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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think its sexist to split baby, toddler and young kids clothes into 'for boys' and 'for girls'?

209 replies

entropygirl · 02/12/2011 15:14

So obvs for older kids and for men and women there are anatomical differences that mean it is valid to split clothes by gender, but that difference does not exist for younger kids.

I think supermarkets in particular could do something better than reinforce gender stereotypes for babies...

OP posts:
fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 02/12/2011 16:04

i'm not saying anything about dressing boys in skirts. But that was an example of why there might be different sections for boys and girls clothes. Because, I would imagine, for example, a lot more girls than boys wear dresses and flowery things.

Original poster
entropygirl · 02/12/2011 16:04

Okay so taking the pulse on this one....on average you think it is in fact okay for clothes to be sold as 'for girls' or 'for boys' even though there is no structural difference in the clothing....

Is that the same for toys? Is it okay for a supersoaker to be sold as 'for boys' ?
or a pram as 'for girls'?

OP posts:
TheFirstNoelChinchilla · 02/12/2011 16:05

YANBU OP, I find it so depressing that both clothing and toys are divided in this way.

Why there can't just be 'children's clothes' and 'children's toys' for a range of ages I don't know.

The consumerist argument is probably a good part of it.

ViviPrudolf · 02/12/2011 16:05

I know its MN sport to supermarket bash, but I don't understand why you only refer to supermarkets on this issue, OP, surely its the same across ALL retailers? Even the friendly little local shoppe?

Just assuming this is a semantic oversight on your part OP rather than a misguided opinion...

Peachy · 02/12/2011 16:05

If you don't l;ike it ignore it

DS4 was wearing some quite girly babygros- who cares? not him for certain.

If everyone does that or buys white the shops will sell more neutral stuff.

It really is one of those things that will change only if people buy differently.

I did know with ds 3 and ds4 but as a person with a brain was free to make my own decisions: so some stuff with blue robots anjd a few with flowers on. At that age it's me looking at it that matters not his tastes!

I also have a son who is 8 (ds3) and has ASD and adores pink. Also not a problem.

fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 02/12/2011 16:05

yes, I could not get my knickers in a knot about it. If I wanted a boys item for my DD I'd go to the "Boys" section.

gallicgirl · 02/12/2011 16:06

Meh, I sympathise with your opinion but I think there are bigger battles to fight. I dislike how limited the ranges of clothes for specific genders can be. I have a 10MO DD and it's almost impossible in some stores to buy clothes that aren't pink. However, I have no issue with buying boys clothes for her. Our favourite PJs on her are blue with dinosaurs. I figure as long as we make an effort as parents, she will realise when older that she has a choice about what to wear.

I have more of a problem with gender stereo-typing of toys. As a child I loved my cars and I think I was 7 before I owned a hand-me-down Sindy doll. Once I'd dressed her, undressed her and cut her hair, I really didn't know what to do with it and went back to my cars and lego. I hate it when I see toys labelled for "boys" or "girls". I had a catalogue sent to me recently and it had some fab toys in it but I was horrified that the pictures showed only girls playing with kitchen and household toys, and only boys playing with adventure type toys like castles and pirate ships. As early as 2 years old, children are being conditioned to think that they have to play with certain toys according to gender.

ViviPrudolf · 02/12/2011 16:07

Don't worry Bonny that was one of the first ones duly noted the first time I ever mentioned on here what I do :)

Original poster
entropygirl · 02/12/2011 16:08

Tracey Did you dress your DD in pink as a baby? Some fraction of all kids male or female are going to have pink as their favourite colour and I have no problem with that. I am just interested to know if you think bias in early years was related to your daughters current choices.

OP posts:
BonnyBanks · 02/12/2011 16:08

Ahhh, OP how old is your wee girl? I only ask because if she's a baby you may be under the impression that you will be choosing her clothes for some time. My wee girl has been expressing strong opinions about her clothes since before she could speak.

My wee boy? Meh, he'd rather be naked quite frankly.

zukiecat · 02/12/2011 16:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
entropygirl · 02/12/2011 16:10

vivi I just think supermarkets are more able to take a stand and lead the way than independents and no I dont think they are the only ones. I think if I walked into my local s'buries and the baby stuff was ordered solely by size (which would be more useful than age amazingly) I would feel like kissing the manager(ess)

OP posts:
Original poster
entropygirl · 02/12/2011 16:11

zukie I have no problem with either pink or blue I just dont think ANYTHING should be marketed as 'for girls' or 'for boys' unless there is an actual physical reason for it.

