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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU about gender segregation of annuals in WH Smith?

196 replies

Catsize · 21/09/2017 17:21

I think that MN is getting to my inner core.

Photo was taken today in a lovely market town branch of WH Smith. Went in with my partner and 3yr old daughter to see weird subliminal messaging in the display of annuals.

If you are a girl, you'll be interested in the 'Disney Princess, Frozen, pink Paw Patrol(!!), MLP, Beauty and the Beast' shelf.
If you're a boy, you'll be interested in 'Star Wars, Minecraft, Doctor Who, blue Paw Patrol(!!) and Lego Ninjago'.

I've a 5yr old boy and 3yr old girl who like a mixture of these things but the subliminal messaging won't be lost on them.
Tempted to send them an email but want to know if I would be unreasonable in doing so.

My partner stopped me from rearranging the shelves there and then (I felt slightly entitled as I worked there as a teenager).

AIBU about gender segregation of annuals in WH Smith?
OP posts:
Original poster
Catsize · 21/09/2017 17:56

delete, you've put very well what I was trying to say. Of course I'll buy the annual they'd like, but the issue goes further. Ages ago I did a thread because my son wanted to try Aquabeads but did not think he could because they were all 'for girls'. Not because they were pink (which they were) but because they had photos of girls on. I hear adults doing it all the time too. Just a week ago, my son was looking at things in a shop and the owner steered him away towards the 'boys things'. He'd only been in there three seconds. It is the inner feelings of those children who feel they don't conform that I am bothered about. After toys, we move to school subjects etc.

OP posts:
Original poster
Catsize · 21/09/2017 17:59

And yes, the documentary referred to above was fascinating and depressing in equal measure!

OP posts:
DeleteOrDecay · 21/09/2017 18:04

Does it really matter????

Yes. Watch the BBC documentary No More Boys and Girls to find out why.

CastIronCookware · 21/09/2017 18:06

They're not arranged by type, otherwise the two Paw Patrol ones would be together.

This.

The fact that so many comments on this thread see them as arranged by 'type' is evidence of how blind society has become to stereotyping,

Why aren't Disney Princess next to Star Wars? Why are Disney and My Little Pony considered the same 'type' on the same shelf but Lego isn't?

If you welcome gender stereotyping then at least be honest about it; don't try and excuse it.

DeleteOrDecay · 21/09/2017 18:08

And as a pp said if they were arranged by type, why aren't the two Paw Patrol annual next to each other on the shelf?

Clearly one PP annual is aimed at girls and one is aimed at boys. It doesn't need to specifically say it on the cover, it's blindingly obvious.

BellaGoth · 21/09/2017 18:09

Missing the point spectacularly here, but is that a PJ Masks annual on the bottom shelf? If so I'm hitting wh smiths tomorrow!

arethereanyleftatall · 21/09/2017 18:10

I have no problem with this whatsoever.

It makes my life much easier.

Both my girls will only want the princess and fairy stuff (even though they have been offfered everything) so it's easier to have it bunched together.

Yabu.

MaryWortleyMontagu · 21/09/2017 18:10

I dislike gender stereotyping and believe that there is no such thing as a "boys (or girls) toy, dvd or book etc. But unless there is a sign out of shot this is not what the picture shows. The shelf hasn't been arranged according to gender. Yes the pinkification and the subliminal messages are pretty depressing, but they're not expressedly labelled as "girls books".

mintich · 21/09/2017 18:12

It doesn't say boys or girls so it's actually you who has assumed that the annuals are for boys or for girls

mintich · 21/09/2017 18:12

It doesn't say boys or girls so it's actually you who has assumed that the annuals are for boys or for girls

chaplin1409 · 21/09/2017 18:13

I don't see what's wrong. I have 4 children and I buy them what they would like not girl or boy. I do think people are just making a fuss over nothing.

DeleteOrDecay · 21/09/2017 18:15

It doesn't have to be specifically labelled as 'for boys' and 'for girls' for it to be encouraging gender stereotypes though does it.

Why does there need to be two separate paw patrol annuals? What is the purpose of having one pink one and one blue one? Genuine question.

RunningOutOfCharge · 21/09/2017 18:15

I don't see what's wrong either

I thought no op thought she had discovered some big 'thing' we could all jump on!

