to find the latest ELC catalogue offensive.

[nannyn]

Got the lastest ELC catalogue through the door yesterday. Was really shocked by the gender stereotyping, it's totally ott.

Since when did a garage have to be pink for a girl to play with it? Why is the lovely play house which used to be wooden now bright pink?

I know some girls at a certain age go through 'pink' phases but these are toys for younger children. I would quite happily buy pink for a boy but would everyone?

There are so many colours that are neutral why can't they use these.

I don't think anyone does tell girls that they 'must' like pink but clearly people are buying things in pink.... Surely if the 'boy' version is red / blue / yellow / whatever, you could just buy that for your daughter instead of the pink one? I don't think ELC (or any other toy manufacturer) are involved in some conspiracy to create a generation of pink loving airheads. And surely the fact that they're stocking garages, etc and not just marketing them towards boys is progress?

I walked into Asda today and saw a lovely,small, cheap toy kitchen that my DS would have loved. The problem was it was bright pink and purple!

Have to agree with all those who can't stand elc's gender stereotyping but I've bored on about all that plenty of times before on MN...

But, actually the thing that really jumped off the pages of the most recent catalogue was this:

www.elc.co.uk/Silver-Cross-Ranger-Pram/126866,default,pd.html

and this:
www.elc.co.uk/Silver-Cross-Classic-Sleepover-Pram/126865,default,pd.html for that matter (but partly that was the price )

wasn't anyone else completely weirded out by it?! There was another one of the girl on her own looking like a proper little miniature Stepford wife

me being a cynic thinks that they do this in the hope that if you have 2 kids of different sexes you will have to buy all the stuff again.

i mean they even do pink megablocks now.

when my oldest ones were little (now 15) everything was unisex red and blue. They played with and enjoyed the toys! and they have subsequently been used by loads of boys and girls finishing up with the baby of the family who is now 2. the few bits that i have bought her- sand pit thing- i have bought in the red/blue on the basis that once we have finished they can easily be passed on for someone else to use.

pink is shit

I think the only time I ever buy anything pink, is when its supporting breast cancer research.

Although I did get my 6 month ds a pink piglet sleep suit. :)

Also, I have to say I'm more creeped out by all the doll adverts on TV at the moment. They have no boys in them, and the faces they pull are creepy as fuck.

I agree with the OP, so many shops now are gender based, what is wrong with a wooden Garage with lovely primary colours aimed at both sexes, why can't toys be an array of colours rather than pink or blue.... Why does catalogues have to have pictures of Girls baking in Kitchens and Boys playing with tools, nothing looses my custom quicker than seeing this.

YABU and need to get a grip.

Actually that goes for all of you who are "offended" by the fact that the world does not revolve around your children.

Seriously, "offended" by a catalogue?

Y'all need to get a hobby.

"girls are made to feel freakish or at best rebellious if they don't wear pink!"

"I walked into Asda today and saw a lovely,small, cheap toy kitchen that my DS would have loved. The problem was it was bright pink and purple! "

I don't understand all this. My daughters don't feel freakish if they don't wear pink.
And if my ds would have loved the toy kitchen it would have made no difference if it was pink and purple.

I agree with posters who are saying that parents are the ones setting the pink/girls blue/boys situation as proved by poste like those I've c+pd.

It's what sonotboden says, to maximise the chances of you purchasing the same tat twice.

However, I think people who think it doesn't also fulful a societal/cultural function are a bit naive.

I know more and more parents whose sons have toy kitchens and pushchairs, but more who would say that "but that's a girl's toy". I pass a local school on my morning walk and I see the little boys pushing pushchairs around from time to time (and yes - shock! horror! pink pushchairs) but the majority of people in my family would remind that boy that Childcare is For Girls bby saying 'eeeeeeeeeeeeeeew, that's a girl's toy'.

It's quite pervasive. I got told off at home for calling my seven month old a 'chickpea' (he's not a girl, you know, and well, what do boys need terms of affection for, really?). My SIL is a highly educated medical bod whose little girl says things like 'but only ugly girls have glasses, isn't that right mummy?'. I have heard mummy also tell her that if she makes faces she will never get to marry a prince, because princes only marry pretty girls. In 2010!!

When we were kids in the 70's, clothes were gender neutral because you had to hand them down to whoever came after you (and nature didn't oblige in letting you choose the colour you were 'hotwired' for).

