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Original poster

John Lewis removing gendered sections in kids clothing

572 replies

moutonfou · 02/09/2017 12:46

John Lewis has announced they are no longer having 'boys' and 'girls' clothing sections. Just kids clothing. Which to me sounds fair enough. I had to buy several football shirts from the boys section as a kid and always felt like they weren't 'for me' and that someone was going to notice and call me out on it.

On some of the news outlets' Facebook posts about this, there are the most OTT comments from people who seem to have interpreted this as an attempt to make all kids be 100% gender fluid, stop calling them boys and girls at all, make all boys wear dresses, etc etc.

AIBU to be frustrated that people can't see the value of just letting kids like what they like, and that it's not all some sinister agenda??

OP posts:
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withlotsoflove · 02/09/2017 12:48

Well John Lewis haven decided to be kind- they just saw a gap and decided to be first.
I've always bought what l want / from where l want.
My boys are big- it was a nightmare trying to get things with guns or monsters on them.
Parents of little ones have it easier now- l'm glad for them! :)

withlotsoflove · 02/09/2017 12:48

*haven't

withlotsoflove · 02/09/2017 12:49

.*without guns/ monsters
Sorry - l'm tired!

SuburbanRhonda · 02/09/2017 12:49

They're separated by sex, not gender. Or were.

Ttbb · 02/09/2017 12:52

Why? This is just going to make it more difficult to go shopping. Or are they making the clothing gender neutral? Where am I supposed to buy tweed suits for toddlers now!

Original poster
moutonfou · 02/09/2017 12:53

I presume they will still keep similar items together e.g. dresses, so if you're not in the market for a dress you can easily skip past them. But in terms of things like tshirts, I presume they'll all just be together and you can pick the tshirt that has something that you/your little one likes on it? If anything there should be more choice.

OP posts:
BarbarianMum · 02/09/2017 12:54

It would be a lot more revolutionary if they actually started stocking a wider range of clothing styles/colours. From my visit the other week it still seems to be largely pink/purple on the one hand and blue with skulls/robots on the other.

LespritDescalier · 02/09/2017 12:54

I was in a shop yesterday looking for toddler pyjamas, and asked an assistant, the very first question asked was "is it for a boy or a girl?". I said it doesn't matter, just pyjamas and she just asked me again!

I had to go to 2 totally distinct sections carrying pyjamas between them to compare them. All the "girls" ones were pink and white with flowers/unicorns/frozen on them and all the "boys" were blue and red and bright colours with footballs and cars and batman on them.
It's stupid and it's annoying, so good for JL.

usernameinfinito · 02/09/2017 12:54

It will make shopping more difficult, that's all.

Witsender · 02/09/2017 12:56

How will it make it more difficult? Need a t shirt, look for a t shirt aurel

Justanothernameonthepage · 02/09/2017 12:57

This is going to make shopping so much easier for me so I'm happy, no more hunting through different sections just to find clothes my kids will love.

Namechangeblock · 02/09/2017 12:57

I think it's great - I can go and let my kids pick their clothes without tthem feeling it's "not for them".

PinkCrystal · 02/09/2017 12:57

Great news

TakemedowntoPotatoCity · 02/09/2017 12:59

This is good news.

LespritDescalier · 02/09/2017 13:01

It won't be more difficult, it will be much easier. Girls can have blue jumpers without having to go in what they call "the boys section" and vice versa. All kids clothes in together is so much easier!

AnneGrommit · 02/09/2017 13:02

The thing is, the clothes themselves are still gendered. Which is the trouble with all of this so called gender neutral stuff - the lines are there, probably more so. But now it's become a question of identity to cross them.

LespritDescalier · 02/09/2017 13:03

Yes but its a good first step.

Glumglowworm · 02/09/2017 13:04

I think it's good

Nobody is saying girls can't wear dresses or boys must wear dresses. Just that there's no need to segregate t-shirts along stereotyped gender lines.

Children's clothing should be soft, easy to put on and take off, and appropriate for the weather and whatever activity they're doing. Parents will have preferences for colours and styles and as they get older so will children. Their genitals don't influence any of those things.

EmpressOfTheSpartacusOceans · 02/09/2017 13:04

I think that a lot of transpeople will hate this idea if anything. Eliminating gender markers (and I do mean gender) from clothes could lead to meaning that wearing a dress is no longer a sign of being a woman.

LespritDescalier · 02/09/2017 13:05

I think that a lot of transpeople will hate this idea if anything. Eliminating gender markers (and I do mean gender) from clothes could lead to meaning that wearing a dress is no longer a sign of being a woman

Then I'm even happier about it!

Montsti · 02/09/2017 13:07

I find this irritating and it'll make it more of a faff when shopping...

I don't get why it's such a problem having a girls and boys section. If you want to buy a traditionally boys outfit for a girl or viceversa or neutral then that's completely upto you....

My kids "at the moment" adhere to gender stereotypes as far as clothing and toys etc...are concerned and so if I'm looking for a pair of "boys" shorts for my son then I'll head to the relevant age/gender section in the shop...

When one of my daughters has gone through a phase of not wanting to wear dresses/skirts/pink then I won't buy them that...but it doesn't offend/upset them or me if we look at other colours/sections...I really don't get why it's so offensive...

I was always a girly girl who wore football shirts when I went to matches etc...even though they were in the boys section...it didn't traumatize me...

Kpo58 · 02/09/2017 13:08

I don't see the point in unlabeling the sections if all the clothes are still heavily gendered.

I wonder if they are going to put the sleepwear section together or the underwear.

NikiBabe · 02/09/2017 13:08

I think that a lot of transpeople will hate this idea if anything. Eliminating gender markers (and I do mean gender) from clothes could lead to meaning that wearing a dress is no longer a sign of being a woman

😃✋

TheAntiBoop · 02/09/2017 13:08

Dd gets half her clothes in the boys department so we tend to walk the whole floor anyway. Not that we buy much in JL

The only time I can see this being annoying is when you're looking for a certain cut of trouser or Jean.

HateSummer · 02/09/2017 13:12

I don't really care. I always dressed my children however I wanted to. DS wore pink tights for a long time as a toddler under his trousers. Dd wore a lot of boys jumpers as a toddler and child too.

I will carry on buying things I want for them. If people are conditioned by how shops decide to arrange their shop ware then it's sad how weak minded they are.