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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that this is the worst example of gender bollocks I've found?

348 replies

nenevomito · 18/08/2011 10:05

So the Studio Christmas book arrived on my doorstep yesterday. I once ordered some personalised pencils and have forever more been on their radar.

I have had to put it away as I am so fucking angry that they are selling shite like this.
I want to be Girls dress up set

A horse rider, a maid, a nurse a ballerina or a beautician.

A Maid???? Yeah set the bar high on aspiration there you knobbers.

So what about the boys set? Is it as pathetic?

I want to be boys dress up

A businessman, a pilot, an astronaut, a postman and a policeman.

How the hell have we got to 2011 where this shit is still acceptable. I am not saying that girls shouldn't want to be those things, but why the hell isn't the girls "I want to be dress up set" - Doctor, business woman, pilot, astronaut?

Maid???? You are SHITTING me Studio!

Then I made the mistake of searching for girls roleplay and discovered they carried on with the theme. Sure. Why not. Let me set aspiration and expectation in my daughter by dressing her as a maid and giving her the laundry set complete with pink fucking whirlygig washing line. for the Girls roleplay

I don't often rant on here but Angry.

OP posts:
GeekCool · 18/08/2011 10:07

YANBU. We've been to IKEA a few time recently and all the instruction leaflets show a man. Then we bought a new laundry basket and it showed a woman. I did have an Angry face at that if I'm honest and it was DH who noticed it.

RealityVonCrapp · 18/08/2011 10:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
nenevomito · 18/08/2011 10:09

GRRRRR

Its bad enough to be assaulted by pink plastic wherever I go, but that has tipped me over the edge this morning.

OP posts:
MrsPollifaxInnocentTourist · 18/08/2011 10:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Ephiny · 18/08/2011 10:12

YANBU, that's awful!

The maid/cleaner seems a bit of an odd thing to dress up as anyway - like having a bin man outfit for the boys Confused. I mean, both are perfectly respectable jobs, just not something I really think of in association with uniforms or dressing up.

Really though don't see why these things have to be gendered at all, why not just have all the outfits without labelling any of them 'boys' and 'girls' - maybe there are some that'll be more popular with one gender or the other, and that's fine, but why try to make the choice for them?

MilkNoSugarPlease · 18/08/2011 10:15
Shock

I thought ELC was bad!

squeakytoy · 18/08/2011 10:15

It isnt a maid, it is a waitress.. and to be fair, when my granddaughter was little (2-3yo) she loved playing at being a waitress and serving us all pretend drinks and food etc.. that she had "cooked"..

squeakytoy · 18/08/2011 10:17

and these ones in the same catalogue are not gender specific..

doctor chef etc

somewherewest · 18/08/2011 10:18

YA....very very definitely....NBU (from woman who spent entire childhood happily roleplaying things like cowboys and cops and hated dolls with a fiery passion).

Original poster
nenevomito · 18/08/2011 10:18

Do you know what the worst bit is?

If they are selling this shit, it means that someone out there is buying it. Someone out there is looking and going "ooh and it comes in its own shiny pink bag" and buying it for their dd / DGD/ DN

That is even worse.

OP posts:
caramelwaffle · 18/08/2011 10:20

Yanbu

LRDTheFeministDragon · 18/08/2011 10:20

The maid one is seriously strange!

Is it me, or is that a cross-over from, erm, adults' 'dressing-up' clothes?

That's the only context I'd have for a maid's costume as dress-up, and I may be a prude but I think that's inappropriate for a child.

Tortington · 18/08/2011 10:20

to be fair in th role play one ther is a picture of a boy as a shopkeeper Wink the girl is hoovering

solidgoldbrass · 18/08/2011 10:20

I'm sure some toy firm manufacturs a cleaners' cart (mop, bucket, hoover etc) - which someone else said was obviously a way of introducing the children of the underclass early on to their likely future...