Incidentally, isn't hotwiring something criminals do to cars?

of course, even 'hardwiring' is just a metaphor drawn from computing.
And a pretty rubbish one according to some neurologists (eg some quoted in the Cordelia Fine book I linked earlier) because the whole point about the brain is it responds and changes according to how we use it.

Just had my reply from ELC a very poor 'sorry you feel there is gender stereotyping, we can see how this might be the case but we supply what customers want.'

Not good enough as far as I'm concerned, as for the poster who suggested I needed a hobby, I don't feel that wanting to give my dd the best possible start in life is a trivial thing.
I've seen many cases of boys & girls underachiving or lacking confidance because of the gender roles that they have been forced to believe in. Why would anyone want to keep that cycle going?
The little things we do with our children make them into the adults they become.

Completely agree with you-how come I can't remember any pink clothing or toys as a child? Perhaps despite my mother's lack of explicit feminism, she had a better grasp than some of the 'doesn't matter' types. I know she's a bit bemused and disturbed by the sea of pink our girls are drowning in.

Limited choices are not about bu, neither are defining toys as belonging to one gender.

I would say that being offended is a bit much but it does annoy me when trying to find something that is classed as a 'girls toy' for my DS. He wanted a red pushchair for his teddy when he was 2 but they were all pink apart from the over priced ones which I just could'nt afford. He has ended up with a blue one but he still wanted red!

I don't particularly like pink as a colour but toys wise it does'nt really bother me although my DS had one of those Little tikes cubes with the slide etc and a playhouse in the garden all in totally neutral colours (with a bit of pink but nothing much) anyway when he had grown out of them I offered them to friend who wanted the same things for he DD, she declined and proceeded to buy her the same bloody things for her B'day in BRIGHT PINK along with a pink sand pit, pink smart trike and of course a pink lawn mower...

That would be fine if her DD had'nt said she wanted the red trike and a slide like DS' (her words)

There is no need for unisex and girls toys why not just unisex?

"I don't particularly like pink as a colour but toys wise it does'nt really bother me "

So why didn't you just get your ds a pink pushchair for his teddy? Or was your ds set against the pink one for some reason?

He wanted a red one and would not entertain the pink one at all... have no idea why as he chooses pink things all the time LOL.

The only time I am really against buying pink is when we are in Clarks and he wants the pink shoes :o

doesn't bother me. There are plenty of other places I can buy a garage or keyboard if I want to, so I vote with my wallet!
Reminds me of those two over earnest middle class types who have set up the anti pink campaign for young girls. Jeez, get a life. Haven't you got more important things to worry about.

Sorry - that insult was not directed at OP but at the earnest types I was referring to in my post.

I understand they are only producing what the consumer is asking for but I couldn't believe it when I saw a pink globe in ELC the other day. I mean WTF would actually ask if a globe is availabe in pink?

I happen to like pink and I think some of what is produced eg teasets is quite cute but a pink globe? It just looked ridiculous and I have to say I did take offense to this item.

I know some girls just want a pink one but a fair bit of it is for the parents. Look at the age that they start producing a pink version from. Some of it is from birth.

Funny, I have a feeling I have seen this exact same thread before.

I love the ELC catalogue. It's so funny. Have you seen the inflatable 90cm high T Rex? I mean what deluded parent would buy such crap?

nannyn - sorry you weren't satisified with your reply from ELC. Ultimately they want to make money and if pink sells, then they supply pink! Simple as that.

You are entitled to your view but you may well be in the minority - ELC and any other big store will be catering for the majority. Yes there are smaller companies that are more PC but even they want to make a profit.

If you don't want to buy pink, don't buy pink. And I know it's about the wider issues but I really don't believe any amount of pink is going to make children under-achieve or lack confidence in later life. That's much more about upbringing, education, parents' attitudes and genes.

What would you do if your daughter (if you have one) suddenly developed a passion for all things pink? Or wanted a toy kitchen, toy appliances, toy washing machine, ironing board and other supposed female-gender toys? Refuse to buy them?

dancergirl I think you've missed the point of this thread, I'm not anti pink. As I mentioned before it's the un necessary 'girl' versions of perfectly nice neutrally coloured toys.
If my dd wants pink things when she's older then I'm sure I will buy them (with in reason) but I don't feel she needs them exclusively.
As you said yourself this is about the wider issue!