To get “girls” stuff when I search for “boys”

I see loads of designs I don't like when I'm hunting for clothes. I don't need someone else to pre filter based on outdated gender stereotypes.

Boys clothes are looser fitting and practical for being active. The only item of clothing that needs to be a different shape is underpants. In my experience, the baby boy clothes were a lot more interesting designs, baby girl stuff was all pastel and frills. When they hit about 3 the girl stuff is more fun and the boy stuff turned to all sludge colours, cars and dinosaurs.

It should be legislated that all clothing designs be available in a range of colours and not labelled for boys or girls. It's ridiculous having to do laps of a shop like m and s or Primark because even the boys and girls pyjamas or socks are at opposite ends of the shop and they're identical apart from the characters printed on them. They should all be together and let parents and kids pick whatever they like without feeling awkward taking their child into the section that says they shouldn't be there.

It's all part of the bigger issue that girls are still seen as 'less' by society. Oh too delicate to want to climb and run so have less practical clothes but look! Pretty sparkles for you dear. Not clever enough to play with proper boy Lego, why would girls be interested in engineering when they're older anyway? Give them a pink easy Lego cutesy model so they don't feel left out. Aw she wears boy things, she's a tomboy! Argh don't let boys wear pink leggings they might look girly.

F f s

My son is nearly four and repeatedly tells us that his favourite colour is pink. He chose pink Frozen pyjamas (his favourite film) and purple unicorn pyjamas. He chose bright pink football trainers. He chose a pink Hawaiian shirt for our holiday.

This week he said he should be wearing blue. We quizzed him about it and it turns out one of his friends had told him that pink was only for girls :(

I just did the same as you OP and yeah it's a lot of "girl" clothes. Sure, some can be unisex but I scrolled down abit and there were dresses. Most people aren't going to put a dress on a boy.

@IpsyUpsyDaisyDoos I'm not replying to any more of your messages as this is ridiculously boring. I have said throughout that anyone should wear whatever they want, I've shown you tops that are unisex, tops that have what you say is only out there for boys but I've clearly shown you girls versions. I am so bored replying, my kids wear what they want when they want, so do I. But nothing will be good enough for someone like you. Absolutely no point in responding because I'm out.

Not willing to even contemplate opening your mind. Good for you.

@IpsyUpsyDaisyDoos 💤💤💤

I've repeatedly mentioned pink and you went straight for in pink.

You don't have to prove dinosaurs exist on girls clothes, because you're still missing the point.

They're still labelled as girls clothes. So if a boy wanted to wear the pink dinosaur one in your previous example, he's wearing girls clothes and then there's all the rubbish that comes with that. Being bullied for being a boy in girls things. Being seen as less of a boy and more of a girl (which in itself isn't bad but that's what kids and idiots use as insults).

It's the labels and the stereotypes that need taking away. Let the boys wear pink dinosaurs or blue flowers or yellow dinosaurs or sparkly diggers. Let the girl wear camouflage or sports kits or pink fluffy unicorns or whatever. Just stop assigning specific colours and things to a gender and sticking a label on them to do so.

@IpsyUpsyDaisyDoos this is actually EXHAUTSING!! They are just ones I picked are because you were basically saying girls are only flowers and hearts, and boys dinosaurs and diggers. They are not. Everything is out there if you want it. You are just choosing to mention the ones you want to.

in pink

Just a girl who....

What's wrong with just a standard tractor or dinosaur t-shirt that either could wear?

Our four year old grandson has those leggings. He loves an animal print. He also has Elsa and Spider-Man costumes. What’s the problem?

@IpsyUpsyDaisyDoos so what about these then? My DD has had multiple digger/tractor/football clothes in pink and bright colours. But apparently they don't exist?

The menus seem fine to me. I don't get what you see. In tech support circles this issue would probably be put down to PEBCAK. Problem exists between chair and keyboard.

You are completely missing the point. It isn't about the location in the shop. It's the labels on things like flowers or sparkles or diggers or dinosaurs. It gives the message that anyone who likes flowers is a girl. Girls who like sports kits still, in this day and age, get called boyish, tomboys, or even lesbians. Because they like sports.

