To think the cheaper the kids clothes the more gendered the clothing?

[howmuchtoomuch]

DS needed some new tracksuit bottoms for nursery today, so I popped to ASDA. I hadn't realised quite how prolific their gendering of kids clothing was, slogans everywhere!

On the boys side:
‘The louder the better’
‘A bit of dirt never hurt’
‘Rad like dad’

And the girls:
‘Smiley happy dreams’
‘Mummy’s little flower’
‘Giggly and cute’

And the two crimes against fashion I've attached here.

A recent trip to Sainsbury's saw similar results. Whereas a trip to Polarn O Pyret (which I can't afford!) didn't. Not a slogan in sight in PoP!

So why is it that cheaper clothes tend to carry gendered stereotypes? Is it market driven?

[3luckystars]

I feel that it’s the same story with Prams.

[bigbootsj]

So? For goodness sake what a non issue

[howmuchtoomuch]

I just can't work out why they carry SO many gendered clothes. They must do market research. So their market research must say 'go for it'. But whhhhyyy?

[overmydeadbody]

They market their clothing to their target audience.

[howmuchtoomuch]

It's not a non issues bigbootsj, messages like 'boys will be boys' basically further entrench patriarchal values into our kids' minds, the idea that boys can do what the fuck they like in the name of 'just being boys' is a very dangerous message.

[3luckystars]

Well having grown up wearing brown corduroy pants mainly, I would have loved some clothes like these!
There was hardly any pink back then.

[NapQueen]

Asda do the worst of all the supermarket kids clothes. Especially for slogans / pink v. Blue etc.

However H&M are incredibly cheap and are as close to PaP you can get on the high street.

[Girlwiththearabstrap]

I agree with you OP and I have no idea why it seems to be that way. Only thing I can guess is that people like that kind of clothing.
I also don't think it's a non issue. Perfect example of the kind of insidious gender stereotyping that leads us to expect boys to be naughty and girls to be meek and pretty. Which can have some pretty negative outcomes later in lift.

[FaFoutis]

YANBU until you get to a certain level. 'Designer' clothes get more gendered again. (I hate that word, they are all 'designed' but you know what I mean.)

[Cornettoninja]

I don't think that's an unreasonable observation tbf but I would, and have, purchased 'boys' clothes for dd without hesitation - she has a preference for dinosaurs and tutus... she tends to actually look like a boy at the best of times as she's slow going on the hair front (two years on I have serious hair envy!) she's the ultimate unisex!

If I'm completely honest I don't know how comfortable I would be doing that for a boy but if they expressed a clear preference I would like to think I'd cater for them.

[Camomila]

Yes! I've just been stocking up on cheap nursery clothes and it's soo hard to find stuff that's not too gendered or at least is more 'little boy' than teenager!

Asda has a really cute red top with paintbrushes atm in the boys section. Wish they did more similar stuff.

[BendingSpoons]

YANBU, go to the supermarkets and 70% of the baby stuff is pink, blue and white. Potentially it's market driven, potentially they spend less on design etc and potentially people buy it anyway because it's cheap. It's probably quite middle class to question the slogans (that's not a criticism, it matters to me!)

[Elmo230885]

If you don't like them then don't buy them. Simple.
There are far more important things going on!

[CruCru]

It probably is gender driven. I once put a thread on here to moan that in my local branch of Next, all the kids' clothes seemed to have bloody awful slogans.

Places that don't have slogans tend to be more expensive. I love POP but my husband would be quite irritated if I bought more than the odd thing from there.

One place I do like is Landsend. I find their stuff quite expensive when it is full price but they tend to have great sales and discounts. There are a few tops with writing on but they are often diagrams of sharks' heads with labels, which doesn't annoy me as much as "Here comes trouble".

[CruCru]

Oh for heaven's sake, It probably is market driven.

[FaFoutis]

It's gendered because people think like Elmo there.

[RoryAndLogan]

Primark is the same, all boys clothes are blue and girls pink. Slogans are awful and so gendered. I hate it because their clothes are so soft too and I wish I could get more for my baby from there.

[Kittykatmacbill]

Yup. Lidl can be horrific for it (although there tshirts and leggings are super solid and great for nursery). Worst ever example boys pjs said ‘be your own super hero’ and girls one said ‘daddy is my superhero’. I can’t find a picture of that but have a picture of a duvet cover lidl did last year that says ‘London shagging’ instead (I know it actually says London shopping - which is pretty depressing in itself!)

[Weebo]

You know, it is possible for the OP to care about the 'important things' and be miffed at this at the same time Elmo.

Yanbu, OP. However, if you don't mind plain clothing there are good value multi-packs of T-shirts and track bottoms in Asda with no slogans.

[howmuchtoomuch]

It's insidious. Of course no child will be damaged by a t shirt with a naff slogan. But sell enough t shirts with naff slogans and kids start to, very gradually, notice that they're being directed to behave in a certain way.

[Bloodybridget]

It isn't "simple" to just not buy inexpensive children's clothes from supermarkets and cheaper shops. Most parents can't afford Polarn o Pyret (how do you pronounce that, btw?) or Little Boden or whatever. Why is it so hard to find cheap outfits that aren't blazoned with sexist rubbish?

[FaFoutis]

It is important though.

My ds has a t-shirt from Boden that says 'I eat dirt', I thought that was a bit shit for them, but then it has a worm on it so I suppose it's OK. It's not really O.K but it was £3 in the sale. I sold out.

[howmuchtoomuch]

I make quite a lot of DCs clothes, I know that's obviously not a universal solution!

[15star]

I never understand this argument . If you don't like it, don't buy it. Plenty of people like slogan and gendered clothes. If people didn't buy them they wouldn't make them. Just because some people don't like something being gendered doesn't mean it shouldn't be for sale.

[FaFoutis]

For me it's because the slogan is a symptom of the way our society expects boys and girls to be. You don't want to perpetuate that way of thinking by buying or wearing it.