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

"Brilliant" because why would girls want to have shoes that have grip for climbing and running that don't let gravel in the massive gap at the top?

If you're finding gender specific toys I think you're shopping in a toy shop that's not for children. I've never come across a child's toy that is operated with their genitals.

I agree that gender based colours etc are bollocks and I do think it's great that the lines are being blurred in principle, however unfortunately my 7 year old DS completely disagrees. He just wants what all his friends have and very firmly thinks girls stuff is gross (I have done my best but ultimately he's going to follow the crowd) so it is annoying and a complete waste of time showing me leggings in his size. He'd rather die.

I would much prefer there wasn't a filter for boys/girls, and retailers would just show us clothes. I'm capable of deciding what I want to dress my child in, and sometimes the filters mean you miss the good stuff.

Also, who decided boys don't wear leggings? They're always under the girl section. Just daft, my five year old prefers them to joggers and refuses to wear jeans.

I would buy those hoodies for my son, in fact I tried to buy the bubble gum pink one in the M&S sale but it isn't in his size. So I like that they do it. The one I have a gripe with is Primark. They had the most gorgeous blue t-shirts in the girls section so I picked up three for my guys. Disaster. It occured to me I should double check the size just in case it was different to the boys and holy god the difference was insane. Maybe I just got really unlucky but I ended up having to get the three sizes in the boys section and then try compare the girls ones, it was like a 5-6 girls matched a 2-3 boys. I ended up abandoning the whole thing. In fact often I find unless it specifically says unisex then there's no point looking in the girls section. Girls clothes just seem so unnecessarily skimpy. Which is a pity because there's rarely rainbow, cats or unicorns in the boys section.

I find it incredibly annoying too. I don't want to search through a load of girls's clothes to get to the boys's.

People saying "I'd put that on my boy" when they're at an age to know what colours they like, it's not that simple.

I understand the frustration, @Cocobeau and you're always going to get people asking what the issue is, trying hard to be "liberal" or who don't have boys or boys of an age they can choose and are conscious of what they're wearing. If something is unisex that's cool, my youngest liked lilac colours until he was about 6 and its like he changed what he liked overnight, boys don't wear leggings (apart from under sports kit maybe but boys have their own for that) and not how girls do, plus the style of coats boys wear tend to be a bit different.

A few of the sports clothing sites don't do this, but many do.

I resigned myself years ago to either extra scrolling or then having to put in colour/brand filters. It is annoying.

@x2boys perhaps you should also let him look at the t-shirts and shorts in the 'girls' section to see if there's anything that takes his fancy?

@Cocobeau I actually think the only people getting their knickers in a twist on this thread are you and the couple of people who agree with you.
The vast majority on this thread seem to disagree and they seem to be quite calm about it.

If you know what you like him in, then surely it's just as easy to click on that colour on the filter as it is to click boys? Or type dinosaur?

And as to seeing boys in dresses- you're right, we don't see many. But what I am seeing more of (thankfully) are boys in cycling shorts, animal print, unicorns, girl characters (Skye paw patrol, bluey), pastel colours, hearts. Also seeing more girls in reds/ yellows/ blues, dinosaurs, vehicles, boy characters (the other paw patrol ones), blacks, longer shorts, dungarees. All of these things would typically be found in the other gender, so it really is a good start that they're starting to become more common.

If your lad wants to wear a paw patrol top with Skye on in 6 months, will you let him? Because it will make him happy, even though it will almost certainly be from the girls section? Or will you make him wear the blue chase one instead, because it's boys?

Can’t relate as I buy my daughter clothes from either section. I don’t see the point in limiting her to certain colours, prints & styles just because of her gender. Also, even if you filter for boys or girls specifically, they will still show you clothes that they consider to be unisex such a hoodies & leggings like you’ve shown in the screenshot.

No, it’s because parents buying clothes lack imagination.

Yeah I've never understood gender based toys. I liked trains as a kid, and tractors.

