, when ingested or absorbed by the body, has been linked to long-term developmental disorders, such as disrupted hormonal

development and reproductive disorders. The EU introduced the first major phthalate restriction in 1999, which restricted the use of six phthalates. In 2008, both the United States and China implemented similar phthalate restriction standards. ISO 8124.6:2014 is based largely off of China’s GB/T 22048-2008. The goal of this section isn’t to set prescriptive phthalate limits in toy materials -- ISO acknowledges that national standards determine those limits -- but to establish a standard method for conformity assessment. (QIMA, 2020)

•

ISO/TR 8124-8:2014: Age determination guidelines One of the most important first steps to toy development is determining the appropriate age for toy product usage. Part 8 is a Technical Report that harmonizes with leading national standards (EN-71 and ASTM F963), so that a reliable guide can be used to provide information about ages at which children begin playing with certain toys. It is useful for toy manufacturers and compliance evaluation agencies, as well as for toy product safety organizations and individual parents. (QIMA, 2020)

(International Council of Toy Industries, 2017)

ASTM F963-17: Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety The scope of these standards applies to children 14 years old or younger and the test methods required for them, as well as age limit specifications. It explicitly states that it does not cover such toys as bicycles, playground equipment, kites, art materials, sporting goods, etc. These are covered in separate, more specific standards (ANSI, 2020).

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Toy Safety Business Guidance and Small Entity Compliance Guide This guide explains ASTM F963-17 and how it is applied. These are legal requirements for all toys as mandated by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission. The guide emphasizes the point that there is no one perfect standard which applies to every toy, and different types of toys require different standards depending on various characteristics, materials, and functions. Toys must be certified as being compliant with all applicable sections of the toy safety standard with a Children’s Product Certificate. Some of these standards require the product to be tested by a third party. The standards requiring testing which may apply to this project are: • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Section 4.3.5.1, Surface Coating Materials - Soluble Test for Metals Section 4.3.5.2, Toy Substrate Materials Section 4.5, Sound Producing Toys (requirements for this section modified by 16 CFR part 1250) Section 4.6, Small Objects (except labeling and/or instructional literature requirements) Section 4.7, Accessible Edges (except labeling and/or instructional literature requirements) Section 4.8, Projections Section 4.9, Accessible Points (except labeling and/or instructional literature requirements) Section 4.10, Wires or Rods Section 4.11, Nails and Fasteners Section 4.12, Plastic Film Section 4.13, Folding Mechanisms and Hinges Section 4.14, Cords, Straps, and Elastics Section 4.15, Stability and Overload Requirements Section 4.16, Confined Spaces

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

• •

Section 4.18, Holes, Clearances, and Accessibility of Mechanisms Section 4.38, Magnets (except labeling and/or instructional literature requirements)

(United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, 2019)

The Toy Association U.S. Safety Standards CPSC/Government Standards • Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) • CPSC Guidance on applicable requirements of ASTM F963-2011 • Code of Federal Regulations; Key Sections of Commercial Practices 16, Part 1000 to End • U.S. Child Safety Protection Act, Small Parts Hazard Warning Rule and Rules for Reporting Choking ASTM/ANSI Standards • ASTM F963017 Standard Consumer Safety Specification on Toy Safety • Interpretations related to ASTM F963-11 Standard Consumer Safety Specification on Toy Safety • Interpretations related to ASM F963-16 and ASTM F963-17 (Toy Industry Association, n.d.)

Toy Inventor and Designer Guide, 3rd edition, 2014 Guide contents: •

•

Coming Up with a Good Idea • Is it a unique and marketable idea? • Will it sell? • Is it cost-effective? • Is it safe? • Are you legally protected? Entering the Marketplace • Selling Your Idea/Invention to a Toy Manufacturer • Manufacture and Distribute the Item

•

satisfies all essential safety requirements laid out in the Directive,” (BSI, n.d.).

Yourself Promoting Your Idea • Bringing Your Product to Market • What Will Promotion Cost? • Join the Toy Industry Association

•

The most useful information the guide has to offer is regarding intellectual property. They recommend searching the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office online to make sure the toy has not already been invented by someone else. They emphasize that toy companies take a long time to bring something to market and get the patent process through so even if there isn’t a patent yet, a company might be in the planning stages of something similar. However, they offer no advice on what to do in this situation. They discuss the usual process of how to obtain a patent and trademark protection and how this might work if selling to a toy manufacturer. Some manufacturers will only consider a product if these have already been obtained. Some toy manufacturers will obtain the patent for you until the contract is over. They recommend that the toy designer have a non-disclosure agreement drawn up by a lawyer, and state that a manufacturer will usually ask the designer to sign a “Disclosure,” “Idea Submission Form,” or “Agreement” to protect the manufacturer on their end as well (Toy Inventor & Designer Guide [PDF], 2014).

BSI Toy Manufacture: Revised Toy Safety Directive These standards published by British Standards are intended to be applied to European toys being manufactured and sold within the European Union. According to the Revised Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/ EC, effective July 2011 and revisions effective July 2013, “All toys marketed in the EU must carry a CE conformity marking, which is the manufacturer’s declaration that the toy 57

• • •

•

BS EN 71-1:2014+A1:2018 Safety of toys. Mechanical and physical properties BS EN 71-2:2011+A1:2014 Safety of toys. Flammability BS EN 71-9:2005+A1:2007 Safety of toys. Organic chemical compounds. Requirements BS EN 71-10:2005 Safety of toys Organic chemical compounds. Sample preparation and extraction BS EN 1176 Standards on children’s play safety.

