Hello? Have you seen the commercial for the Rose Petal Cottage by Playskool? Where was this 30 years ago?
So here's the thing...as I watched the video for it, especially the step by step video of how to put it together, on the site (oh yeah, I don't have about a billion better things to do) I realized that something like this could be made at home. You could build a framework using pvc 1/2 pipes and fittings (I'm not sure there's a fitting that would allow for the pitched roof though) Maybe I'm totally nuts but I think make the fabric walls, complete with details like pictures hanging, windows with curtains, and window boxes. Maybe I inhaled too much glitter dust because typing this out I can see that this would be anything but easy. But it does seem like fun. You can gimme that, can't ya?
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edited later to add: I had no idea that this twee little cottage was smack dab in the middle of an embroiled discussion. I admit the commercial says crazy things implying that a little girls dreams can come true when she's washing the laundry. Uh, that has not been my experience. Making cupcakes, maybe. Making stuff, definitely. But never, not once, while setting the dial to heavy load. And, incidently, not while sweeping or hoovering either. As much as I love the pink cottage for all the reasons you'd expect me to, I do wish they'd included a bookshelf, a computer, and a lawnmower.
25 comments:
o please do not let my daughter see this. lol
Amy,
You are fun!!!!!
La Donna
When my girls were little, I made them a playhouse very similar to that out of a huge refrigerator box that I cut down and fashioned. It even had real curtains at the windows and a door that opened and closed, none of this business of having the house cut in half. LOL
Why don't you throw something together? A prototype would be much easier to visualize!!!!! Hee Hee!!
I always assume I can make things myself! What a fun project that would be. I also blogged about this after seeing it here this morning.
I keep thinking that I could make this for my two year old. She's just getting interested in houses, kitchens and babies. If I make it I'll let ya know!
LOL...little girls love pink and pretty and playing house..that's a FACT. My only objection is they really need to include a burly boy or two to help out with the dishes and laundry...other than that there is time enough for "disillusion" later.
I think you could make something even prettier if you were a mind to (and you could even add the burly boys, explaining that men really need to help around the house :) )
Oh, poo to the feminist. I do understand where they're coming from. But nowadays little girls have a LOT of different opportunities, they can plow in the dirt with a dulldozer or play with a microscope or a pretend bank or grocery store or climb a tree. Who's to say some little girls don't want to play house (oh my! of all things a little kid would want to do!) and that maybe some, not all, but some little girls WILL grow up to tend a house. Everyone has to do laundry and feed themselves, might as well practice the motions while it's fun!
I must say, that I made my little girls play houses out of boxes and whatever came to hand when they were little and they LOVED it! It makes me laugh when I see how "horrified" people get over this. Some little girls really do like to play house (just like some big girls LIKE to be stay at home moms and GASP! domestic godesses!) The little girls who don't get into it will probably have parents who know that and don't buy it for them. If people want options for their little girls, why can't this be one of them?
I think this toy is a cute idea. My girls would love it. Your ideas are great for making your very own version. Fun!
I went to the links in your edit and was a bit taken aback by the ire this toy has brought on. I was relieved to read the comments your readers wrote and completely agree with Francie, Jenna & Kathleen. I'm glad to know that others see this toy for what it truly is... a toy!
I saw this on TV for the first time last night, and thought it was soooo cute! Why do some women have to get their panties in such a bunch.....or maybe it's their tightie whities , who knows! Hee Hee! Some little girls just want to play "house" and with dolls, so what? Some people will just get mad about anything. My son had a little work bench (I know, how sexist!), but preferred my friend's daughter's play kitchen!! And for a while, he wanted to be a chef!!
Umm...I had a playhouse growing up that was filled with all those horrible soul destroying things like pretend sinks. Sometimes I sat in my pretty house and had tea parties and sometimes I broke into it with guns blazing to "rescue" my teddy bears, which were being held hostage by my bearnapping brothers. A playhouse isn't an antifeminist statement. It's a prop for kids' imaginations! Don't these women remember being children?
Are we allowed to be "feminine feminists?".... and wasn't the point of feminism to allow women to have choices, not be forced to stay home, because they aren't allowed in the workplace? We need to offer our children, boys and girls alike, choices... including the choice to play with dollies and houses, it's how children learn to interact. It all has a place.
Amy, I'm too old to be fractious over feminism, but I do know that I squee'd mightily when I saw the commercial for that! That is just plain darn fun! No matter what sex you are!
