What is Anthropocentric

This chapter will discuss the potential consequences of gendered narratives in children's play with a particular focus on play specialism strategies. It aims to demonstrate to the reader how objects, materials, practices, and discourses when gendered can affect the ways in which boys and girls imagine their bodies and what they can do. This chapter will first introduce the way objects are gendered with rigid discourses of masculinity and femininity. In terms of theoretical approach, this chapter borrows from contributions made by neo-materialist feminists in the field of material anthropology. In doing so, it will argue that objects and materials such as toys, books, games, costumes, and movies are not passive and inactive until animated by human action and interaction but are themselves agents with the potential for gender play and practice.