(BSI, n.d.)

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Executive Summary The problem: children’s toys are gendered. The gender divide has differing developmental benefits as well as aesthetic qualities. Doll play and doll houses are particularly gendered and considered a girl toy. There have been attempts to rebrand boy toys for girls so they can develop their skills related to STEM fields but there have been few attempts to rebrand girl toys for boys to help develop their social-verbal skills. Is it really enough to take a boy-type toy and slap girl-type aesthetics on it, or take a girltype toy and slap boy-type aesthetics on it? What is gender-neutral typology and gender-neutral design language? Can something that integrates all three be developed?

The dollhouse should facilitate engagement in imaginative role-playing with dolls, animals, and figures as well as engage spatial reasoning and creativity. The configurations of the dollhouse should allow small hands to access the space and manipulate dolls, animals, and figures within it. The structure of the dollhouse should be modular and able to be dismantled and/or be useful for some other purpose. The materials of the dollhouse should be durable and have a small environmental footprint. Parts should be fixable, replaceable, and allow innovation of additional components.

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Inspiration + Definition VOCABULARY To understand the gendered experiences of child users, it is important to first establish some vocabulary. First, we must understand that biological sex and gender are not the same thing. Gender is a social construct and something culturally assigned at birth based on biological sex, but adults’ assumptions about the child’s gender are not always correct. As the child ages, he, she, or they may come to realize that they do not comfortably fit within the prescribed definitions of gender. It is also important for us to understand that although our cultural understanding of biological sex and gender have been defined by a binary category system (male/female), this is not reflective of the diverse experiences of gender identity and gender expression. It is therefore crucial that we understand that gender does not merely fall into two categories and it is infinitely diverse. This is important in understanding toys because parents buy gendered toys based on the

assigned gender of their child even if this does not match their true gender identity. In order to clearly discuss this, here are some useful terms: AFAB, adj.: acronym which stands for Assigned Female At Birth. AMAB, adj.: acronym which stands for Assigned Male At Birth.

Sandra Bem’s Gender Schema Theory and cited study by Damon, 1977.

Transgender, adj.: gender identity does not match gender assigned at birth.

note that the term used to describe a child should be affirming of their gender identity rather than their gender assigned at birth.

Non-Binary, adj.: gender identity, which does not match gender assigned at birth, does not fit neatly into male or female. Cisgender, adj.: gender identity matches gender assigned at birth. Not transgender. These terms are all adjectives and should always be used to describe a noun such as girl, boy, or child. It is also important to

“Trans girl” (AMAB) “Cis girl” (AFAB) “Nonbinary child” (AMAB or AFAB) “Trans Boy” (AFAB) “Cis Boy” (AMAB) For example, I will always say “trans girl” rather than “boy who identifies as a girl.” When gender assigned at birth is necessary to discuss because it influences the experience of the child, this is when I use AMAB or AFAB.

GENDER SCHEMA THEORY In the 1980s Sandra Bem published work on Gender Schema Theory as well as work discussing how this specifically relates to raising a child. Bem positions Gender Schema Theory as an alternative to other, more limited, theories about how the 60

concept of gender develops in childhood. There are 5 basic phases: 1. Cultural definitions of gender 2. Gender-schematic processing (the child uses gender as a cognitive framework into which they sort incoming new information, whether it relates to gender or not) 3. Assimilation of the concept of self 4. Self-evaluation in the gender schema 5. Self-regulation to fit the gender schema Bem proposes that by providing alternate frameworks to a developing child, one can disrupt the gender-schematic processing. This is important because when the child then goes to assimilate the concept of self into this schema, they will theoretically be less limited by this framework of understanding and feel less shame and less pressure to self-regulate. This is particularly relevant to this project because gendered toys help create and reinforce this schema by associating certain colors and qualities

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Understanding user gender identities, genders assigned at birth, and comfort assimilating the self to gender schema.

unnecessarily with gender. By targeting this toy at child users who are developing their gender-schematic processing and assimilating their concept of self into the gender schema, this toy is in a position to intentionally disrupt that process by creating an alternate framework. Bem writes, “Flexibility with which children interpret society’s gender rules varies predictably with age,” (Bem). She cites a study from 1977 which surveyed children on their belief that there should be no sexual restrictions on one’s choice of occupation. A significantly higher percentage of children ages 4 and 9 affirmed this belief, showing more flexibility in their beliefs surrounding gender norms. Between these ages, however, the children surveyed showed much more rigid beliefs in adhering to these gender norms (Damon, 1977; Bem, 1983). This is useful information in determining a target age range for this project’s users. A goal of this project is therefore to

disrupt the gender schema by providing an alternate framework for users ages 4-9 so that as they age and continue to selfevaluate and self-regulate, their framework can be broader and they can use this toy comfortably for a period beyond these ages without the sense that they are violating social norms.

UNDERSTANDING THE USER EXPERIENCE Depending on gender assigned at birth and actual gender identity, children will have varying ranges of comfort assimilating their sense of self into the gender schema. AMAB users include cis boys, non-binary children, and trans boys. AFAB users include cis girls, non-binary children, and trans girls. Cis children have the most comfort assimilating their sense of self into the gender schema. Non-binary children may have varying degrees of comfort somewhere in the middle, and trans children have the 62

Project goals combining girl-type and boy-type, understanding how this toy is accessed by different users with different genders assigned at birth with the same product as the end goal.

