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I've heard it said that "ask and you shall receive", but I guess in this case it's more like petition and you shall get heard. After starting a petition asking Hasbro to make their Easy-Bake Oven a more gender-neutral toy, McKenna Pope got her wish and more.

If you haven't heard of McKenna Pope, she's the 13-year-old girl from New Jersey who questioned Hasbro on why they don't make a gender-neutral Easy-Bake oven. It all started after her four-year-old brother, an avid baker, told her he thought the current model was too girly. Thinking that a simple letter wouldn't get her point across, McKenna started a petition on change.org. After McKenna got 40,000 signatures and support from celebrity chefs, Hasbro responded. Not only have they decided to put out a black and silver version of the popular toy sometime in 2013, they also gave McKenna and her brother a tour of the company which included a sneak peek at the prototype for the new oven.

McKenna was delighted by Hasbro's response, and her little brother "was ecstatic" with the tour and the change in design. But McKenna doesn't see this as the end of the gender-neutral toy battle. She believes that " the toy industry is truly dominated by gender stereotypes " and that it's time to make other toys gender-neutral as well.
Photos via hasbro.com, thecookinginn.com
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Hasbro Responds: Easy-Bake Oven to Go Gender-Neutral

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I've heard it said that "ask and you shall receive", but I guess in this case it's more like petition and you shall get heard. After starting a petition asking Hasbro to make their Easy-Bake Oven a more gender-neutral toy, McKenna Pope got her wish and more.

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Some well-known male chefs are getting behind a New Jersey girl's call for Hasbro to make a gender-neutral version of the venerable Easy- Bake Oven.

Chefs including Manuel Trevino of TV's "Top Chef" and Michael Lomonaco of Porter House New York are featured in a YouTube video applauding McKenna Pope's online petition, which had attracted about 40,000 signatures as of Tuesday on the website Change.org.

The 13-year-old eighth-grader from Garfield, N.J., started the petition when she went to buy an Easy- Bake Oven for her 4-year-old-brother, Gavyn Boscio, but discovered it comes only in purple and pink. She wants Pawtucket, R.I.-based Hasbro to feature boys on the box of the toy and to make it in gender-neutral colors.

Celebrity chef Bobby Flay said last week he agreed that Hasbro should make an oven in other colors to appeal to boys, and in the nearly three-minute video posted online Tuesday by Mr. Flay's publicist, several chefs from around the country joined in on the call.

Mr. Lomonaco is known for his TV appearances and was executive chef at Windows on the World atop the north tower of the World Trade Center at the time of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. In the video, he and other chefs root for McKenna.

"We signed your petition, McKenna! You get Hasbro to change that packaging! Little boys and little girls can all be chefs," he said to cheers from the rest of his kitchen.

The low-wattage toy oven, originally offered by Kenner Products before being bought by Hasbro, debuted in 1963 with a turquoise color scheme and retailed for $15.95. Over the years, the company has offered updated versions in avocado green, "harvest gold," purple and pink, as well as a 1978 orange, white and brown Mini-Wave microwave variation. The Easy- Bake Oven was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2006.

Laurent Tourondel, who has started restaurants around the world, said cooking is for girls and boys, while New York chef Spencer Rubin made a direct plea to the company: " Hasbro, please make an Easy-Bake for dudes."

Joshua Whigham, of The Bazaar by Jose Andres in Los Angeles, said he supports making an Easy-Bake that's more friendly for boys.

"I can understand not wanting to cook on a pink oven," he said. "Ask Hasbro for a steel, or a black or a something really cool oven."

Brad Spence of Amis Trattoria in Philadelphia says he has young children at home.

"My son, I cook with him every Sunday, so I'd love to see something like that happen," he says.

McKenna's mother, Erica Boscio, said that her daughter is scheduled to meet with Hasbro representatives on Monday.

A spokesman for Hasbro did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Copyright © 2018 The Washington Times, LLC.

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Petition seeks Easy-Bake Oven for 'dudes'

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Some well-known male chefs are getting behind a New Jersey girl's call for Hasbro to make a gender-neutral version of the venerable Easy- Bake Oven. Chefs including Manuel Trevino of TV's "Top Chef" and Michael Lomonaco of Porter House New York are featured in a YouTube video applauding McKenna Pope's online petition, which had attracted about 40,000 signatures as of Tuesday on the website Change.org.

