(moonpir)
Rose has a problem with McDonald’s. It’s a relatively tiny one, but something that she wishes McDonald’s would fix. See, for her occasional visits to buy Happy Meals for her kids, she would prefer not to be asked whether she wants a “girl toy” or a “boy toy.”
Simple enough? One would think.
Rose wrote to Consumerist originally:
Maybe this is dumb, I don’t know. I take my three children (one girl, two boys) to McDonald’s about twice a month, usually while on road trips to visit family. (I get them apple slices, 2% milk, and all white meat chicken nuggets, but nutrition isn’t the topic at hand.) When I go to McDonald’s, I’m in variably asked the same question:
“Girl toy or boy toy?”
This kills me, and it kills my daughter, especially when I specify that I want three Bakugans or three cars or three whatever, and they still pass out a ‘girl’ toy after they see my daughter in the car. Tonight was the last straw. I can’t keep quiet anymore. Would it REALLY be so hard for them so say ‘Would you like a Bakugan or a Hello Kitty toy?’ Really?
She wrote to and tweeted at McDonald’s about her concerns, and the answers she received weren’t satisfying. The Twitter rep tried to help, noting:
I read your posting and I understand- maybe you could just say which toys your children would prefer-hope that helps
Not really–especially when, as Rose notes, employees are giving Rose’s daughter the “girl” toy as soon as they see a girl in the car. Maybe it’s time to complain to the management of the individual McDonald’s franchises that are doing this. It sounds like the “girl toy/boy toy” shorthand (which has been around since I was a tiny little Consumerist demanding Transformers and friction-motor cars with my cheeseburgers) isn’t about to go away.
When ordering Happy Meals, do you encounter the same terminology and any confusion when choosing toys? What does your family do?
McDonald’s Sexism Fail [You Do What...? A Homeschooling Blog.]
More From Consumerist
-
Complaining About McDonald’s Food Is One Thing But Slapping Workers Is Just Rude
-
Mummified McDonald’s Burger Found In Closet, Still Looks Edible
-
Trigger-Happy Restaurant Owner Definitely Does Not Think The Customer Is Always Right
-
Is It Rude To Take Photos Of Your Food In A Restaurant?
-
Some Thoughts From Red Robin Manager Who Gave Free Meal To Pregnant Customer
While I sympathize with this issue, I think it’s important that the mother express her frustration to her children (all of them) than it is that her daughter actually gets the toy on the first try (mom should definitely ask for a trade, though!).
I believe that the message that the mother sends that, regardless of what society might think is the norm for their genders, any of her children can do anything they want. My mother and father tried to raise my sister and me as “gender-neutral” as possible, but I still gravitated toward Barbie dolls and my sister wanted Legos, etc.
However, since they let us know that gender isn’t as important as our culture sometimes makes it seem, I’m perfectly content to be a computer programmer who likes makeup and babies, while my sister is a diplomatic employee who likes science and engineering.
Bottom line: neither of us see any contradiction between our personal desires & professions and our gender.
McDs is the world’s largest distributor of toys. Whatever they are doing is certainly working!
Why do toys have gender-specificity? Toy preference is highly correlated to gender, but not entirely. Keep in mind that toy stores and toy aisles do the same segregation by gender. This suggests that the correlation is strong enough to emerge on their own. [I doubt that there is a conspiracy wherein a group of business leaders set genderization policies across toy distributors.
] In other words, whatever EVERYONE is doing seems to be working.
I don’t think it is right, but I don’t think it is avoidable either.
If companies could sell the same toys to both boys and girls, they’d be a LOT richer. This is an old (and dumb) argument that’s been settled many times over.
Boys and girls like different toys. Boys and girls are DIFFERENT.
Uhm. I hate it myself. Because I buy Happy Meals for me. That’s all I want at McDonald’s. A cheeseburger, small fries and a drink.
Every time it would be the boy or girl question, and I’m stuck with a toy I don’t want because “Please, keep the toy” does not compute.
Finally, in frustration, I started ordering a small fry, cheeseburger and a drink. Occasionally I get the “do you want a Happy Meal?” question, to which I respond, “Only if you ditch the toy.”
My wife is the same way — she now orders an “All American Meal”, which is a Happy Meal without the Happy Meal box and toy.
They used to have that here. Just the Cheeseburger meal. Then they turned it into a Double Cheeseburger meal. Not a Double Cheeseburger… two regular cheeseburgers. I would order just the one, they’d give me the two.
‘Have it your way’ is Burger Thing, I guess. At McD’s it’s ‘have it our way, damnit’.
