IN THE STREETS & ON THE WEB

LITTLE GIRL WANTS TO KNOW WHY THEY HAVE TO BUY PINK STUFF?

Sometimes boys like princesses and girls like superheroes.

That’s the message behind a video circulating through the blogosphere this Christmas season of a young girl who takes issue with the way toys are marketed.

In the video, a young girl named Riley paces back and forth in the aisles of a toy store while railing against what she says is an arbitrary distinction between toys intended for boys and those for girls.

Speaking in an impassioned voice and smacking her hand to her head, Riley says it isn’t fair for “all the girls to buy princesses and all the boys to buy superheroes.”

Instead, Riley proposes, “Girls want superheroes and the boys want superheroes.”

When asked by the adult male behind the camera why she thinks toys are marketed according to gender, Riley responds, while pointing an accusatory finger toward a doll display:

“Because the companies who make these try to trick the girls into buying the pink stuff instead of stuff that boys want to buy, right?”

Continuing her tirade, Riley struts over to the doll display, slaps it for emphasis, and reflects that some girls like superheroes and some boys like princesses.

“Well then, why does all the girls have to buy pink stuff and all the boys have to buy different color stuff?” Riley wonders.

The video, originally uploaded in May, began circulating more widely as Christmas approached, when it was cited by popular websites including Reddit, Buzzfeed and Jezebel.

By Christmas day, the video had been viewed over 230,000 times.

She's 1 smart cookie! She's like, These companies be tricking us! Lol!