Baby's First Toys and the Discursive Constructions of Babyhood

The material qualities & kinetic possibilities & limitations of toys & other objects for small children create a specific cultural microcosm. Against this background, as facilitated & mediated by parents or other caregivers, children explore & develop their cognitive & motor abilities, & become specific kinds of socio-cultural actors, with specific kinds of subjectivities. This process with respect to toys that enter the lives of many babies from the very beginning is investigated, looking at discourses of childhood & parenting. The way baby toys are given meaning in the verbal & verbal-visual texts on their packaging, in advertisements, & in parenting magazines & books are examined, asking the following questions: (1) Which of the toys' potential meanings & uses are made explicit, which are not? (2) What kinds of activities with the toys are proposed? (3) What purposes are ascribed to these activities, & to the toys themselves? (4) Which of the baby toys' potential meanings & uses are made or not made explicit in the texts & the kinds of activities proposed with the toys? In addition, the purposes ascribed to these activities & to the toys themselves &, similarly, how baby toys can be used & how society says they should be used are explored. It is concluded that babyhood is socially & culturally constructed, not only in texts & images, but also in other multimodal representations such as toys, & these communicative practices help to reinforce particular constructions of babyhood that should be at least discussed, if not challenged. 7 Figures, 26 References. Adapted from the source document