To think Waitrose shouldn't be categorising their children's cake like this?

[IWantADinosaurCake]

Just looking at cakes for upcoming birthdays on the Waitrose website, and I was disappointed to see that they had classified their children's cakes into Girls Cakes and Boys Cakes.

Girls Cakes consists of cupcakes, barbie and ladybirds, and Boys Cakes includes fire engines, pirate ships and dinosaurs.

I know you don't have to follow the categories, but I find it so sad that Waitrose have designed the categories in this way - what's wrong with just 'Children's Cakes'?

www.waitrose.com/shop/Browse/Groceries/Bread_and_Cakes/Personalised_Cakes_Made_to_Order/Kids_Birthday_Cakes

I don't think it's an issue that will bother your average Waitrose shopper though! i think your wrong and it will.

good old waitrose is going to change it anyway, .

I now want to know the contents of the Space Cake - in my student days these weren't categorised by gender, but definitely weren't for children

Result

Buy your child what they like, get out more and stop being judgemental! Each to their own, we aren't all sheep!!

Cheesecakemom, when I'm searching for toys on websites like Amazon, I search by type of toy, as toys don't have a gender. So I look for science toys, or craft toys, or soft toys or whatever. Searching by age is also helpful. I can't see how searching by someone else's opinion of what is a boys or girls toy would be helpful.

Clothes I just look by the type of clothes eg tops, trousers etc. I try and avoid any categorisation by gender as I want to see all the trousers (or whatever) and choose from there, rather than someone else's restricted opinion on what boys/girls should wear.

I don't see why people are getting so cross about the OP having an opinion on this.

Sorry but why is this a problem? Do you do the same when buying toys on amazon? Or clothes for your kids online?

well its problem enough for waitrose to be de catorgarising their cakes!

Who has said that "we're all sheep" - what do you mean Cheesecakemom?

• We aren't all sheep for sure! Children can read and are influenced by what they read: BRILLIANT CAKE OH...its for boys, cue explanation as to why its not for just boys.

Its ridiculous I want to buy the cake if she wants it not have stupid convo about why they think its not for girls.

It has wider and deeper implications you dont seem to grasp cheesecake mom and thats fine too blissful ignorance

No-one's stopping you buying them, a child shouldn't have to see that their interests are 'wrong' and labelled for the opposite sex. Learning to fit in is quite hard enough without suddenly discovering that some company thinks you're getting 'being a boy' wrong because you like ladybirds.

Completely ridiculous. I have emailed them to complain: [email protected]

It's ridiculous isn't it.

I have only ever bought one birthday cake for DD. And that was for her third birthday when I held her first party. I bought a chocolate train cake from M & S. It was boiling hot and it melted in the heat.

Every time I come on MN, there's a new thread about some form of genderisation. Unless you have to submit a birth certificate stating the sex of your child to buy one of these cakes, then why do you care?
It probably does make it easier for some parents to filter the cakes they don't want. God forbid, a little girl might actually want a girly cake, who knew?!

Unless a child is shopping for a cake themselves on Waitrose online, this doesn't affect them.

That is ridiculous. Have also just seen this:

Oxfam unwrapped (those are the sponsor a goat gifts) for women
and
Oxfam unwrapped for men

Oxfam for god's sake! Who should know better than to exacerbate the gender divide.

There's a grand total of 16 cakes to look at on there seriously who needs to filter it to make it easier!

Arf at "out of space cake" though

I think it matters. I'm so sick of the constant messages that boys like one thing and girls like another. Real children are all very different, there's not two distinct types of child.

How is it easier?

Seriously, give me one (tenuous as you like) reason why sorting 16 cakes into the categories "for boys" and "for girls" will make shopping for a birthday cake easier.

Then if you can tell me why ladybirds are for girls that'd be great.

Seems pointless and bizarre to me.

I think it matters. ALL this genderised nonsense matters and needs to be challenged. Glad Waitrose are rectifying.

School are asking kids to make a cracker for fair and label it to say if it is for girls or boys. DD was disgusted and is going to talk to teacher.

(How are baby ladybirds made if all ladybirds are girls?)

I think it matters, and I'm sad that so many people on this thread think it doesn't.

Young girls and boys pick up on the expectations we have of them. 'Unimportant' things like this have a huge impact, perhaps because they are so casual and everyday.

How are we going to train our girls to be the engineers and rocket scientists of the future if they are not even allowed a dinosaur cake and are restricted to barbie and all her associated gender stereotyping weirdness? I hear those of you who are saying it's okay to buy cakes from the wrong section, but children are by no means stupid and this is not good enough because the children know it is "wrong".

Really glad waitrose are changing this. I'm a childminder and would not dream of dividing toys into gender this way (and if I did, ofsted would have something to say about it! )

"Some people do prefer to shop this way though, which is why stores categorise products into boys and girls."

Really?

How on earth do they cope buying vegetables?

Pausing Flatly
I think the Girl Veg would be all the dainty baby versions. And anything already washed and prepared and that smells nice
Boy Veg would of course be muddy and maybe have caterpillars on
Sad thing is the way things are going there are people who would seriously agree with that...