HYDERABAD: Achyuta Rao, president, Andhra Pradesh Balala Hakkula Sangham (APBSH), was aghast when he saw children fighting over a chocolate. One little boy dismissed a pink Kinder Joy chocolate that is also categorised as ‘For Girls’.
“The chocolate tastes the same, but is packaged differently. It comes in two colours – blue, for boys and pink for girls. It also has toys that scream of stereotypes. There are superheroes and cars for boys and princesses and butterflies for girls,” informs Achyuta Rao and APBHS has taken the responsibility to explain the negative effects it has on growing children.
“Our society already has certain stereotypes and we see women as lesser human beings. It is slowly changing, but that is the most common perception. If we encourage leading chocolate companies such as Ferrero (that manufactures Kinder Joy) to sell their product with this kind of discrimination, it is going to affect children’s mindset in the long run. It is unconstitutional because men and women have equal rights and can choose what they want. This kind of discriminated branding implies that certain things are reserved for certain type of people only,” explains Achyuta Rao and adds that this is an attempt to educate parents and also Ferrero.
Elaborating on the psychological implications Radhika Acharya, a popular counsellor from the city begins by pointing that, “Gender and sex are two different things. Adults do not want to be discriminated on the basis of gender because we believe that we are humans first. Then why discriminate children?” she questions.
Kinder Joy targets the age group of children from upto six years, that is “supposed” to be gender neutral. “We may all relish the chocolate but it is targeted for children. At that age they don’t understand anything about gender. They just know short hair, long hair, shorts and frocks and that is also being redefined by the day,” points the counsellor and adds that food, play things, books, even clothes should all be gender neutral.
“Boys are ashamed to wear pink. Why? There are so many stereotypes already existing and we are working hard to break them. What is the purpose of toys in a child’s life? To play with, have fun and also explore their future roles. In Kinder Joy all the toys for boys depict strength and for girls it is princesses, butterflies and flowers that imply fragility and that they need to be taken care of,” rues Acharya.
She draws comparison to adults with specific behaviours and explains how they the mentioned age is the “most crucial” time of a person’s life.
“Smokers make it a habit because of an ungratified oral fixation that they develop as infants. If their milking needs are not gratified at the right time, one of the many habits they pick up is smoking. This is a proven theory by Freud. This is only one example. Deviant and criminal behaviour is also rooted in childhood trauma. So these are the most important years of person’s life and we cannot be inducing discrimination like this through something like chocolate that every child loves,” she explains.
She rubbishes it as a business strategy of companies to increase their sales. “Studies suggest that this kind of marketing began in the nineties and producers are making so much more money by selling gender-specific products.”