Growing up, I absolutely loved playing with both trucks and dolls. Nothing was more exciting than traveling around my house to discover a new path for my trucks or thinking of new storylines to act out with my Barbie dolls. I loved exploring the depths of my imagination, blissfully unaware that my toys of choice were sending mixed gender messages. Yet as I grew older, I noticed that my birthday presents and other gifts from friends never included trucks or toys that I now recognize as stereotypically “masculine.” Instead of G.I. Joes, I got Barbie dolls. Instead of books from the Hardy Boys series, I received Nancy Drew. Though I still enjoyed playing with trucks, I began to make the distinction between “boy toys” and “girl toys.” My parents never emphasized gender stereotypes, allowing me to decide what I wanted to do. Thus, I chose both Girl Scouts and sports, never really sticking to the activities stereotyped for a certain gender. Regardless, I was fully aware of them.
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