So cute. I love it. I guess it doesn't bother me. But, like you I have never realized all my dreams while loading laundry. This is cute and fun.
Inhaling glitter makes for a happy life. lol
I don't have a problem with the product, just the commercial. As a single, 27 year old college grad living on my own, I don't think that we should be encouraging young girls to "dream" of doing laundry.
how pathetic.
I love it! I'm going to buy it all for my daughter for Christmas, except maybe the washer. That may be a bit overboard. I liked all that kind of stuff when I was little though, and now I long to sell my business and stay at home with my 3 year old! In my opinion, parents know their children and know what toys they like. It's not being sexist to buy them a playhouse and kitchen if that's what they love to do. Whatever it is they like to do, boy or girl, encourage it!
I for one asbsolutely LOVE staying home and my dreams are being lived, even when I am unloading my laundry. I tried for 2 years to get pregnant, thought I never would due to female problems, and I now have a beautiful 2 year old and an amazing husband that is working his butt off so I can stay home and make fun dinners from scratch(because I love to, not b/c I have to), be the one to potty train by child instead of some stranger, clean my house, and spend hours playing with my little girl, etc. I don't take one second of it for granted. Anyone who insults the idea of staying home only does so b/c they know they wouldn't be able to handle it. It is hard work but at the end of the day the best damn thing I have ever done! I want my daughter to see the joy in it that I do and she seems to love to pretend play house every bit as much as I enjoy the real thing. if your kids don't like it then don't get it for them but don't insult the idea of homemaking. When I was working my dreams were not exactly dreams come true when I was sitting in meetings and pushing a pencil, regardless of my paycheck.
It is perfectly acceptable for a woman to be content as a homemaker and get whatever pleasure she might from her wonderfully clean laundry. The problem with this toy and its representation in the advertisements is that it is aimed at girls, not as a choice, but as a generalization for what every girl will dream to be. Playing house should be an option for any child (I also enjoyed it immensely in my childhood), but these commercials are in no way portraying home-making as a fun game for all children. There is no mention of boys or even gender-neutral "children". Of course no boy would want some girly toy advertised for little girls and mothers.
The idea of the feminist movement is to give the same opportunities and choices to women as those that have been given to men. Unfortunately, the toys are not available to give girls the same dreams as boys at this age. Instead, they are encouraged to dream of doing laundry, rearranging furniture, and cleaning up after their baby. Although it is an option, any child should dream of something beyond that. By only being exposed to this option, though, girls will lose their interest in education and successful careers, and thus stepping backward in the progress that has been made toward gender equality.
The rose petal cottage seems like a great toy for any child, but its advertising methods are doing nothing but hurting the efforts for women in dreaming and striving to be the equals of men. The problem is much larger than this one toy, but encouraging such a demeaning sense of dreams for small girls is not part of the solution. While we're at it, we may want to also examine the ideas presented in Tonka commercials, telling children and parents that boys are "built different" (note the poor grammar) and thus toy trucks are made specifically for them. I, personally, do not agree with a culture based on women aspiring to be homemakers and men planning to play with dirt and trucks and I do not apologize for hoping that girls might achieve more than this.
Hoping that girls might acheive "more than this"(homemaking) implies an insult towards homemakers. Boys and girls are built differently whether you want to admit it or not. The majority of girls do not naturally want to play with dirt and trucks and most boys are not going to naturally navigate to a corner with princess clothes or a kitchen of make believe cooking. If they do fine, but the fact is they don't. I did not want to pretend to be a policeman or fireman or play with dirt when I was a kid and my brothers did not care to play school or house b/c it is not innately in our nature to do so and anyone who has a problem with a girly house on the market that is marketed to girls to play house at the age of 3 - 4 has penis envy. The toys made for boys are not made for girls b/c they would not do well because girls don't want to be boys or play like boys at the age of 3. It is clear this product appeals to the public as it is sold out at alost every store...I had to drive to several stores today just to find the thing and online it is sold out practically everywhere. That should tell the feminists something.
Please!!! Let girls be little girls. they are too young to understand that pretending to do laundry will encourage them to be homemakers. I think it is so cute and I am going to get it for my daughter because loves playing HOUSE!!! Yes my daughter has an imagination and will be whoever she wants to be in the future. You feminist are so freaking ridiculous!!!! Get a life or MAN!!!
Amen sister!
I would have loved this when I was a little boy.
The house is ugly. It needs more colors
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