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In 2012, Hasbro announced the premiere of a version of the Easy-Bake Oven in black and silver after executives met with McKenna Pope, a girl from New Jersey who had started a Change.org petition asking the toy maker to offer the product in gender-neutral packaging.[12] The prototype Easy-Bake Oven was also made available in blue.[13] The redesigned product was slated to be unveiled in February 2013, at the New York Toy Fair.

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The Easy-Bake Oven is a working toy oven which Kenner introduced in 1963, and which Hasbro still manufactured as of late April 2016. The original toy used an ordinary incandescent light bulb as a heat source; current versions use a true heating element. Kenner sold 500,000 Easy-Bake Ovens in the first year of production.

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Mckenna's video that went along with her petition, to have Hasbro make an Easy Bake Oven with gender neutral colors and feature boys in the commercials.

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For Christmas, four-year-old Gavyn Boscio of Garfield, N.J., wants a miniature dinosaur and an Easy Bake Oven.

But despite his professed love of cooking, Gavyn says that "only girls" play with the classic toy. In response, His big sister McKenna Pope, 13, is leading an online campaign to get Hasbro to phase out gender-specific pink and purple Easy-Bake Ovens and to feature boys in the toy oven's commercials and packaging, which have traditionally been geared towards girls.

The Change.org petition, addressed to Hasbro's CEO Brian D. Goldner, has 40,874 signatures to date.

After seeing McKenna's YouTube video about her little brother who loves cooking, Top chefs including Michael Lomonaco of Porterhouse New York, Joshua Whigham of L.A.'s The Bazaar by José Andrés and Brad Spence, who helms Philadelphia's Amis Trattoria, joined the fight. In a YouTube response video, the well-known chefs salute the kids and encourage the toy company to change their packaging and promotional material.

"I myself started cooking at a very young age and I think it's great you want to be a chef," Marble Lane's Manuel Treviño said in the video.

According to the AP, McKenna is scheduled to meet with Hasbro on Monday.

Watch the YouTube response from top chefs, who support Gavyn and McKenna's online campaign below.

Do you support toy companies creating gender-neutral toys?
Image courtesy of Flickr, simple up

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Boy Has Baking Blues, Pleas For Gender-Neutral Easy-Bake Oven

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For Christmas, four-year-old Gavyn Boscio of Garfield, N.J., wants a miniature dinosaur and an Easy Bake Oven. But despite his professed love of cooking, Gavyn says that "only girls" play with the classic toy.

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Just a little but about Gavyn and how he wanted an Easy Bake Oven.

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Gavyn Boscio - Bio, News, Photos - Washington Times

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Latest news and commentary on Gavyn Boscio including photos, videos, quotations, and a biography.

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The petition that Mckenna made, to try and get Hasbro to make a new easy bake!

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Hasbro: Feature boys in the packaging of the Easy-Bake Oven

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Hasbro announces their new black and silver Easy Bake Oven!!

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hasbro to unveil black and silver easy-bake oven after teen's petition - cnn

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Hasbro to unveil black and silver Easy-Bake Oven after teen's petition - CNN

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Hasbro announces plans to unveil black and silver EASY-BAKE Oven after meeting with the teen who started petition for gender-neutral toys.

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The actual video about Mckenna Pope and why she wanted change.

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McKenna Pope: Want to be an activist? Start with your toys | TED Talk

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McKenna Pope’s younger brother loved to cook, but he worried about using an Easy-Bake Oven -- because it was a toy for girls. So at age 13, Pope started an online petition for the American toy company Hasbro to change the pink-and-purple color scheme on the classic toy and incorporate boys into its…

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About Mckenna Pope on TED and why she wanted change.

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When McKenna Pope was 13 she petitioned Hasbro to market its Easy-Bake Oven to boys as well as girls, and to make it available in gender-neutral colors. It worked.

Why you should listen

If anyone's still worried about today's teenagers melting their brains on the Internet, there's at least one who stands out against the crowd: teen activist McKenna Pope. In 2012 Pope's four-year-old brother, who had a passion for cooking, was beyond excited to ask for an Easy-Bake Oven for Christmas. But, confused by the pink and purple colors and the television ads that only featured girls using the toy, he became discouraged.

