This December marked the first time that President Obama participated in the Marine’s Toys for Tots program by helping the First Lady divide donated gifts into “girl” and “boy” bins. But the President, who first declared “I’m the big elf […] I’m like Will Ferrell” (just in case you were wondering if the leader of the free world was also a huge dork), surprised some of the crowd with his refusal to gender sports equipment, video games, and LEGO. AddictingInfo describes the event:
The President started putting the sports and the science toys into the ‘girls’ bin. Placing a basketball into the bin, Obama says:
“I just wanna make sure some girls play some ball.”
A person from the crowd queries his decision to put LEGOs in the girls, rather than the boys collection – because they might not like them. The President responds:
“Girls don’t like toys?”
As he continues to sort, he comes across a T-Ball set.
“T-Ball? Girls like T-Ball” and nodding, puts the set in the girls’ bin. The crowd is snapping photos, with some looking a little confused and he adds. “I’m just trying to break down these gender stereotypes.”
Obama explained that “Since it started in the 1940s, Toys for Tots has distributed more than 469 million toys to more than 216 million children.” The Marine Corps’ tradition is an exceedingly important one–especially when the drive can also help destroy gender norms and provide young girls with access to resources that promote an early interest in science or math.
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