Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this is an inappropriate gift for a newborn baby girl?

56 replies

lbsjob87 · 12/06/2014 21:53

I am fully prepared to be told IABU and maybe I am, but I was in Argos yesterday (that's not the unreasonable bit).
I was looking for a present for a 2-year-old girl and stumbled across this:
www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/9248612.htm?cmpid=APPSOCIAL01
It says "suitable from birth". I kind of get the concept but is it just me that thinks it's inappropriate and stereotypical, and the wrong impression to give a little girl? Almost that it's all about the accessories and no baby is too young to be indoctrinated into the world of pink and fluffy.
I can't even put my finger on why it annoyed me so much, maybe it's the pinkness, but I am just uncomfortable with it.
Is there any logical reason why I should feel like this?

OP posts:
pianodoodle · 12/06/2014 22:49

My First Handbag is perfect for girls who want to be just like their mummy!

I'm a bit more annoyed at what they presume "mummy" is like!

everythingisonmurtaghlist · 12/06/2014 22:52

My dd got this for her first Christmas (so only a few months old) from a friend's mum. She loved it and it was great when she reached the stage where she wanted to empty my handbag constantly. As she got older I would change up what was in it and we'd play "what's in the bag?"

Funghoul · 12/06/2014 22:56

Dd has a very similar bag that was bought for her when she was 7 months. She plays with it now (13m) but more because she likes opening it and emptying everything out of it. She does the same with dp's wallet or my purse given half a chance. We've tried to steer clear of pink as dp doesn't want her 'to be a piece of fucking candy floss'.

Yanbu

fluffymouse · 12/06/2014 22:59

Yabu. It is safe from birth, and something that toddlers would love (girls and boys). My 3 year old would go mad for it!

If this is what you get worked up about you need to get out more!

Pleasejustgo · 12/06/2014 23:08

Oh my eyes! It's hideous. YNBU.

It really is.

ErrolTheDragon · 12/06/2014 23:48

'adorable and girlie' Hmm. No, my DD wouldn't have been 'just like mummy' with that.

NeedsAsockamnesty · 12/06/2014 23:53

But it is suitable from birth.

YABU if you must get excited about something why not pick on the wording of the blurb.

It's a toy you do not operate it with your genitals it happens to be pink but all children could play with it or dribble on it at birth.

VampyreofTimeandMemory · 12/06/2014 23:54

my dd would have loved it as a baby and so would both my toddler ds. I don't really see the issue, most of us use handbags, keys and phones and small children like to copy their 'role models'...

Idontseeanyicegiants · 13/06/2014 00:16

Both of my DD's would have loved it. As would I, if only to get them out of my handbag/purse, stop them eating my lipstick or losing my keys.
In isolation - only buying a girl something pink you would not be U, a wide variety of toys is good for both genders but it won't turn a small girl into a simpering Stepford Wife if they received it as a present.
So on the whole YABU, pink is fine for a girl IMO as long as it's not the only colour they're exposed to!

ShelaghTurner · 13/06/2014 01:10

Meh. Can't see any great problem. Wouldn't buy it for a newborn but my dd2 was given a similar one for her first Christmas by someone and dd1 who was then nearly 5 wanted it off her.

My biggest issue with it is that neither of my girls would have given that 'phone' a second glance. Even as babies they knew the real deal.

kali110 · 13/06/2014 01:16

Friends 9 moth has it and likes it. The bear squeaks and amuses her. Don't think its a big deal

parentalunit · 13/06/2014 07:00

It's from Argos. It's tacky. What a shocker. ?

Floisme · 13/06/2014 07:06

Awful for a newborn.

MiaowTheCat · 13/06/2014 08:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

WooWooOwl · 13/06/2014 08:47

I don't think it's appropriate as a gift for a newborn, but just because it's been made to standards that are considered safe for a newborn doesn't mean that it's being marketed as a newborn gift.

I really can't see the issue some posters have with pink stuff. It's just a colour, one that lots of people, including little girls, happen to like.

I can't see the difference between a toy bag and phone and a toy iron, or pram, or kitchen. They are just toys to aid imaginative role play based on the things children see around them, and as there's nothing inappropriate with an adult using a pink handbag and carrying a phone in view of a child, then I can't see why children shouldn't be allowed toy versions.

MehsMum · 13/06/2014 10:49

YANBU. That's repulsive.

But then, I am the horrible old harpy who refused to have a Barbie in the house.

TurtleyAmazing · 13/06/2014 10:57

I don't see the issue. A lot of little girls DO like pink.

We've tried to steer clear of pink as dp doesn't want her 'to be a piece of fucking candy floss'.

I'd much prefer my children to be who THEY want to be. What myself or my partner wants is irrelevant. If 'being a piece of candyfloss' is what my child wants then so be it. I'm not going to deprive them of the things they enjoy just because its not what i want.

funghoul what would your partner say if your daughter wanted to do a ballet class or something similar? would she be allowed?

Summerblaze · 13/06/2014 11:12

Does it actually say that it is for girls. Erm no! If my DD wanted this, she could have it. If DS1 or 2 wanted it, they could have it.

There will be other bags in other colours and other shapes and sizes. None of them say "for girls" or "for boys".

I think the "pink" argument has just got silly. Its just a colour. Some toys are pink and some are other colours. Kids can pick what they like.

Stereotypes are created from parents. What is worse, making a girl wear or use nothing other than pink and princess sparkly things. Or saying a girl can never have pink just because it is seen to be girly.

Answer: both just as bad.

DD1 likes princess, sparkly things and kicking a football about.

DS1 loves teddies and dolls and wearing DD's princess outfits but he won't eat from a pink princess plate.

DS2 is just 2 but loves balls and cars and wearing DD's headbands.

I can't get worked up at all about they like or don't like. Its just stuff.

Merrylegs · 13/06/2014 11:14

It's not the pinkness that's the prob, It's the marketing blurb. If it had said something like 'young children love playing dress up blah blah,' rather then aiming it at girls, would it still irritate?

It's all bollocks anyway. 'Mummy's handbag?' Is trade descriptions... I can't spot the cuddly greying tampon, the soft snotty kleenex or the strokable crumbled weetabix anywhere.

Merrylegs · 13/06/2014 11:15

Read the product description. It is specifically aimed at 'girlie' girls

Summerblaze · 13/06/2014 11:17

You said it better than me merrylegs. Its the blurb that goes with it but nobody says that you can't buy it for a boy. Its not the colour, its the person who writes the shit summary.

AnotherSpinningFuckingRainbow · 13/06/2014 12:13

My DS would have loved that at about a year-18m old. He was obsessed with my handbag and putting on his lipstick!

DadsOverseas · 13/06/2014 12:14

Aibuaddict - thanks for that. Your message made my morning!

MiaowTheCat · 13/06/2014 12:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Whyamihere · 13/06/2014 13:29

I've never bothered buying dd specific colours of anything, she has pink, blue every other colour clothes and toys and at 9 she now knows what she likes, her room is blue and her clothes a variety of colours including both pink and blue.

She also has lego friends, again I don't see the problem, she plays with them all the time and has great role playing adventures with them. The pieces can also be used to make different things, it just needs a bit of imagination. Plus I don't think they are specifically 'hobby or princess' related. Most of her people work and own the shops/riding school etc.

She is neither a girly girl or a tom boy but a wonderful mix of the two who definately knows her own style.