Original poster
Catsize · 21/09/2017 18:17

True Mary. Not as bad as the 'Stories for 5yr old Boys' and 'Stories for 5yr old Girls' books that there are lurking.

I think that what was so sad about the documentary referred to is the lack of self-esteem bad confidence in the girls versus the confidence of the boys.

It was fascinating to learn that a boy and a girl of the same height have the same potential re:physical strength until about the age of 10. And great to see how that was explored with the children!

OP posts:
Original poster
Catsize · 21/09/2017 18:18

Yes Bella, it is. Quite a good offer in fairness - don't forget to get a second one for £1!

OP posts:
nooka · 21/09/2017 18:20

I can't really see the point the OP is making from that photo, probably because my children are teenagers and so the pictures on the annuals aren't familiar, but if she is right about there being two different places for the paw patrol annuals, then they clearly aren't being ordered by type. That there are pink and blue paw patrol annuals is pretty sad in of itself too.

John Lewis don't have any 'gender fluid' clothes or ranges btw, they have just decided to rearrange their displays by type of clothes (ie trousers together, dresses together, t-shirts together, pajamas together etc). Not a massive change, just symbolic.

What are 'girls books' and why is there a need for a separate display of them? If they aren't flower fairy type pink and glittery books (the 'too girly' ones I assume that poster was thinking about) then I'm even more confused. Adult books are divided by genre. There are genres that are more heavily marketed at men/women, but I've never seen science fiction/romance with 'for women/men' signs so why do that for children?

taratill · 21/09/2017 18:20

Deleteordecay some girls only like pink things. They wouldn't want a paw patrol book if it was blue. Some boys might prefer the pink version as well.

My daughter hates pink so would want the blue version. My niece (raised with the same values) loves pink and would only pick pink.

I have another niece who was dressed only in blue as a baby and toddler and now as a teenager adores a 'girly look'.

I do think this issue is a bit over thought. It has ever been thus. I'm not sure that many people have been damaged by it.

andbabymakesthree · 21/09/2017 18:20

It's bloody everywhere.

Yanbu

The blue paw patrol is with the "boys stuff"

Pink paw patrol with the "girls stuff"

lollipop7 · 21/09/2017 18:21

God I am sick to death of reading and hearing about this decidedly first world problem.

I can see it's the next layer of the onion following on from suffragettes to sex discrimination and vital changes to the Law but seriously getting your knickers in a knot about clothes and annuals seems somehow insulting to the very really struggles that pervaded our forebears.

I am uncomfortable with it, not because I don't understand the significant cultural issues referring gender, capability and the whole transition debate but because aspects of this seem a bit hobbyhorsey to me.

Probably just me but I wonder

taratill · 21/09/2017 18:21

nooka I don't think that's right about John Lewis they still have girls and boys sections as well. At least they did last time I was in, along side that was a gender neutral range.

Original poster
Catsize · 21/09/2017 18:22

It was after reading a thread on here that I saw how often Skye is missed out of the Paw Patrol merchandise.

OP posts:
taratill · 21/09/2017 18:22

lollipop very well said I completely agree.

DeleteOrDecay · 21/09/2017 18:27

Deleteordecay some girls only like pink things. They wouldn't want a paw patrol book if it was blue. Some boys might prefer the pink version as well.

And you've just proved my point.

Have you ever stopped to think about why this might be. Because girls liking pink and rejecting blue and boys liking blue and rejecting pink hasn't happened organically. It's not something that is built into us.

AssassinatedBeauty · 21/09/2017 18:29

After watching the BBC documentary I can't see how people can't make the connection between sex-based stereotyping of young children and the issues they identified in their study. It was shocking that the boys only knew words to describe the emotion of anger and no other emotions at all. It was shocking that so many of the girls massively underestimated their abilities both physical and intellectual. That one 7 year old girl described herself as ugly, and the majority of the rest used words about their appearance only to describe what kind of person they were. After the short time that the BBC team made their changes (it was just a few weeks as I recall), the children had made massive leaps in their abilities, their behaviour, their confidence and so on.

The example the OP gave is the thin end of that wedge. I find it shocking that people are so keen to hang on to these rigid stereotypes to the detriment of our young girls and boys.

lollipop7 · 21/09/2017 18:29

I am struggling to contain my incredulity at the fact there was a thread on here expressing consternation regarding Skye's lack of representation in Paw Patrol merchandise.