Clearly, we should all blame the OP. It’s not like she’s consistently asking for one thing and being given another or anything like that. If everyone weren’t so busy focusing on gender roles and interests, we could actually focus on the OP’s problem at hand.
God forbid a company gives you an option of a choice, because we all know if they didn’t there would be an alternate story about how they DON’T offer a girl and a boy’s toy.
Sounds like this lady needs a job.
After Scalia’s recent comments, the girls should be happy to get anything at all!!! (the constitution, or any of its amendments, don’t give women the same inalienable rights as it gives men)
Well, yeah, us womenfolk aren’t people, dontcha know?
just so we’re on the same page, and i think we are, it was Scalia who said it. I love women, my mother is a woman.
This is stupid, little boys want cool toys, little girls want pretty ones, stop being such an idiot lady. Stop trying to force your politically correct opinions on small children that just want some food and a toy they LIKE to play with.
Maybe OP should go after toy companies for only including boys in commercials for some toys and only including girls in commercials for other toys, creating the stigma of boy toys and girl toys.
I don’t believe that commercials that my kids don’t watch create a stigma. (Thank you, Netflix.)
Simple solution: McDonalds’ employees ask: Would you like Toy A, or Toy B.
Wow.
Just, wow. What kind of person has a problem with answering a simple question? Would they rather their kids just get 3 random toys, with the possibility that all 3 are little pony’s with brushable hair that NO little boy would find fun? Sorry if I am buying into “out-dated gender norms”. I didn’t know that in 2011, 7 year old boys like to play with little girl toys. When I was a kid, me and all my friends played with BOY toys, and the few young girls we knew played with GIRL toys. You sociological types need to stop trying to redefine what is a “norm”.
And to the person who suggested McDonalds should be giving kids books and not toys: man am I glad you weren’t my mom or dad. Depriving a child of toys is like telling a hipster they have to go an entire morning without their mixed ice mocha drink.
It is dumb. This is yet another idiot left-wing nut bitching that society is forcing gender roles on children. This isn’t a troll, I am a left-leaning Democrat and I cannot stand the loony left, and she is exemplifying this crap.
This is a non-issue – the woman simply needs to complain to the manager about the issues. The girl toy / boy toy (*childish immature snicker*) thing doesn’t matter – if you ask for A and you receive B, the restaurant is wrong. This is no different than ordering a burger and getting chicken nuggets – it isn’t what you asked for, so complain. If the problem occurs often (which is the case here), complain to the manager. If the problem persists, step up to the next level. I know, it is annoying, but it is the process.
Also, may I be the asshole that points out the large percentage of ESL workers that McD’s hires that may not fully understand the order and are simply guessing which toy to give based on customers? I know I will forever have to pick the pickles off of my McRib (*holy angels singing sound*) because my local McD’s has a cashier who doesn’t know the word.
This actually bothered me when I was a wee little feminist. I’d ask my mom why McDonald’s assumed girls only wanted the Barbie toys, and boys only the Hot Wheels. So yeah, it’s a problem. Our culture has a definite issue with gender norms, and this is just one example of that.
85% of the people on the face of the earth are idiots; simplicity in the query from the McDonalds cashier is imperative. Making the decision which happy meal to get is hard enough for the general population as it is. Deciding what toy might requiure Mensan like brainpower they simply cannot muster. I certainly don’t know what either of the two toy choices are, one sounds more like a disease than a toy.
Wouldn’t it simply be prudent to respond, when asked girl toy or boy toy by the clerk, what the toys are so that you might select the one your children would prefer.
It sounds like the OP is setting her child up to be a victim whenever possible. Meeting people half way would go a long way to making her child fit in, OP is past that point if she is upset about this.
The under 3 toy is androgynous. Perhaps they should just adopt gender neutral toys.
Why does she include what she feeds them? And how frequently.
What a load of crap. What a charmed life she must have if this is a big problem.
Oh Christ. If you as a consumer have an issue with perceived gender discrimination, then don’t go to McDonalds if the way they conduct business bothers you – and really, if this is the biggest issue that you have as far as consumer issues go, then pat yourself on the back.
Someone should introduce her to the anti-fast food contingent and let them wear her down with lectures about what she is feeding her children.
Next she’ll be complaining that clothing stores are separated into “girl” and “boy” sections.
This is dumb and a non-issue.
There is no conspiracy to shape boys and girls in one manner to fit a perfect society of girlie-girl homemakers and boys to like cars.
Rose, you have either a boy or girl or both. McDs makes two types of toys; one for girls and one for boys. They ask you because they don’t want to mistakenly give a boy a girl toy and vice-versa. God forbid that happen or else the woman behind you, in line, will be waiting behind you in the management office waiting to scream why her little snowflake daughter received a boy toy.