Pope, thirteen at the time, was indignant that her brother should think any less of himself as a boy who liked to cook. Naturally Pope turned to the Internet. She posted a video and written petition urging the CEO of Hasbro to change its marketing and packaging around the Easy-Bake Oven to make it appealing to boys as well as girls. Pope could hardly anticipate what came next: She received 45,000 signatures and a call from Hasbro, inviting her to their headquarters in Pawtucket, Rhode Island to show her their new unisex designs.

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When McKenna Pope was 13 she petitioned Hasbro to market its Easy-Bake Oven to boys as well as girls, and to make it available in gender-neutral colors. It worked.

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Mckenna Pope's gender neutral fight.

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McKenna Pope

In 2012, 13-year-old Mckenna Pope wanted to change the way toys were made. To her surprise, 45,000 people agreed with her.

The Garfield, NJ, teenager wanted toy manufacturers to move away from this "pink is for girls, blue is for boys" mentality and, instead, design more gender-neutral playthings. Boys like purple and red-even pink-too. Girls like black, blue and more male-centric hues, as well as toys, generally associated with boys (building sets, science- or tech-based play).

Pope decided to start a petition on Change.org directed at Hasbro and its classic Easy-Bake Oven, which was predominantly geared toward young girls with its soft pink and purple color scheme. She wanted an oven that her 4-year-old brother, Gavyn, could use too. Perhaps he wanted to explore being a chef one day.

"I believe your product, the Easy-Bake Ultimate Oven, a favorite of mine as a young child, promotes gender roles in society," said Pope in her letter to Hasbro executives. "Your packaging for the product and its promotional materials advertise baking and cooking as a solely girls hobby. Also, its 'girls' coloration of purple and pink make it seem as though cooking is 'girly' which it is not by any means."

She urged Hasbro to start including males on packaging and start featuring less gender-specific colors like red, green and blue. Hasbro listened and invited Pope to its Pawtucket, RI, headquarters to reveal plans to launch a silver and black Easy-Bake Oven for boys and girls. Male chefs like Bobby Flay, Manuel Trevino and Jose Andreas also supported the campaign.

A teen activist, Pope, now 15, has gone on as a public speaker, talking about youth-related issues, particularly the need for more gender neutral play in the toy industry.

Pope recently sent Playthings a letter about why she's continuing to fight for gender neutrality in toys-and why the industry should too:

Hasbro's Easy-Bake Ultimate Oven in blue, black and silver.
Walking through a toy store, it's plain to see that there are defined gender roles within the toy industry. "Girl" aisles are lined with pinks and purples, Barbie and baby dolls; "boy" aisles [are] littered with greens and blues, Nerf guns and trucks. When this conditioning of stereotypical "boys" and "girls" things is pushed onto kids, it can cause them to stray from things that may have caught their interest because the things they like "weren't made for them." In recent years, more toys have made attempts at being open to all genders; the "Easy Bake Oven", for example, made a move to use less gender-specific colors and include both boys and girls on their packaging after a petition that I started asking them to do so. However, there is a prevalent issue with this push for gender inclusion. Many toys, instead of making one toy that is open to boys and girls, choose to make different "versions" for boys and girls. They may see this as becoming more gender neutral, but it's really quite the opposite. For example, for many years Nerf guns were generally limited to boys; however, recently, they have come out with the Nerf Rebelle Powerbelle Blaster, specifically targeted at girls with its pink colors and stereotypically girly and frilly designs. This toy, of course, only features girls on its packaging and in promotional materials. Many toy companies may think that this is a step in the right direction because they're now including girls too in products that were traditionally "for boys". This isn't so; all it is doing is reinforcing that pink and purple with frills is "for girls," and the regular, more practical black and red designs are "for boys." This keeps up a wall of gender separation that isn't healthy, whatsoever. Gender equality can't be achieved until we abolish these gender separations too, and I believe that is a big part of what we must aim to do. Rather than making a "girl's" product and a "boy's" product to match, make one aimed at everyone. Doing this will work to keep impressionable children away from harmful stereotypes and let them know that whatever they choose to play with, or do, is okay.

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Mckenna Pope Continues Gender Neutral Fight

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In 2012, 13-year-old Mckenna Pope wanted to change the way toys were made. The teen activist recently sent Playthings a letter about why she's continuing to fight for gender neutrality in toys-and why the industry should too.