Easy Bake Oven for Boys

[TheHuckster]

NJ girl to meet with Hasbro on Easy-Bake for boys

A teenage girl wanted to give her younger brother an Easy-Bake oven but was disappointed to find them in only two "girl" colors. She complained to the toy maker, Hasbro, and they've invited her to come to their headquarters to come up with some designs that will appeal to both girls and boys. Pretty cool if you ask me. When I was little I wanted an easy bake oven, but I was also discouraged by the "girly" design and decided against asking for one for Christmas for fear I'd be made fun of by my friends.

[HotelKatz]

Wasn't the creepy-bake oven marketed towards boys?

[AmbrosiaWriter]

I loved my Easy-Bake oven, though I was annoyed it only came in pink (and yes I'm a girl, lol.)

My brother got the creepy crawlers maker ( This) and we both ended up using both of them often.

Personally I'm glad Hasbro is considering creating a gender neutral Easy Bake Oven design.

[Jetfire]

Sounds like a great idea. Considering that Incandescent bulbs are going out of favour, do they still use them in the 'oven' or do they have some other heating element?

As for an androgynous oven, I'd go with green's or yellow's myself. Or a 'stainless steel' version. With how popular stainless steel is for kitchens, I'm sure it would be a hit.

[anakhouri]

I'm not sure how cooking and baking is still a 'girl thing', considering how many famous male chefs and bakers there are. In fact throughout history most famous chefs have been male.

[TheHuckster]

I'm not sure how cooking and baking is still a 'girl thing', considering how many famous male chefs and bakers there are. In fact throughout history most famous chefs have been male.

It's sort of a strange traditional gender role, isn't it? The traditional cook in the home is female, while the traditional cook in a restaurant is male. Except in bakeries. That's traditionally held by cute little white-haired grannies.

All of those roles have been undergoing a transformation for the last few decades, though.

[violiav]

Toys and gender roles

On a somewhat lighter note: Girl campaigns to introduce a new color scheme to Easy Bake Oven and succeeds.
I did not know that Easy Bake got gender specific in the early 90s. Nor did I ever know that there was a gender divide with Legos. My parents always bought me Legos (circa late 80s). They also bought me Barbies, She-ra, TMNT, my Little Pony, a large assortment of Hot Wheels, r/c cars, kites, dinosaurs, assorted dress up, and on. I consider myself to be fairly balanced in my gender identity.
Heck, my when my boyfriend was a kid he greatly favored the stereotypical boy stuff, and he has no problem cooking and baking. He's quite good at it.

[Nekojin]

I probably would have liked an EZ Bake Oven in my youth, if they hadn't been that obnoxious pink.

[HYHYBT]

The only one I ever got to examine up close and operational was when I was about 7 years old. Early 80's, visiting relatives in Michigan. I believe it was either green or blue; certainly neither pink nor obnoxious.

(Another fascinating toy I learned about on that trip, and which I've only *ever* seen one of. It was called a Master Caster. It had molds in the shape of race cars. You put wax, like crayon or candle stubs, into the top, and when they melted, you turned a crank that poured the wax into the mold, then another one which pushed the mold back out. The cars broke easily, but of course it didn't matter because the fun was in making them, and as with real cars, a broken one becomes the material for making a new one. It was, of course, designed so that you couldn't touch any of the hot parts of the machine, though there was nothing to stop your sticking your fingers in the mold before the car had cooled.)

[lordlundar]

And a good thing too. It makes it easier for me to convince my mom that I'm not the walking tornado in the kitchen that my sister is.

[Gravekeeper]

I eagerly await the Hasbro Rub & Tug Grill