Ya see Rose, it works both ways. The world cannot make everyone happy. Get over it.
Attention OP: Get over it. Answer the boy toy/girl toy question with the names of the toys. Let me spell it out for you:
McD’s employee: “Boy toys or girl toys?”
You: “Three cars please.”
Now, with this horribly pressing issue of national security taken care of, you can return to something less important, like not feeding your kids McDonalds food.
RTFA. This is exactly what she did. The employee looked in the car, saw a girl and decided that her mother was mistaken and gave her two cars and a flower (or whatever the frack the girl got).
GTFO. The issue would be how did we make the leap from the equivalent of “you didn’t put cheese on my hamburger” to “McDonald’s is trying to brainwash our children”. I also think it’s much more likely that the employee assumed the wrong button was pressed as opposed to being some sort of maniacal gender-biased bigot.
Stupidity before malice. Hanlon knew what he was talking about.
Next time tell them that you want 3 boy toys or specifically 3 Bakugan toys. When you receive your order, check to see which toys you were given while sitting at the drive thru window. If they gave you 2 boy toys and 1 girl toy. Let the cashier know and tell them you asked for 3 boy toys and have them exchange it. You ordered 3 boy toys, they didn’t give you what you ordered. Its just like if you ordered a Big Mac and they gave you a Filet o Fish.
If they give you problems let the manager know. Most drive thru’s are timed. They don’t want you sitting there any longer than you are suppose to, so sit there until they give you what you ordered.
Get whichever toy you want them to have. When I was a kid (I’m female), there was just one toy. I *LOVED* the Matchbox cars when they were the toy du jour. Just find out what the two toys are and pick whichever. I’m guessing MORE people complained about the single toy, causing them to do boy/girl toys, than are complaining now about the boy/girl toys and wanting a single toy.
But this is the issue. Rose is telling the cashier what she wants, yet the employees are *still* imposing their idea of what her children *should* have. She asks for three Matchbox Happy Meals, for example, but when she pulls up to the window the cashier assumes Rose ordered wrong and gives her two Matchbox HMs and one Barbie.
That’s ridiculous and sexist.
Is there room in the universe for the possibility that it’s less about “sexism” and more about poor customer service/lack of communication of the McD crewmembers part?
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by incompetence. The OP needs some perspective.
“Girl toy”/”boy toy” is useful shorthand that doesn’t need to be changed.
But if she specifically asked for one toy and the employees of the store gave her another, management should have a talk with those employees and tell them to listen to what the customer asked for.
The funny thing is, they probably ask boy or girl because the same type of person had already complained that its sexiest to just pass out toys geared more towards boys and the should have the freedom of choice. If she specifies the toys and she gets the ones she didn’t want then she can go exchange the toy, like everybody else does if maybe they get a toy they already have. She can also go to a fast food place with more competent people working there too. People just need drama and debate.
McDonalds does this to offer different toys to different genders, this is the result of people complaining that one toy does not fit all.
I would have been pissed when I was that age to get a Hello Kitty toy. Asking what toy they wants opens up a few problems; parents will their kids which specific toy they want, forcing workers to look through the box for that collectible, or parents won’t know what TV show has toys out at the time and workers would spend time explaining. Both of these situations waste a lot of time. To make it easier for all parties involved, they offer one toy centered around boys, one for girls. If you know that there are cars and hello kitty toys, and that your boy wants, a hello kitty toy, just ignore them and ask for a boy toy. If your girl wants a car, tell them you want a boy toy. The only problem I see is if the workers heard you say you want a car and gave you the cat anyways. That can be fixed by talking to the manager, not writing to corporate.
It’s not a problem that McDonalds offers toys in “boy” and “girl” varieties. The actual problem here is, the employees are not adhering to the expressed preferences of the customer. If she SAYS “three cars” when asked “girl toys or boy toys”, then don’t hand her “two cars, and one of the girl toys”, no matter WHO OR WHAT you see in the car.
McDonalds is simply trying to reinforce gender stereotypes. What else do you expect from a multinational corporation?
Let me help you with that. In the grand scheme of things, it is.
I feel Rose’s pain. I honestly wish that society in general would stop declaring things like toys to be masculine or feminine. Kids are impressionable and a lot of habits/behaviors are learned.
Why does Hello Kitty have to be for girls and cars have to be for boys? They’re freakin’ toys, stop pigeon-holing youth into the gender roles that society deems proper and let them choose themselves. If a boy chooses Hello Kitty, do not call him gay or a sissy- let him play with it in peace. If a girl chooses a truck or Transformer, do not call her butch- let her play with it in peace. I see nothing wrong with a girl holding a doll or a boy holding a GI Joe, if that’s what they truly want, but I do see a lot wrong with people assuming without asking that those would be what they choose.