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Mood board of children’s book Illustrations. Echo’s Song, The Runaway Bunny, Nora’s Stars, Herman the Helper, Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen, The Day You Were Born, Nora’s Stars. (Cite authors)

Mood board: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak and inspiration sketch.

least comfort assimilating into the gender schema. The goal of this toy is to be a combined girl-type (social-verbal) and boytype (cognitive-spatial) to increase a broader range of skill development and affirmation of gender identity, but because gender assigned at birth influences the type of toys given to a child, this defines the path those children will take into accessing this toy. The idea is that the toy should have enough identifiable boy-type qualities for parents to give this toy to their AMAB children, and enough identifiable girl-type qualities for parents to give this toy to their AFAB children. However, regardless of the path of access, all children will be able to explore same-type and cross-type play and have the ability to explore and affirm their own gender identities without the restrictions of gender-typed toys which reinforce a rigid gender schema.

playing with them would have to manipulate them, but in their imagined world the toys are autonomous. This also applies to physical environments. A bedroom becomes a forest or kitchen boxes and cartons become full-scale buildings, creating a world into which the child is fully immersed.

INSPIRATION In order to get inside the mindset of a child and understand the world of play, inspiration was taken from real toys, childsized furniture, and children’s books. The key concept derived from this inspiration is Imagination. In a child’s world, the line between reality and imagination is blurred. Some of the most evocative children’s books and illustrations play on this and it uses the device of magical realism where the reader has no idea whether something is literally happening or if the child is imagining it so powerfully that it becomes real. This is part of the charm and whimsy of stepping into a child’s world. Dolls and teddy bears are alive and animated rather than seeing the child actively manipulating them. In reality, a child 64

DEFINING A DOLLHOUSE For the purpose of this project, the term “dollhouse” is given a broader definition in order to understand the actual purpose this serves in the world of the child. There are 4 parts to this definition, ranging from the smallest scale to the largest scale of play: An element which facilitates role-play, world-building, and scene creation using toys as characters The figures used are scaled down smaller 65

than the child (not life-size) This element does not necessarily “contain” the doll play. Rather, it is one spatiallydefining element in the landscape of play (which is infinite). The role this element plays goes beyond the literal physical representation. Its true nature is in the child’s imagination.

SCALE The scale of this project is aimed at facilitating doll play with the standard 12-inch doll (Barbie size). These include smaller “child” dolls which may be as small as 4.5 inches. This element will therefore facilitate doll play with figures ranging from approximately 4.5 inches to 12 inches which expands the types of toy figures which may be used with this toy. When

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Defining a Dollhouse

accounting for the potential height of a doll’s hair and additional wiggle room, this sets the minimum module height at 13 inches. For the initial ideation and prototype development, this is increased to 14 inches.

FEEDBACK I began this process with the inspiration and the feedback I received from faculty and peers was that I needed to clearly define my users and this product more. In writing this chapter, I therefore went back and worked through the theoretical research as it applies to this project and more clearly defined my user group and the goals of this project. In moving forward with defining my users, I also found it necessary to include vocabulary and definitions as it

Doll scale range in 12-inch standard dolls.

applies to my theoretical approach. I would like to note that what I have defined is not a comprehensive representation of the full range of gender identity and children’s experiences, but it provides a snapshot of how these experiences might differ between users. This is useful in moving forward and helping faculty and peer reviewers understand the concept of the project.

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Ideation CONCEPT A toy which serves as a spatially-defining element for doll play, which promotes spatial play and customization through modularity.

MODULE DEVELOPMENT The first module is a basic 14”x14” square of ¼” plywood. This is the base unit for this modular system. Another module is an exploration of cutting this square on the diagonal to produce two right triangles and gluing a layer of felt to the bottom which serves as a hinge along the hypotenuses of the triangles. Together, this makes another 14”x14” square which can be folded in half diagonally. This could

serve for folding up the assembled piece or stand alone as a pyramidal form open on one side. To further explore the possibilities of textiles, a 14”x14” square of sheer fabric was with folded over channels sewn down along all four sides. This allows wooden dowels to be inserted through the channels, creating a rigid frame for the translucent panel. Another exploration of the structural and form possibilities of fabric was done by sewing two layers of fabric together with regular parallel channels. Wooden dowels were then inserted into these channels to create a form which is rigid in one dimension but flexible in another. This allows the possibility of creating curved forms out of a module which can be any length and rolled up when not in use.

Module development

ASSEMBLY AND APPLICATION

depth.

Vertical Stacking

One exploration of this is inspired by IKEA’s open source flat pack garden sphere. This is a sphere made out of vertically stacked layers which serve as planter shelves, supported by rounded vertical ribs. Inside is a hollow space where people can sit. At a smaller scale, a child could build layers of spaces around themselves and their own radius of reach. The lower and upper layers could be pushed in closer to the child to provide clearer sightlines and easier access, while defining a three-dimensional space inside of which the child can sit.

