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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...

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Original poster
entropygirl · 02/12/2011 16:22

where I think thats the most depressing thing...that things seem to be going backwards....

you definitely cant tell from my baby photos which I am either....

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Original poster
entropygirl · 02/12/2011 16:23

I do care

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Original poster
entropygirl · 02/12/2011 16:24

zuckie its no problem at all until its separate jobs for girls and boys, separate pay checks, separate aspirations.....

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Traceymac2 · 02/12/2011 16:28

Entropgirl, my dd did wear a fair bit of pink when she was a baby but not exclusively so, I am looking at dd2 now in dd1 s hand me downs and she is in brown trousers and a blue jumper. But yes, i guess kids can influenced by gender marketing too. Their winter coats the last two winters have been purple, it isn't easy to find anything else ( that isnt some shade of pink!). Dd1 is also obsessed with fairies and princesses so she meets every little girl stereotype going!

BonnyBanks · 02/12/2011 16:28

:o OP actually I had her in a variety of clothes as a baby although it was the distinct lack of hair (rather than clothes) that made people assume she was a boy. I still remember the day that an old lady congratulated me on my lovely twin boys. DD was dressed head to toe in pink frills...

Original poster
entropygirl · 02/12/2011 16:30

Ahh is that what it is! DD is also short of hair...

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TinyArmy · 02/12/2011 16:30

DH loved pink as a child. He still does (our bedroom has a pink accent wall). There is an adorable picture of him in his mum's house in his pink footie pajamas holding a little stuffed horse.

I used to get looked sideways at quite a bit when DS was really wee and I would just put him in a dress. I mean, do I really want to be whipping his trousers off every time he craps himself? I don't think so. He was a baby, he pooed quite a bit and I highly doubt that putting him in a dress is going to break his mind.

DH and his favourite cousin (a girl) right up until they were 8 would dress in each others clothes and pretend to be each other for a laugh. DH thinks it was perfectly normal and healthy to want to try and be another person. He says it helped foster a sense of empathy with his cousin and by proxy other girls (though, I just think he's naturaly sensitive and empathic).

zukiecat · 02/12/2011 16:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
entropygirl · 02/12/2011 16:34

There is something missing from this thread...nobody has accused me of giving feminism a bad name yet...or maybe they did and I didnt spot it whistling past.

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Original poster
entropygirl · 02/12/2011 16:36

I am glad it worked out well for your girls. It doesnt work out for everyone though.

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cantspel · 02/12/2011 16:38

I am of the generation where all babies were dressed in dresses ( i have plenty of photos of my brother in little smock baby dresses with matching pants to go over the terry nappy) and all older childrens clothes were in shades of brown.
Gender roles were a lot more stero typical then than they are today. So to my mind gender neutral is meaningless clap trap.

Traceymac2 · 02/12/2011 16:39

I think it depends on personalities too though. My dd1 is still only little, 3 this yr, she is tiny, really girly but as feisty as they come! I don't think she is going to take any crap which I am relieved about with her small size.

zukiecat · 02/12/2011 16:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Pishtushette · 02/12/2011 16:42

It can be a bit annoying when you're trying to find something that's not pink in certain shops, but you are allowed to buy boys' clothes for girls and vice versa y'know.

PamBeesly · 02/12/2011 16:43

I'd ignore 'shops' entropy and dress your child/ren in anything they are comfortable in. When they are older they can pick their own clothes

PsecretPsanta · 02/12/2011 16:53

It's not sexist.

It enforces gender roles to an extent because the girls' clothes are often pretty and pale coloured and more delicate which makes rough and tumble play a bit trickier. And they often have pictures on them of trains, football etc, or princesses and kittens.

But there is nothing preventing you from choosing clothes from outside of their gender recommendations.

TinyArmy · 02/12/2011 16:53

This thread makes me so grateful that me, DM and DMIL all love to sew. It is so hard to get past the pink is for girls, blue is for boys thing. Now Christmas is on the way I am going to load up on green clothes!

Original poster
entropygirl · 02/12/2011 16:55

ps can you explain the its not sexist thing to me? Genuine question - there is something Im not getting here...

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Original poster
entropygirl · 02/12/2011 16:56

Is it that it has to be enforced to make it sexism?

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Original poster
entropygirl · 02/12/2011 16:58

ahhh so if my boss tells me I have to wear high heels it is sexist but if he says he thinks I ought to wear high heels its sexism?

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kirsty75005 · 02/12/2011 16:59

@zukiecat. I work in an institute of higher education. We recently did a study of the earning potential and employability of our graduates.

2 specialities stood out as offering excellent employment prospects on every level - computer science and electrical engineering. Unemployment about 2% a few years after graduation, high average starting salaries, high numbers of former students on permanent contracts, excellent prospects for career progression. Over 90% of students in these programmes are male.

1 speciality stood out as offering poor employment prospects - life sciences. About 80% of students in this speciality are female.

It's difficult to tell, but anecdotally it seems that the gender imbalance between these areas is largely a result of gender stereotyping. Obviously, there's only the most tenuous of links between the gender stereotyping in babies clothes and the gender stereotyping of choices of courses in higher education, but it is still the case that gender stereotyping does a lot of damage to women's career prospects.

SoupDragon · 02/12/2011 17:03

Perhaps we should all wear grey boiler suits regardless of age or gender.

FFS.

Original poster
entropygirl · 02/12/2011 17:03

kirsty thats really interesting.

is the link that tenuous though? It's our first opportunity to treat girls and boys equally and we are failing it in spades....

Surely its not unreasonably to expect a snow ball effect in that small differences get magnified as time goes on....

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Original poster
entropygirl · 02/12/2011 17:04

soup oh I cant be bothered. If you didnt read the op then you probably wont read this either.

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PsecretPsanta · 02/12/2011 17:07

It annoys me. It annoys me more than toys are split into girls' and boys' categories. It's done for conveinience I suppose based on social expectations, but it is not enforced. Everyone is free to buy whatever clothes or toys they see fit. So I wouldn't consider it sexist..

I don't even find the idea of traditionally boy or girl clothes to be sexist in itself. It's sexist to treat someone unfairly because of their sex. I don't think that differences in wardrobe are unfair as such, especially as you can choose to wear what you like.

Hope that explains ot better. Sorry. Am cooking, it's a bit disjointed.

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