A trade union has come under fire for claiming The Late Late Toy Show is sexist.
Impact published a report entitled “Work Place Sexism? It’s Child’s Play” on its website, claiming “gender specific” toys imply certain jobs are for boys and others are for girls.
It also strongly criticises the Ryan Tubridy-hosted show for its “crude hero-princess dynamic”.
The research shows 67% of items categorised as “Boys’ Toys” on the show explicitly refer to a particular career choice.
These include farming, construction, engineering, military and law enforcement.
Impact said these “foster technical knowledge and competence that prepares them for a career in the industrial economy”.
Items in the “Girls’ Toys” category depict career choices with “low pay” such as a retail assistant or hairdresser and motherhood, homemaking, appearance and dress were also depicted.
Impact said these “place an emphasis on domesticity and nurturing and are designed to prepare girls for a life of
homemaking”.
However, some parents of children who have appeared on the show, which is watched by 1.36 million people each year, say their kids chose their own toys.
Brid O Confhaola, from Galway and whose son Domhnall featured in 2012, added: “I don’t know how they’re coming up with this.
“To my mind, they have a good mixture of boys and girls demonstrating all toys.”
Cathy Hickey, from Limerick, said her nine-year-old daughter Anna demonstrated both baking and science sets when she appeared on the show. She added: “The union is just trying to pick an argument. Our experience was a lovely one where
the team was led by the child and what they liked.”
RTE rejected Impact’s claims and a spokesman said: “We are very much led by what the young toy testers want to demonstrate. We have also had numerous examples of non gender-specific demonstrations.”