My DD has a doctor's kit, a tool kit (they've merged together actually), a "baby" doll, a bike, gardening tools, a fairy garden, soft toys, Spiderman colouring books, princess colouring books etc.

Toys are for having fun and learning skills. Not for learning "how to be a girl/boy".

Agreed.

It's like this in shops too ,rows and rows of girls stuff and about half a row if your lucky for boys

See, my DD is tall, so things like t-shirts for nursery etc are much better from the boys section. The girls ones are generally more fitted and for some reason shorter (I'm sure I had this issue as a child too, as I'm also tall).

I find the unisex stuff tends to be slightly bigger than the "girls" too.

I thought clothes companies were sensibly removing the gender options from clothes now. Just browse for clothes you like, and ideally, your kid chooses. Mine has chosen since they were about 2.

WTF , are you for real? Your only category for selecting toys is they need to be “gender based”? What even is a gender based toy? Is it a toy that you can only operate with your genitals?

This thread is bonkers

Men’s and women’s body shapes are different. Young children’s aren’t. You can filter for blue and beige trousers if that’s what you want.

Body shape might be the sImilar @SocksShmocks but average height and weight is different for boys and girls, and kids clothes sizes are often sold by age. The boys clothes range is often a bit bigger than girls clothes when they are sold by age. I’m all for the idea of non gendered clothing but my bugbear is stores that sell unisex items by age rather than height 😂

I was getting frustrated with this yesterday. I was looking for unisex newborn clothes, thinking neutrals, but I kept getting pink frills, florals etc. Then when trying to look for boys age 7-11, I kept being shown similar to what you were, pastel leggings, tops with cats or unicorns on and things that were very obviously designed for girls. One of my boys will only wear black, or very dark colours so it just wastes my time having to sift through all the things I've specifically asked to filter out!

Exactly. I didn’t put my Dd in a lot of dresses when she was very small either as it was about comfort at the age where they have no say. Then she had a phase of liking them ages about 4-6, went off them again, and as an older teen now has very much her own style as you’d expect.

My ds did actually like dresses as a toddler, but usually ones pulled from the dressing up box. He doesn’t wear them now aged 10, but again his style is very much his own. If I’m buying something for him I just search the thing I’m looking for, eg “tie dye t shirts”

@Cocobeau

For those asking why I don't let my son choose (and ignore my original post mentioning this) - he's 20 months old.

My DD was showing preferences for colours and patterns at this age. She could walk herself to her wardrobe and point at what she liked best. So you actually could show him the colours and see what he preferred.

And I'm one of those parents that does actually take her for a walk every day regardless of the weather, because we have a collie and therefore no choice but to go out. She doesn't care if it's raining. Although now she's at nursery I do tend to drop her there and then walk because it's less work for me pre-work.

You mean unicorns don't???

My DD was insistent that the one horned goat at a farm shop was a unicorn. No telling her otherwise. She's very like Agnes from Despicable Me.

I think it’s a very good thing. Clothes shouldn’t be for girls or boys.

If you want to search specific colours, filter by colour. It’s very easy!

It's just the way they've been tagged on the system in the background. The beige/brown is quite traditionally boy, so people may be more than happy to buy them for their boy. Some people might have twins that are boy/girl and a multi pack could be useful for both of them.

My DD at the moment is wearing an outfit she chose. It's a very dark green hot wheels top (from the boys section) with bright pink cycling shorts. We always look at both because there will be things she likes in the boys. When I took my nephews shopping (and they are in their 20s now) I used to do the same and they could choose whatever they fancied.

No one is making you buy pink for your little boy. But you not thinking it's boy clothes doesn't mean other people wouldn't, and the sites aren't based on you.

Quite. Avoiding unicorns is a perma-hazard when shopping for girls clothes.

At least dinosaurs existed.

Surprised that you are looking for a football for a 20-month old, who will have no concept of the game. Dad trying to capture his imagination early by any chance?

Just to blow your mind OP, if you are looking for a specific design you can also use the free search box on most clothing websites and you may strike it lucky by just putting in “football” or “dinosaur” if the item’s name mentions the design.