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

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:
Thread gallery
7
Decaffstilltastesweird · 03/09/2017 16:19

If you ask people why they want a girl, they will nearly always include "so i can dress her in pretty clothes".

Shudder.

I didn't find out the sex of dc1 until she was born. I really struggled to find anything which wasn't pink or blue. I once had her in a blue dress and a man was utterly incredulous when I said she was a girl Confused.

Eolian · 03/09/2017 16:40

If you ask people why they want a girl, they will nearly always include "so i can dress her in pretty clothes".

Yup. MIL (who is generally a very nice woman) had two sons herself and was delighted when we had a dd for her to buy girly stuff for. She tries not to make it too obvious that she'd prefer dd to like pink,
'girly' stuff (which she did until she was about 4) but dd isn't daft and is quite aware of this.

Gileswithachainsaw · 03/09/2017 16:46

Am awful lot of people also seen surprisingly offended if someone makes a mistake as well.

As if it's somehow obvious like in cartoons with the extra long eyelashes and pink tinge to the eyes that it's a girl.

I'm sorry sorry but they pretty much all look the same when they aren't your own and what's the big deal if someone says "as isn't he lovely" when you have a dd

They think you have a cute little baby take it as a compliment ffs

killjoy50 · 03/09/2017 16:47

I don't get this. Girls have always been able to wear boys clothes. They might get called a "tomboy" (which is normally seen as a compliment) but nobody would really care. If a boy was to wear a dress with flowers he would get so much hassle from his friends and from society in general and be called all sorts of (non-complimentary) names. Girls already have a much wider choice and can wear skirts, dresses, frills, sports stuff, trainers etc. Much easier to put dinosaurs on a dress (which John Lewis has now done ) than to put flowers on a boys top. I think this is more of a feminist inspired move than making things genuinely gender neutral.

Eolian · 03/09/2017 17:30

I don't get this. Girls have always been able to wear boys clothes.

You don't get why it's stupid to call a pair of plain blue trousers 'boys' trousers'? You don't get why girls being 'allowed' to wear so-called 'boys' clothes' doesn't make it ok? What actual logic is there in a plain coloured t-shirt being in a specific section of the shop based on what sex it ought to be for?

TheAntiBoop · 03/09/2017 17:47

This should be more helpful for boys - eg the red wellies above

Decaffstilltastesweird · 03/09/2017 19:10

I'm sorry sorry but they pretty much all look the same when they aren't your own and what's the big deal if someone says "as isn't he lovely" when you have a dd

I agree. My DD was frequently mistaken for a boy. It never bothered me, except for the man I mentioned in my last post, who was utterly incredulous:

Man: ah how cute. How old is he? (or something like that)
Me: oh she's a she actually. She's 10 weeks old (or whatever - not offended)
Man: Shock she?

She was wearing a blue dress you see, so clearly she was a boy, despite what I said Confused.

Rufustherenegadereindeer1 · 03/09/2017 19:19

decaff

I had similar with dd, she was wearing a flowery onsie with blue trousers over the bottom half

Lady ....oh isnt he lovely

Me....shes a girl

Lady...are you sure

Shock

To be fair i think she mispoke but i did think 'well im fairly sure'

reallyanotherone · 03/09/2017 19:29

I had it all the time. Dd had short hair and i was constantly being asked why i'd dressed her as a girl, why i'd let her go out after "getting in her sisters dressing up box".

If i put her in non girl stuff- like jeans and a jumper, people would actually challenge me on the sex of my child.

Once, about 2 years old, we were in a swimming pool and she had a gang of kids try and corner her and tease her about her "girls" swimsuit.

I posted on a forum much like this one at the time and was pretty roundly told IWBU, and should "let" the child grow her hair, then this shit wouldn't happen.