A typical dollhouse strategy is to stack the spaces vertically. A precedent for this type is the Acrylic House Bookcase from Crate and Barrel. Although this is a more abstract and stylish version of this type (made of clear acrylic and intended for mixed storage and play use) this represents a typical dollhouse form. The sitting height of a 5 year old can be as low as 21 inches and the sitting height of a 10 year old can be as high as 33 inches. When 3 spaces, approximately 14 inches tall, are stacked on top of one another, the sightlines for a child in this age and height range is primarily the middle space because there are blind spots in the lower and upper modules. The takeaway from this is that in the hierarchy of spaces the middle level is the most important because it is the most visible, the most accessible, and therefore has the most opportunity for dimensional 69

Feedback received from faculty included the question of child safety. Is the assembly sturdy enough to support a child attempting to climb on it? Is the assembly light and soft enough to not harm the child if the whole assembly were to collapse in on the child? This is an area for further developing material and connection studies.

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Vertical Stacking

Horizontal Arrangement and Barbie Folding Pretty precedent.

IKEA Inspiration and sketch.

Exploration of modules arranged like Barbie Folding Pretty House and velcro connections.

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Exploration of modular assemblies.

Horizontal Arrangement The benefit of this model is that it sits on one level, perhaps the floor or a table. If the spaces are enclosed on all four sides and open only on the top, the 14-inch defined module height would cut off the child’s sightlines. It would therefore be necessary to open up multiple sides for easier access. A precedent for this is the Barbie Folding Pretty House (Circa 1996) which consists of three square spaces which fold up to save space when not in use. To explore this with the initial module designs, a similar assembly was created using four vertical squares and three folding squares as the floors. To explore additional hinge assembly types, the vertical planes were connected to the edges of the folding floor planes using velcro and a layer of felt. Another hinged assembly method was simple velcro strips to connect the vertical planes where they meet at the center axis.

Exploration of Modular Assemblies

Feedback received about these assemblies is to consider additional reinforcement for the felt as hinges because it may not fare well as a tensile element. It could be layered with a sturdier fabric such as canvas. Additionally, the size of individual velcro tabs should be larger to prevent choking hazards. This whole assembly can then be folded up like a book and then folded out into threedimensional spaces. The velcro assemblies create the possibility for the child to add to the structure, disassemble, or swap out parts at will. This provides endless opportunities for spatial exploration, building, and imagination. It also means everything can be taken apart or collapsed and put away when not in use. Solid panels can be replaced with sheer ones, solid or sheer panels can serve as roof structures or sun shades.

Additionally, other shapes can be created which provide even more flexible geometric explorations. For instance, a curved panel with a 14-inch bottom can be added to the assembly and combined with the fabric panel with parallel dowels. The fabric panel can form itself to any organic or sharp geometric form, making it a useful module for creating roof structures. If triangular and wedge shaped panels are created, round pyramidal assemblies could be created which allows 360 degree play for more than one child. When combined all together, the possibilities are endless. Any module can be horizontal, vertical, or angled. They can be solid or translucent. They can be neutral or colorful. They can be stacked or sprawl out as far as the space allows and as far as the child can reach.

FEEDBACK + NEXT STEPS 73

Further exploration is needed about how these interact with furnishings a child’s room may already have. How can tables and chairs create additional levels and serve additional functions such as a chair defining a garage for a doll car? How would a child interact differently with an assembly on a table or on the floor? How would the approach be different if the structure is on the floor but the child is on their bed reaching down from above? Feedback received on this phase was to continue exploring and developing the materials and assembly components and consider how to scale down some modular components for customizable furnishings. Reviewers appreciated the exploration of textiles and wondered if there are other structural components which could create a pop-up lightweight frame which would be safer and easier for a child to assemble. Additionally, it was suggested that the complexity of the components

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Vertical Stacking

and assemblies could grow with the child, making it relevant beyond the target age range of 4-9 and giving it an arc of growth appropriate for children of varying ages. This is something to be further explored and developed in the next phase. The next step is to identify 5-6 themes and explore how a child of any gender identity could get access to this toy and begin an aesthetic exploration of components appropriate to these themes. Some themes ideas from the reviewers: • • • • •

Castle Space (planets, spaceships) Treehouses/village Anime movies Non-domestic spaces for activities and jobs (schools, offices, fire stations, doctor’s offices)

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

PRECEDENTS

Prototyping + Development GENDER INCLUSIVE DOLLHOUSE DESIGN GOALS • •

A toy which serves as a spatially-defining element for doll play Promote spatial play and customization through modularity

USER GROUPS (ALL GENDERS) Youngest (4-9) • • • Kit • • •

Discovery Kids Toy Magnetic Tiles Building Set 50pc. Retrieved from https://www.target.com/p/ discovery-kids-toy-magnetic-tiles-building-set-50pc//A-80708296?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_ pla_df&fndsrc=tgtao&DFA=71700000012544494& CPNG=PLA_Toys%2BShopping%7CToys_Ecomm_ Hardlines&adgroup=SC_Toys&LID=70000000117077 0pgs&LNM=PRODUCT_GROUP&network=g&device=c &location=1017557&targetid=pla-625976029560&ds_ rl=1246978&ds_rl=1248099&gclid=CjwKCAjwnPOEBh A0EiwA609ReTS682v4ukX-OWzcnRG9uKD6X43xMA_ PszeYLOUQ_ijvgc3h9KFT2xoCuVoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw. ds.

