Pink or blue? Ballet or football? Dump trucks or diaries? Gender stereotypes are nothing new, especially in the world of children’s entertainment media. But have you stopped to think about how your kids’ apps might be enforcing those stereotypes?
In a recent article by Stuart Dredge of The Guardian, Toca Boca CEO Björn Jeffery weighs in on the topic:
“We have been taking a particular stand on gender-neutrality: all our apps have intentionally been designed to be unisex,” he said. “I don’t think we do terribly, but I think we could do a lot better. ” Jeffery said that Toca Boca had hired a “third-party expert” to audit its apps for diversity, and produce a checklist for the company to use for new products. “We had diversity as a very live issue, and something we took pride in and discussed internally. But we gradually realised that bias turns up anyway.”
Read the article in its entirety here.
We want to hear what you think, comment below!