Kr1stina · 03/09/2017 19:31

I assume we are playing Stupid Comment Bingo, so can I just throw in

" I'm worried my daughter will become a lesbian if I dress her in gender neutral clothing "

" how will I find the pink frilly dresses if they are labelled " dresses aged 1-7 " instead of " girls dresses aged 1-7" ? "

"Personally I blame Jeremy Corbyn"

Rufustherenegadereindeer1 · 03/09/2017 19:33

I have an adorable picture of ds2 at about 2 wearing every piece of crap plastic jewelry dd owned

He still loves all his jewelry at 14

I walked in in him the other day and he was wearing every bit of the jewelry he owns Grin

Rufustherenegadereindeer1 · 03/09/2017 19:33

Sorry i will stop now Blush

Rufustherenegadereindeer1 · 03/09/2017 19:34

kr1stina

Grin
Lifechallenges · 03/09/2017 19:34

I am delighted. I can not stand all the labels that have clearly told my DD since she was 2 and realised, that she should be wearing 'girls' stuff. She hated pink, flowers, fairies and being labelled a princess.
She wanted boy stuff. She then wanted to be a boy to fit in with what she wanted to wear.
We are well past that now 6 years later but parents should never underestimate the effect it has. She has a range of boys and girls cut clothes in loads of colours inc pink but still no princesses. Loads of action heros, football and science stuff instead. And the odd party dress.

demirose87 · 03/09/2017 19:38

I was in there today. They still had typical "girls" clothes in separate sections to the typical " boys" clothes. Only thing that was different was it had "girls and boys" written on all the labels.

demirose87 · 03/09/2017 19:42

Still had all the pink and frilly girls tops and dresses and boys blue stuff but just labelled as girls and boys.

Lifechallenges · 03/09/2017 19:53

I also think a lot of people 1. Really don't understand the aim of removing damaging gender divisons for children which have life long impacts 2. A lot of people are guilty of strereotyping their children without realising it. Was at kids Rugby this week ( age 6-9 mixed tag) and a mother was asked if her spectator daughter wanted to have a go. The mother turned to her daughter and told her "daddy wouldnt want you to play rugby sweetie'... I nearly spat my coffee out

conserveisposhforjam · 03/09/2017 20:00

They might get called a "tomboy" (which is normally seen as a compliment)

Ever thought about that at all analytically? Nothing you can see that might be a bit...shit about that?

orlantina · 03/09/2017 20:00

I was helping out somewhere yesterday and we were selling slippers. The person asked me if I had any male slippers. I did say they're just slipper and can be for a man or a woman but I don't think they appreciated that.

conserveisposhforjam · 03/09/2017 20:02

it had "girls and boys" written on all the labels

I fucking love them. I am going to buy EVERYTHING from JL FOREVER now.

Hear that JL? I fuckin' luffs you Grin

orlantina · 03/09/2017 20:04

They still had typical "girls" clothes in separate sections to the typical " boys" clothes

Did they have labelled sections? As in 'girl sections' and ''boy sections'?

Cookiesandcake · 03/09/2017 20:04

I think the whole thing is ridiculous tbh. All of it. Boys clothes sections, girls clothes sections, all clothes together, people getting annoyed or praising it. None if it matters, it's your choice and your kids choice what you want to do and there will always be somebody who complains no matter which way shops do things. If my ds wants a pink shirt with princesses on I'll buy one. If he wants a blue shirt with dinosaurs on I'll buy one. They're just clothes. There will always be someone complaining about the way things are done, so just buy the clothes you like.

2mum17 · 03/09/2017 20:06

Think its a completely pointless what is wrong with having boys or girls sections at the end of the day my ds would never wear anything intended for a girl and he knows which is which therefore whats the point its been fine for plenty of years and nobody cared so why change it

conserveisposhforjam · 03/09/2017 20:07

if my ds wants a pink shirt with princesses on I'll buy one

Yeah. He won't though if it's got 'girl' written on the label and all the other kids take the piss. So he won't and you won't and that is the problem that this is one teensy little baby step towards solving.

conserveisposhforjam · 03/09/2017 20:08

It's almost as though people aren't RTFT...