Smallest Least manual dexterity Least developed cognitive abilities 1 A few basic parts Larger parts Simple instructions (if needed)

Middle age range or more developed younger children (6-11) • • • Kit • • • •

Varying sizes Increasing dexterity Increasing cognitive abilities 2 Add-on kit More basic parts More detailed parts More instructions/inspiration book

Plastic snap-together modular building toy, unknown maker. Photos by Ray Rayburn, March 2021.

Older or most developed (9-14)

Goals diagram. Increase empathetic social ability through social-verbal play (typically girl-type play) Increase cognitive spatial ability through geometric/ structural spatial play (typically boy-type play).

• • Kit • • •

Varying sizes on larger end Higher cognitive abilities 3 Add-on kit More detailed parts More complex instructions/inspiration

Magna-Tiles. Retrieved from https://www.magnatiles. com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/MagnaTiles_ CC_32pc_Carton-Front_Angle.png. Small scale plastic

HearthSong 16-Piece Colorblock Fantasy Forts Kit. Retrieved from https://www.hearthsong.com/en/ narrow-by/see-what%27s-new/16-piece-colorblockbuild-a-fort-kit/p/733285. 22” plastic panels with hook and loop tape connections.

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

FABRICATION

Taking inspiration from the 3-inch plastic frame precedent units, a 14-inch unit of plywood was developed with similar interlocking edge profiles for registration of the parts into the correct alignment. In addition, two slots on each side were routed out for hook and loop tape to serve as the connectors. Similarly to the plastic toy, a square unit and an equilateral triangle were created.

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Digital files of these parts were used to lay them out on two 5’x5’ sheets of ¼-inch plywood. The two sheets were able to fit 20 squares and 20 triangles. Then a CNC router was used to cut out the parts. Some tabs were left uncut to hold the parts in place and had to be chiseled out by hand by the designer afterward. The center cutouts were unable to be kept and used for another purpose for two reasons: When cutting with a CNC, the router bit starts a little ways off the path before moving into the correct position. This results in an additional cut into what would otherwise be a complete geometric shape. The other reason was that

is needed with the manufacturers to make sure these parts are kept.

STORAGE WHEN NOT IN USE

One question that needed to be addressed early on in this process is what happens to these parts when they are not in use? How much space do they take up and how can they be stored? If 20 parts of each shape are considered one complete “kit,” these can be stacked and bundled in the digital model and measured. The final dimensions of these parts are 14”x14”x10”. This is compact and could easily fit on a shelf or in a closet.

crate. Five square units were used to make the container, leaving 15 squares and 20 triangles to fit inside. In order to nest them inside, the triangles bundle needs to be partially inserted into the squares bundle and the whole thing needs to be inserted into the container at a 45 degree angle. This is not necessarily intuitive and is not a great solution for younger users, but could make an interesting spatial puzzle for older users. With some instructions and diagrams accompanying one of the more advanced kits, this is not out of the realm of possibility as a suggested solution for the user.

3” plastic modular toy inspiration. Photo by Ray Rayburn, March 2021.

Triangular parts after CNC cutting, before manual chiseling to remove them.

Digital drawing of 14” parts for CNC fabrication.

help from faculty in the Fabrication Lab was needed and the parts were cut without the designer present. By the time the designer arrived at the Fabrication Lab, the parts were already cut and the center cutouts had been discarded. If these parts are intended to be kept in the final fabrication process of this product on the market, communication 78

Dimensions of bundled parts and storage possibilities.

Additionally, the hook and loop tapes could be repurposed to tie the bundles together for storage. An additional possibility is that the parts themselves could be used to make a storage crate for the other parts. Using the digital model, this was tested to see how the parts would need to be arranged to fit inside the 79

ASSEMBLY

A roll of 1-inch hook and loop tape was purchased for the prototyping. Through some trial and error, 4½” strips were determined to be the ideal size. There are some applications where a longer strip might be necessary, but it is easy to simply combine multiple strips to make a longer

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

one. Instructions and suggestions for how to do so could be included with the kit with diagrams that make it easy to understand.

child who is shorter and younger, or sitting on the floor.

Taking advantage of the more unusual geometric opportunities afforded by the triangular modules, another assembly type was developed. This consists of three stacked hexagons, making a tower which can be experienced in 360 degrees. This provides One of the the opportunity benefits of using More traditional dollhouse formation. for more hook and loop children to play at once by surrounding the tape as the primary assembly component tower and accessing the many different is that it is flexible enough to incorporate

In an experimental assembly of the parts, it was discovered that the scale can quickly get large. The concern about large-scale assemblies is the question of stability. Interestingly, it was discovered that the structure was incredibly lightweight and sturdy. Because of the interlocking edges for registration, the hook and loop tape does not need to be very tight. Allowance in the edge profile means that there is plenty of wiggle room, which means pieces do not have to have absolutely perfect alignment in order to work together.

Caption

ASSEMBLY TYPE EXPLORATION

Caption

units of the tower. Because it is assembled in a modular way, the entire tower could open up along one axis and hinge open to be flat against the wall. This might be better for being pushed out of the way during non-play time, but can also be a fun and engaging play experience since it introduces a variety of angles and spaces into what would otherwise be a 2-dimensional planar experience.