Original poster
nenevomito · 18/08/2011 10:21

squeakytoy - if the dress up set you linked to was the only one they were selling then I would have no complaint at all.

Those sets, however are appalling.

OP posts:
Original poster
nenevomito · 18/08/2011 10:22

Interesting point - in the paper catalogue it says maid. On line it says waitress. Doesn't make it any better though.

OP posts:
Tortington · 18/08/2011 10:23

dd was one bought a nurses set. the set was cheap and pretty ambiguous. it had a cap with a red cross on it, a stethescope and some other plastic shite.

and i said to her 'no darling, this is a doctors set, be a doctor'

now i hope all the nurses realise that i wasn't having a fgo at nurses, but rather having a go at gender bias girl = nurse at 3 years old.

tethersend · 18/08/2011 10:23

It is worth remembering though that the roles contained within that pack are low-status jobs because they are usually done by women- this in itself needs challenging.

Tortington · 18/08/2011 10:23

shes now 18 and god knows wht she'll beb Grin not a doctor thts for sure

StayingDavidTennantsGirl · 18/08/2011 10:25

I couldn't agree more, OP. Why on earth shouldn't all toys be marketed at all children? I am very glad I don't have daughters, as I would hate all the 'sparkly pinkification' of stuff for girls (and I speak as someone who really likes pink and the odd bit of sparkle for herself).

When the dses were little, they had a toy kitchen that they loved - it was in bright primary colours, so not aimed specifically at the girls - and they had a great time playing with it. Same went for the toy dyson that MIL bought them one christmas - in fact, ds3 fell head over heels in love with it, clutched it to his chest and wouldn't be parted from it all day.

EuphemiaMcGonagall · 18/08/2011 10:29

I realised recently that I have not done an adequate job with DD (9) in this respect.

She totally gets that girls can aspire to be whatever they want to be, but she totally amazed me when she showed astonishment that a man can be a nurse! Any time DD has been to hospital, the nurses and student nurses have been female.

I realise that in my enthusiasm to stop her feeling gender stereotypes, I have neglected to ensure she has the same view for males!

CRIKRI · 18/08/2011 10:30

I really do despair at how entrenched this marketing of gender stereotyped toys and dressing up costumes is becoming. Maybe a few years ago, parents filled the dressing up box with odds and sods of their own instead of buying them ready made, I don't know. But, I'm sure even ready made halloween costumes weren't nearly so gender segregated even 10 or 15 years back.

Okay, so the girl's costume is a waitress and not a French maid (but that IS what it looks like.) This is still a low-waged and traditionally low status job compared to the occupations represented by the costumes for boys.

Surely it is only a coincidence that the costumes for girls reflect roles commonly seen as sexual fetishes - you know, the naughty nurse, the saucy French maid, the girl with the riding whip - okay, maybe less so the ballerina and the beautician.

Honestly, I don't think I would be surprised tomorrow if someone brought out a "my little stripper" costume complete with stick on pasties and heels, or "my little hooker" with a handy condom pocket built into the hot pants.

waits for someone to tell me these already exist :(

muminthemiddle · 18/08/2011 10:31

YANBU.
The outfits should not come with gender attached.

CRIKRI · 18/08/2011 10:31

Sorry - went off to make a coffee while LRD posted the same thing about the similarity with "adult" dressing up clothes for women. Aaarrrggghhh!

MyNameIsInigoMontoya · 18/08/2011 10:31

The girls' dress-up trunk is even worse - you can be a "movie star, bride, model, princess or belle of the ball!" And all pink and shiny of course.

I'm not sure "beautician" is that great a role model either - someone whose job is to make sure all the other women are "correctly" waxed, plucked, made up etc, cos god forbid they appear in public in their natural state...

I don't have a problem with toy cleaning things though as long as they are not too gender-ised (i.e. pink!) - both my DCs (one of each) love playing cleaning, and of course it IS something they BOTH should learn so they are capable of looking after themselves when older!