Take the labels away and eventually the associations go too.

@CasperGutman I'll just agree to disagree.

It's great that your kids could wear "things from whichever section they wanted with no pressure whatsoever." But don't you think that labelling the sections "boys" and "girls" creates pressure, at least for some people?

On one hand there's pressure for a boy/girl (or parent of a boy/girl) who likes flowers/diggers to think they "shouldn't" wear those clothes. And on the other hand, possibly, it also creates an impression that a boy who like flowers is less of a boy and in some way a girl, as opposed to just being a boy who likes flowers, and similarly for girls with non-conforming preferences. I really think there might well be less gender dysphoria around if society in general was less strictly gendered (including retailers as some of the most visible examples).

And wishing my kids good luck growing up being themselves.....do you honestly think I've ever had a conversation with them about what should be where in a shop? I mean, get real ffs.

People can wear anything they want. Like I have repeatedly said in all of your examples, including my young DD, they all wore/used things from whichever section they wanted with no pressure whatsoever. My kids have grown up wonderfully thank you, because I have taught them all their lives about being themselves and not just following the crowd. No need to throw digs just because I don't agree with you.

So you disagree that people should be allowed to wear what they like without it being labelled and therefore feeling like they aren't themselves? Ok.

Good luck to your kids being able to be themselves.

Nah I'm not missing the point. I just completely disagree with you. And that's ok.

Missing the point though aren't you. If it had always been the other way, no gender labels, you'd know where everything was and would nip into whatever section to find what you needed. If they then split it up, you'd have double the stuff to look through to find what you needed, with most of it not relevant to you.

But if it wasn't gendered, everyone could just choose what they wanted. Choose what they liked. Be who they are. There would be less pressure to fit a certain look or "type" because of your biological sex. You'd just go to the shop, walk to the "tops" section and pick what you liked.

It's much deeper than the ease of shopping.

Yeah, I'd just have double the stuff to look through with half of it being useless. So I'd find it pointless. Always been more than happy to nip into the sections as and when I need them.

There's also a need to make sure boys know that it's ok to like pink, butterflies, unicorns. And girls know that it's ok to like a football shirt or diggers. Taking the gender label off helps that. Cos more parents would buy them if they were just cute kids clothes, and didn't have a gender assigned

Totally agree with this. It’s really important.

Back in the 70s when I was growing up, all us kids wore orange, purple and olive green, and everything (pretty much) could be handed down to siblings of the opposite sex. It was a hugely regressive step when clothes and toys became over-gendered, somewhere in the late eighties/early nineties.

I was glad when Zara Girls and Zara Boys labels became Zara Kids, because it meant that ds could cheerfully choose the faux fur jackets he loved without being teased at school for the label in his coat. He still wears fluffy jumpers when he can get his hands on them as a tween, although they’re generally cut to be cropped, which is a pain.

And actually, teenage dd doesn’t like cropped either, so she heads to boys sections.

And you wouldn't if it wasn't split by male or female and in fact just in sections?

@IpsyUpsyDaisyDoos I have pockets in loads of my clothes, my DH has a bag, my DM wears aftershave she prefers it over perfume. Oh and I wear boxers! Mens ones. However, not one of us has an issue with how any of this stuff is laid out in a shop, why would we? We know exactly where it all is when we go shopping for it.

Women and men have different body shapes. Children don't. And these preferences are given to children rather than developed from what they actually want.

I very specifically told my family "no pink" when I found out I was having a girl. Because I knew we'd be overrun with it. I have nothing against it, but I wanted my daughter to be able to have whatever colour she wanted, rather than what was forced upon her.

But equally, there should be more pink and butterflies available for men and things other than pink and hearts for women. Women should be allowed pockets. Men should be allowed a bag. I know many women who prefer a male scent over a floral perfume. So yeah maybe they should be sorted on scent rather than whether they're male or female. Women should be allowed something like boxers, and as much as it makes me shudder, men should have the option of thongs if they want them.

It's clothes. They don't need to be gendered. Tailored to fit a body shape, absolutely. But gendered? Why?