A more traditional dollhouse formation was created with a series of stacked spaces along one plane. Heights and roof orientations were used to introduce some variety. Additionally, the base level was created experimentally using triangular modules to create a flared base which increases stability. Once infill panels are introduced, this would be a solid and engaging doll space. The height would require some children to stand in order to reach the upper levels, but this is not unusual for larger-scale dollhouses, and the lower levels can still be easily accessed by a 80

360 degree hexagonal tower formation, open and closed.

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

other elements from a child’s environment. As an experiment, branches were used in the digital model as a possible means of supporting a unit to make a treehouse on branch stilts. The hook and loop tape used to assemble the unit can simply be opened

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

up and wrapped around a branch and then closed again to secure it. This introduces a world of possibilities in expanding the doll play space beyond what is included in the kit.

ASSEMBLY DETAIL ANALYSIS

First, the edges of two units are nested together. The user then runs two of the 4½-inch hook and loop tape strips through the slots and then wraps them around to overlap and hook onto themselves. If a third unit is to be introduced, this can rest on top of the assembled corner, and the existing hook and loop tapes can be detached and the top ends run through the slots of the new unit. The 4½-inch strips are long enough to overlap and hook onto themselves with three units. This process may be awkward and the 90 degree angle of the structure below may become unstable in the process. Additionally, when the third unit is flush against the corner of the other units, it leaves gaps. This might make this assembly less intuitive and make registration more difficult. However, this gap provides the opportunity to insert another panel. The resulting structure of the horizontal panels is slightly offset by ¼-inch, but because of the flexibility and stability of the assembly method, this still works and does not negatively affect the look or stability of the overall structure. 4½-inches is not enough to wrap through the slots of four units, but because hook and loop tape sticks to itself, another strip can be introduced to add the fourth panel without disassembling the existing three panels. Alternatively, two strips can be joined together and wrapped through all four panels at once. When fully assembled, it looks seamless.

Assembling two modules at a 90-degree angle.

Adding a third module.

The gap left from the third module.

Inserting a fourth module.

Treehouse assembly with branches attached.

The final assembly of four modules.

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

ADDITIONAL ROUNDED PARTS

With 14 inches as the base unit of this modular system, this presents the opportunity to introduce other geometries which could be compatible with the system. A 14-inch semicircle with a similar profile on the straight edge and slots for hook and loop tape was fabricated, along with a stiff felt panel which was scored every inch which can wrap around it. When attaching the felt to the structure, it was found that slots were not needed in the felt panel because the hook side of the hook and loop tape can stick directly to the felt. An imp;ortant takeaway from this is the material and structural possibilities of using more felt in future components.

Scored felt panel wrapped around semicircular panel.

architectural features. The square infill panel was subdivided into ½, ¼, ⅛, and 1/16 modules. These can then be combined in various ways as a substitute for a full infill panel. Panels could be made of a variety of materials including felt, chipboard, acrylic, fabric, paper, and plywood. The variability of these materials mean they are something

Rounded and scored felt panel attached with velcro.

INFILL PANELS

A system of infill panels was needed to fit within the frame. Additionally, depending on the proportions of those infill panels, those could be used as smaller units to make other 3-dimensional furniture and

Infill panel sizes: full, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and 1/16.

Felt 1/2 panel door, acrylic window, planter box.

Black and white color-yourself panels, dormer window, balcony.

which could be made at home or in a maker space by DIY-oriented children and parents. They could have black and white patterns which children could color themselves, they could be transparent and represent windows and glass. A ¼ window panel and a ⅛ panel can be combined to make a dormer window on a sloping roof. A balcony can be made from ¼ and ½ panels. Wall panels made of felt increase the possibility of components which can attach with hookand-loop. By splitting one panel with vertical ½ panels, this can produce material changes and doorways. With 1/16 and ⅛ panels, a planter box can be made for a window made from a ¼ panel. Stairs and fireplace.

⅛ panels can be assembled to make stairs which can be attached to the interior or exterior of a frame unit. By using varying sizes and 2D textures, a home-like fireplace can be made, adding detail and cosiness to the doll space.

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

slits cut near the edges of the vertical sides. Some difficulties with this were finishing the raw edges of the fabric so that it does not fray, finishing the raw edges of the slits, and the velcro sticking to the fabric and thread of the slots as the panel was attached to the

ACCESSIBILITY Handheld Manipulation Issues

One of the cons of this system is that the user needs to hold the panels together while inserting the hook and loop tape. This can be difficult. Some features which may compensate for this are that the hook and loop tape does not need to be tight and the parts do not need precise alignment during assembly which can allow room for imperfection in the assembly process. Some materials are easier to work with than others, such as felt because the hook and loop tape sticks directly to it without needing to insert it through slots. There is an opportunity to return to the simplicity of the fold-open model from the ideation phase in order to create some basic units which can simply pop open without the need for assembly. Integrating these ideas for a final design of the Phase 1 kit will be needed.

Scale Issues House assembly with 1/2 fill floor and stairs, couch, bunk bed.

By using ½ panels for flooring, a void can be left open for the interior stairs to connect levels. Furniture such as a sofa or bunk beds can be assembled from ½ and ⅛ panels and then suspended from the wall. While prototyping infill panels, the same felt as was used for the rounded component was used to make a ½ infill panel. Similarly, it was discovered that slots are not needed because the hook and loop tape sticks directly to the felt. This can be done using the existing hook and loop tape being used structurally, or by adding additional strips through the slots and wrapping in the other direction toward the infill panels rather than around the frame. Another infill panel prototype was created to make a pocket for 2D paper details to be inserted. This was made using sheer mesh fabric sewn together and attached through

Mesh pocket panel and solid cardboard infill panel used as floor and wall.

frame. This might be easier with a machine which can do overlock stitches, but could be avoided altogether if using a material which does not need finished edges.