When I have kids, they’ll have an assortment of everything to play with, same as I did at that age.
When you have kids, you will discover that no matter how gender-neutral you try to raise them, the boys will hit things with sticks and be irresistably drawn to wheels, and the girls will want to have imaginary conversations with their stuffed animals and brush each others’ hair.
I know; I tried. Three girls and a boy later, I know of what I speak.
You have to just let them like what they like, play with what they want to play with. Kids aren’t there to be socially experimented on.
Just don’t move until you have the toys you want. It’s not a Federal issue.
I don’t fault McDonald’s for using the shortcut. Boys and girls are different. Asking “boy or girl toy” is undoubtedly the fastest way to complete the transaction, and the operative word in “fast food” is not “food.”
The terminology doesn’t bother me, the lack of following directions is unacceptable. I have a daughter who quite often prefers the bot toys so we say boy toy when asked and have always received it.
People are too sensitive, really. When I was little and they had “girl” and “boy” toys, depending on which one I wanted I’d say one or the other. I’m a girl, and if I wanted a girl toy I’d say “girl”, if I wanted a boy toy I’d say “boy”. It’s that simple.
Meh,
sarcasm on…
Because “everybody” knows that there are no differences between boys and girls. And getting a “boy’s” toy for a girl will scar her for life.
sarcasm off…
Does the original blogger actually expect a minimum wage McDonalds employee to know every detail of the toys they’re giving out with the happy meals to know exactly what “Bakugan” is?
Sheesh, I’m happy if McDonalds staff can understand English these days.
I’ve long given up on the expectation that anybody in retail shouldn’t look at me funny when I give them $2.12 for something that cost $1.87 so I get a quarter back in change.
The Reason: Source: I work at McDonalds in Canada
You punch a girl or boy toy on the till when a customer orders. These toys do change every few weeks so its much easier to ask just Boy or Girl toy. If your daughter wants the boy toy, just say boy toy please and someone will punch in boy toy. Its not that complicated.
Because toys market movies, and even g-rated movie marketing is HEAVILY sexist/gender based.
could it be …. oh I dont know….. maybe boys and girls are different..
Drop the PC crap.
does she REALLY want to be asked if she wants a ‘boy toy’ ?
Where is the “Get a real problem.” option on the poll?
And road trips “about” twice a month with three kids? I smell money.
Money? That would be nice. You smell small town, which is (ironically enough) where I moved because it was too expensive to live in the city.
Get over it. Seriously. Everything can’t be cushioned and PC to your exact specifications.
From having worked at mcdonalds, this is why:
“Okay, and did you want yu-gi-oh toys or betty spaghetti toys?”
“What?”
“For the toys? Yu-gi-oh? or Betty Spaghetti?”
“….”
“Action figures or dolls for the happy meals?”
“they’re for girls.”
I worked at mcdonalds, I’d say about 3 and a half years total. and I’d say i had less than a dozen people ever order the toy by what is was. *this conversation* (toy names varying) has happened more times than that. And people will frequently just order and say “boy” or “girl” sans prompting.
Psst, guess what, boys and girls *are* different and it’s been proven many times, so there’s nothing wrong with going with the vast statistical majority for public inquaries. Durr
Psst, guess what, boys and girls *are* different and it’s been proven many times, so there’s nothing wrong with going with the vast statistical majority for public inquiries. Durr
“Psst, guess what, boys and girls *are* different and it’s been proven many times,”
My god, the stupid, it burns. Gender is culturally assigned. Sex is biology. You’re confusing sex for gender.
“Would you like a girl toy or a boy toy?”
“Yes”
“Would you like a girl toy or a boy toy?”
“That depends, what else ya got?”
“Would you like a girl toy or a boy toy?”
“What do you recommend for a child with gender identification issues?”
I understand.
However, just take the extra time and make sure you get the toy you want. Sure, I agree the employees shouldn’t make the call. It isn’t their job.
And there it is . . . living proof that I have not yet heard every stupid, inane, ridiculous comment available. LADY, PLEASE, get a friggin’ life.
Important stuff indeed.
I got a large order of fries when I only ordered a small. Should I take it back?
Sexism? Oh please. The whole point of having a choice of two toys is that one is marketed specifically towards boys and the other towards girls. And it obviously works, for the overwhelming majority. Sure, there are exceptions such as the case here, but you have to realize you are in the minority.
This is not a case of McDonald’s supporting rigid gender roles. This is a case of McDonald’s successfully making an assload of cash.