OP posts:
kirsty75005 · 02/12/2011 16:12

I remember when I was a kid most kids clothes were gender neutral. And then there was also a selection of clothes which by design or colour or whatever were clearly aimed at one gender. If you did have a very girly little girl you could get her frilly dresses, but if you didn't you just got her some of the gender neutral clothes in bright primary colours which were good for running around and getting dirty.

The gender neutral ones now seem to be much harder to get hold of. So little girls have to either be dressed in very feminine clothes (which are often impractical for physical play) or in clothes which clearly declare them to everyone around to be little boys. I don't think it's a problem that there are gender specific clothes for children, but it is that there are so few gender neutral ones.

And light pink, a colour not only ugly but also ruined forever by one nappy incident, should never ever be used for clothing a child not yet able to identify its own gender.

Original poster
entropygirl · 02/12/2011 16:13

Bonny oh I do realise that I will probably be buying pink princess shit stuff in a years time....but it will be DD's free and unbiased choice and not because she has been in pink since the day she escaped the womb (though she does wear pink occasionally - Im not cheating)

OP posts:
fanjoforthemammaries7850 · 02/12/2011 16:14

I also found pink was quite useful as all babies look similar with no hair and it did get a bit wearing explaining constantly that my DD was a girl, if she was dressed in neutral colours.

BonnyBanks · 02/12/2011 16:14

Thanks Vivi - I have two tall, slender children whose trousers are always falling down!

I have recently dicovered the wonder of elasticated belts though.

Ps whomever you work for ypu are doing a wonderful job my kuds are dressed mostly out of the 3 main supermarkets and the clothes are usually brill.

Original poster
entropygirl · 02/12/2011 16:16

bonny am worried that sounded like I was assuming you did have you daughter in pink as a baby...in fact I am assuming the opposite.

OP posts:
WhereTheWildThingsWere · 02/12/2011 16:16

Actually I think there is a huge bias in young children towards pink, certainly my ds, ny nephew and many friends ds's around the age of 3 ish have all had pink as a favourite colour.

Dd mainly wore boys clothes until she was about 2.5 as she had an older brother and boxes of clothes I saw no point in buying anything new, I was astonished that some people was outwardly and openly shocked by this.

I think it is all down to demand though, I think the organic clothes company Frugi is an interesting example, when they started life as Cut4cloth, they made just unisex clothes in unisex colours, over the years they have graduated more and more to a clear boy/girl pink/blue princess/sailor split and as a company have got bigger and bigger.

So the demand to differentiate between the sexes is there at every level, from supermarket bargain shoppers to organic lentil weavers, I think it is very deeply ingrained now.

When I look back at photo's of myself as a baby and young child I could easily have been a boy or a girl.

ViviPrudolf · 02/12/2011 16:16

Well I have no idea about merchandising but I do know consultants are paid handsomely to merch the store to maximise profit. If by arranging clothing by size regardless of intended gender was going to sell more units, they'd do it.

I will just conclude what I always end up concluding on threads about kids clothes, if you want to pay volume retailer prices, you have to accept that the product you're buying has been designed/cut/trimmed/priced and merchandised with the masses in mind.

Original poster
entropygirl · 02/12/2011 16:18

fanjo well I sympathise a bit. I went to a baby group and was basically told I coulnt be who I said I was coz they were bringing a girl. It actually took me a minute to understand what had happened (DD was in predominantly blue stripes that day - is on a random rotation honest)

But to be honest if people say oh he's a bonny fella (kind of thing they say round here) I just agree.

Mind you there are some open minds around...last time DH took DD out in pink someone still said she was a likely lad or some such thing....

OP posts:
BonnyBanks · 02/12/2011 16:20

Goodness my posts are rife with typos this afternoon!

Well OP it does depend on your wee girl she might not want all the girly clothes, my daughter has a friend who doesn't. On the other hand that child plays with principly 'girls' toys while my DD plays football wearing a flowery headband and sparkly trainers.

Original poster
entropygirl · 02/12/2011 16:20

vivi I do take the point honestly but I still think that a big step in gender equality would be to ban advertising clothes or toys as for boys or girls unless there is a physical difference.

OP posts:
zukiecat · 02/12/2011 16:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Sevenfold · 02/12/2011 16:22

sorry but do you really care?
I mean really

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