Felt infill panel.

A solid full panel was prototyped using corrugated cardboard. This prototype was cut with a fit so tight, it actually held in place with no additional support. However, slots were cut so that velcro could be used to secure it if needed. 87

Seat-bound child playing with one unit on tabletop.

A wheelchair-bound or seat-bound child may have limited access to a larger-scale assembly of multiple complex spaces. One of the benefits of the modularity of this design is that one unit can sit on a tabletop

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

and be changed easily over and over to create new scenes, rather than needed to create and combine additional units.

INTUITIVITY

This design might not be easily intuitive for users with less experience manipulating spatial toys. A guide booklet should be included with each kit, providing various scenarios, instructions, and inspirations. The unlimited creative freedom of this design means users are not limited by the parts included in the kit. There are many DIY opportunities for users to create their own components and “hack” the system. There are also opportunities for compatibility with other objects, particularly found objects and things from nature using the flexibility of the hook and loop tape assembly. With a few inspiration images showing how this might be done, this could open up the world of possibilities to the user who might then come up with their own ideas of how to build their own environments.

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

flexibility to serve as a roof and maneuver around protruding branches which got in the way.

THEME DEVELOPMENT Treehouse

Final Design Phase Three themes were identified for development in the final design phase: Treehouse, Space Station, and Castle. Although this was narrowed down to the

Castle theme for the Phase 1 kit for final design and prototyping, the Treehouse and Space Station themes were outlined for later development.

A treehouse prototype was built to test the idea of using found objects from nature. Branches were collected from campus landscaping and brought into the studio for experimentation. Like the digital model, a single spatial unit was constructed using four square modules: three walls and a floor. The branches were then attached by opening up the hook and loop tape and wrapping it around the branches. This was easiest to do while laying the whole assembly down sideways and then setting it upright on its branch stilts. Some trial and error was necessary to select and position appropriate branches for structural stability, and some adjustment was needed with the hook and loop tapes to get the branches level. Because of the complex organic geometry of the branches, a rigid angled roof was not able to be added. Instead, the rounded felt panel provided enough

Overall assessment of this assembly is that it is technically advanced, but structurally educational and rewarding when the final result is accomplished. This would be a good suggested assembly for the most advanced kit.

Detail of treehouse assembly. Photo by Ray Rayburn, March 2021.

Diagrams of potential themes to develop drawn with neon dry-erase marker on glass studio window looking into hallway. Diagrams included are: pirate ship, treehouse, castle, space station, historic house, modern house, apartment tower. These were narrowed down to the top 3 on the right: Treehouse, Castle, and Space Station. Photo by Ray Rayburn, April 2021.

Treehouse prototype. Photo by Ray Rayburn, March 2021.

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

laws of gravity, a hexagonal shape was developed with a base level, second level, and a roof which can be occupied by dolls as well. This assembly is somewhat advanced but not as challenging as the treehouse. This would be a good model to suggest for the Phase 2 kit.

Space station assembly prototype.

Space Station

In order to capture the essence of something clearly not a traditional house and also not necessarily bound by the usual

In order to develop the space theme, the pocket panel was further developed to introduce the possibility of appropriately themed 2D paper inserts and colorful translucency. This was made by bending a metal wire into a square frame the same dimension as the slots on the plywood module. Then, two pieces of colored vinyl fabric were sewn

Pocket panel fabrication: cut out vinyl to size.

Space-themed inserts.

Pocket panel fabrication: sew vinyl onto wire frame.

Detail of hook and loop tape attachment of pocket panel. Removing blank paper insert from pink pocket panel.

Interior space with pink pocket panel.

Pocket panel fabrication: detail in the process of cutting out tabs and removing excess thread.

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

onto the frame, with slots cut out to reveal the wire where attachment to the wood frame was needed. Two seams were sewn into the panel to create three pockets: one ½-size pocket and two ¼ size pockets. The insert for the ½-size pocket is 11 inches, the exact height of a standard 8.5”x11” sheet of letter paper. This means DIY inserts could easily be printed from the internet or drawn by hand.

fabric provides the color and translucency of the mesh fabric but does not require finishing of raw edges: it can simply be cut. Vinyl fabric comes in a variety of colors and finishes including some dichroic iridescent finishes which give it a fun, shiny, multicolored effect while also allowing light to pass through. This is especially appropriate for a space theme.

The sheerness of the paper allows some light to pass through, and inserts can be completely removed if more interior illumination is desired. This provides a fun colorful glowing light inside the doll space.

This theme was chosen as the one to develop in the final phase of this project because of the recognizability of the components that make something a castle, the pervasiveness of this theme already in children’s products, and the range of simplicity to complexity of forms which can be used to represent this theme. Some of these features are towers, drawbridges, crenulations, arched and pointed arch windows, and stone materials.

Castle

The benefit of this design is the wire frame helps hold the fabric taut and attaches satisfyingly to the wood frame. The vinyl Iridescent pocket panel exterior.

