Academic

Serving Up Gender Stereotypes With Those Fries

By Bridget Crawford

On a trip to the suburbs, I experienced the McDonald’s drive-thru [sic].  Admittedly it was not my finest parenting hour.  And I almost became unhinged when asked by the cashier,  “Do you want a ‘girl’ toy or a ‘boy’ toy with that Happy Meal?”  Far from being some sort of Madonna Ciccone-like cosmic question, it was a practical one: does your kid want the Transformers action figure or the “Littlest Pet Shop” figurine?  

I spared the cashier my inner monologue about gender stereotypes.  Why, I asked myself, the Transformer is the “boy” toy and the Littlest Pet Shop figure is the “girl” toy?  More interestingly, how hard would it be to de-gender the Happy Meal?  Surely if McDonald’s can implement a corporate policy requiring its drive-thru cashiers say, “Hello.  Welcome to McDonald’s.  May I take your order?” then it should not be too difficult to require cashiers to ask, “Would you like a Transformer or a Littlest Pet Shop toy with that Happy Meal?”  

-Bridget Crawford

Full post as published by Feminist Law Professors on July 20, 2008 (boomark / email).