to think MNHQ should know better than to feature photos of babies in headbands (preumably to denote female) on this site?

[bibbitybobbityyhat]

Of all places!

Come on HQ. Pull your finger out!

It took me while to figure out the reason the objection. First I thought it was on fashion grounds (they IMHO look daft) or from a safety point of view (they may slip and strangle the baby). But no, they are contributing it gender stereotyping! Well at least I now know their purpose is to signal that the child is a girl, which surely is the case for pink/flowery clothes and dresses. Here I was thinking that these bands were a misguided attempt to make badly babies look less bald.

*bold

It got a bit annoying correcting them so I can see why colours can be useful to show a baby's gender

So because you dressed your DD in blue, people assumed he was a boy? That assumption annoyed you so you decided to dress your DD in pink to signify she was a girl?

Which then gets other parents annoyed because their boy who wears pink will be assumed to be a girl.

So they put their DS in blue - which then annoys other parents who get upset their DD in blue is a boy etc

I wonder why people assume a baby in blue is a boy and in pink is a girl

but how do you know you don't see boys in headbands? that's you presuming if it's wearing a headband it's a girl.

Just had a search for the photo. They do make the (bald) babies look a bit ridiculous.

Headbands (except in the cases of babies with masses of hair - obviously) are always used by parents of, lets just say, androgynous babies, never feminine-looking babies.

They might be all girls. So it's a great picture showing baby girls at a computer.

Blue and pink really does annoy me - blue bikes full of action pictures, boys doing stuff and pink showing girls doing housework. Like it or not, children do associate blue as boy's stuff and pink as girls' stuff. It's so enforced and it sends hidden messages.

BUT the headband picture. I don't see it. I do get the OP's idea of the reinforced message girls get about appearance and how it starts early. The language used towards children reinforces how they see themselves and what they see 'gets a positive response'.

Im going to be bold and bet my house that 90 per cent or more of babies you see in head bands are female. And they are wearing them because the parents want them to look "cute" or female. And that IS an issue and yes of course there are bigger ones but this is part of the bigger issue. Just like pink and blue hoods on a twin pram. If you don't care then fine (well not fine really but I'm not going to try and persuade you) but it is not, imo, a small or trivial thing.

Im going to be bold and bet my house that 90 per cent or more of babies you see in head bands are female. And they are wearing them because the parents want them to look "cute" or female

Do you think the other babies are male or female?

Do you think babies shouldn't wear headbands?

but it is not, imo, a small or trivial thing.

Yes it imo really really is....

Do you think we could start a campaign and get a few MPs on board OP? I feel as strongly as you do and will not rest till these items are considered as serious developmental delay devices - the same way one might consider giving a shot of rum to a baby. Just not on.

I'm really struggling with the pram thing here, surely a pram that is half-blue, half-pink is almost, like, the very definition of gender-neutral 😅

I honestly don't know why you're still posting on MN, bibbity. It's another week and you've got another gripe.

And none of the objectors have answered my question as to whether they have girls with long hair or wearing dresses or indeed if they do themselves? I don't see why babies are the only ones that have to be neutral. As long as they are treated the same regardless of whether they are male or female babies then does it matter? In the image, all babies seem to have equal access to the laptop regardless if which gender the OP has assigned them.

YANBU. Horrid articles.

Hopeless addict innit Fairy. I try to leave but its terribly Hotel California in here.

As long as they are treated the same regardless of whether they are male or female babies then does it matter

TBF - there is plenty of research out there that babies are treated differently if they are assumed to be male or female. The language and the way they are treated. Not by all people but even the way a baby and toddler is spoken to and encouraged is different if they are assumed to be boy or girl.

Maybe the photographer had unconscious bias. We'll put the boys in front and these two must be girls so they sit on the left and right .

Do explain the issue of dressing a child to look cute or female? When was it decreed that looking either was of detriment to the person?

amispartacus, my son is getting a dark blue/black bike with Avengers stickers on it for Christmas. Because he's like a new bike and he loves the Avengers. I have seen bikes in all the colours of the rainbow, so what's wrong with having one with action figures on for those that want one? If you don't like it, don't buy it, but some of us want to. Where's the issue?

You are assuming also that the ones without headbands are boys as well as that the ones with are girls.

Ffs I don't like them, but couldn't give a flying fuck about them using pictures of them on the site. People can dress babies as they choose, get the hell over it.

1stTimeMama - your arguments seem to be "if you don't like it don't buy it". You don't appear to want to give any further thought to the issues raised by gender signalling and girls needing to be enhanced or prettified, so dont ask me to waste my time in spoon feeding it to you. I'm glad a few other posters on the thread understand me and yes, am disappointed that most are in the don't care camp.

Well you could have just said yabu or yanbu you know Helen! Are you having a bad morning ?

Do you have daughters Babbitt?

Auto correct! bibbity

I have one. Why?