Color and material representation palette exploration.

Iridescent pocket panel interior.

Cardboard drawbridge panel prototype.

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

etc. and saturating those colors. This is effectively the middle ground between the hyper-realistic neutral colors of the “boytype” castle and the fanciful colors of the “girl-type” castle as seen in the precedents by Melissa and Doug.

•

Starter Kit

Melissa and Doug Fold & Go Castle and Fold & Go Princess Castle, annotated. Original images retrieved from https:// www.melissaanddoug.com/fold-and-go-castle/3702.html and https://www.melissaanddoug.com/fold-and-go-princess-castle/3708.html

Spatial diagrams Returning to the definition of a dollhouse being a spatially-defining element for doll play, the question for the most basic starter kit is what is the bare minimum needed to define a doll space? To explore this question, a series of diagrams were drawn on the whiteboard in studio.

Middle age range Additional basic parts Additional specialty parts More detailed instructions and inspirations/DIY suggestions and templates

Some ideas for 2D infill panels to apply to the traditional dollhouse assembly frame were sketched as an experiment with features and color in communicating “castle.” This provides the opportunity to have panels which can hinge open so that the user can access the space within. This includes wall panels and the angled panels on the flared base which would make the “dungeon.” Some cardboard panels were prototyped in order to find a system which works for attaching various detail forms to the frame. This was accomplished using little foldable cardboard tabs which then insert into the slots on the frame. Using cardboard allowed forms to be cut out, such as slits for archers, a drawbridge, and an additional component for crenulations. Further development of color and pattern to apply were needed. The idea for these colors came from thinking about real materials which would be used such as bronze, terra cotta, slate, limestone, wood,

Spatial diagrams on whiteboard. Castle materials applied to frame. Saturated realism is middle ground between boy-type and girl-type precedent castles pictured above.

More complex detailed parts Electrical components More historical information and inspiration More advanced DIY suggestions and templates Digital fabrication files to “hack” system of parts

3 FOLD-OPEN STARTER KIT UNITS

Youngest age range 3 fold-out pre-assembled units Variety of colors and textures Customizable features Simple instructions

Booster Kits • • • •

• • • •

HOW THE KITS WOULD WORK WITH THE CASTLE THEME: • • • • •

Advanced Kit

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

3 basic foldable units that form starter kit.

These diagrams laid out all the possibilities for combining planes at 90-degree angles in relation to a doll figure. The conclusion was that 3 planes sharing and defining one corner, open to two sides and above was

best. This is because it is minimal while also structurally sound, and it is also compatible with the early idea of something which folds open and closed.

Bottom view of folding panel flat.

Bottom view of folding panel partially folded.

Side view of 3 units folded up side by side.

Front view of 3 units folded up side by side.

Unit unfolding.

Unit unfolded, top view.

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Table folding down. Assembled from a 1/2 felt-covered infill panel and 2 felt-covered 1/8 panels attached with hook and loop tape which serves as hinges.

Side view of doll sitting at table. Seat assembled from 1/8 panels and 1/16 panels covered in iridescent fabric and felt.

Panels are made from chipboard covered in colored felt. Each side is a different color.

Transparent pocket panel contains coloring-page style line drawings with void cut out for window.

Horizontal felt-covered 1/2 infill panel can hinge out like an awning if sides are left unattached.

Vertical felt-covered 1/2 panel can hinge out like a door if top and bottom are left unattached.

Interior and exterior of pocket inserts can be different. This interior has a book case.

Interior view of a iridescent pocket panel.

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Carboad panel with tabs being inserted into slots.

Small assembly of parts which come in a booster kit.

The folding panels were accomplished by creating a solid 14-inch square panel which was then cut in half diagonally with edge profiles and slots compatible with the other frame parts cut away. The fabric hinge was created by folding over the raw edge of a square of yellow canvas and sewing it down, then gluing the whole square to the bottom of the cut plywood panel with the raw edges on the glue side. Yellow was selected for

consistency with the hook and loop tape and due to research indicating that yellow is considered gender-neutral (Yeung, Wong, 2018). A variety of colors were chosen for the felt infill panels to represent masculine, feminine, and neutral colors. By combining all of these colors together in one set, there is a chance at creating a norm which exists outside of a child’s developing gender schema (Bem, 1983). 102

The three starter kit units come preassembled but are made of standard parts which would come in the booster kits. This means that although the child can have the instant gratification of popping it open and playing immediately, they can also disassemble and reassemble it without and with additional booster kit parts if they get curious. Additional parts which might come in a booster kit could include triangular parts, rounded parts, additional pocket panels, and cardboard panels with tabs which fit into the slots of the frame.

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Cardboard panel fully attached and flush against frame.

A Gender Inclusive Dollhouse

Conclusion Creating a gender-inclusive toy is difficult. The strategy used in this design was to strike a balance between feminine and masculine features and elements as well as any elements considered gender neutral. This related to the typology of the toy and aesthetic features. It remains to be seen whether this is successful and effective, and there is room for much cultural discourse about how to achieve the best balance. How much femininity is too much? How

much spatial manipulation is too much? How much representation of domestic life is too much? This is simply one exploration of this theory. Other designers can take this research and these principles and apply them to their own projects in numerous ways and conduct additional research which builds off of this project. That’s the beauty of what this project has accomplished: it is not the final answer, but the beginning of a question.

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