AIBU about gender segregation of annuals in WH Smith?

[Catsize]

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).

should say equally some girls might prefer blue.

Crazy argument. There are bigger issues to worry about.

I will watch the documentary though.

Assasinated not my children. Why shouldn't some girls like glitter.

What would you have instead?

Of course they can like glitter! Lots of children like glitter and sparkles, no issue there at all. I don't want to get rid of glitter, or pink. I do want to challenge the stereotype that it's just for girls and not for boys. The unnecessary and artificial segregation and separation of toys/clothes/books etc. Unless children grow up in total social isolation they absorb what they see around them, unsurprisingly.

It's called paraphrasing, not misquoting. And my point still stands. There are pink and blue versions of the pp annual because for some reason the publishers, makers of the show or someone somewhere believes that pink is for girls and blue is for boys and that is how they and many other companies market their products. There's just no need.

As a mother of daughters I'm sick of having to wade through a sea of pink in terms of clothes and toys, and then having to explain to them time and time again that just because something is pink doesn't mean it's exclusively for girls and vice versa for blue and that if they want the toy that's clearly marketed at boys then that's ok and it doesn't make them odd or different. I don't want my dd's being shoved into a 'pink box'. I want them to like what they like because they genuinely enjoy it, not because the media, tv shows, toys etc tells them to because they are girls.

If it was about giving children a choice, there would be multiple versions of every annual in various colours (not just pink and blue) available. But there isn't.

And the same goes for boys. I don't want boys being shoved into a blue box, I don't want boys looking at an aquabeads toy or similar and thinking "I can't play with that as it's for girls". It's just wrong. And yes children to absorb these messages and it does shape them as they grow older.

If you think there are bigger things to worry about then why even bother posting? Sorry to disappoint but telling me there are worse things in the world won't change how I feel about this particular topic.

I'm a mother of a boy and a girl. My girl is currently wearing a boys onesie that she chose in M and S. She hates pink and doesn't wear skirts or dresses. She likes to play cricket and football.

Her choice. The way the clothes are displayed make no difference to me. Or to her.

If she was being prevented from doing activities or wearing what she wants because she is a girl then I would have a problem with that. She isn't.

I really still don't see the problem but I will watch that documentary.

I also encouraged my son to play with dolls and when he was younger he would happily fancy dress in princess dresses.

I do think that there are more important things to worry about but am intrigued by why the way things are displayed in shops is so bothersome. I'm interested in why because I don't understand it. That's why I am posting. I'm trying to understand the viewpoint.

I've never had to explain to my daughter that the fact she likes star wars, pink, dresses etc. doesn't make her odd or different. Why on earth do you feel the need to do that?

She's who she is.

That's great Tara, I do the same with my own dd's and try to encourage a variety of toys and interests. Unfortunately there are many parents out there who do absorb and reinforce gender stereotypes (my own mil is a perfect example). Which is why this sort of thing needs to be challenged.

sorry should say 'doesn't like pink, dresses etc'.

It's great that your daughter is immune to the influences that she'll be exposed to as she grows up. Some children, like yours, are more resistant to it which is great for them. Perhaps something in their home life is a strong counteraction to the external messages they receive. That puts them in a great position to exercise their true choices.

It's not your daughter that's going to be adversely affected. She won't be describing herself as ugly at aged 7, or underestimating her ability in tests by a huge amount. Surely we should be looking to do the best we can by all children, including those who are more vulnerable to the effects of it? Why persist with an environment and social messages that are harmful to all children?

But how does displaying them differently change this? I'm about to go out so will finish here but will watch the documentary.

assasinated why does pink make girls underestimate their ability. I can't see the connection.

Fat culture is to blame for a lot of this, and unhealthy celeb culture and magazines tv. I can't see the link to the WHSmith display.

Because it reduces artificial and unnecessary separation. The BBC programme showed that outcomes were better for children when their similarities were emphasised rather than their supposed differences. So there's no need for a pink/princess/glitter section and a blue/science/tech section. Just put all the stuff in together in some logical order like alphabetically.

As a kid I looked at and picked from the blue shelf and the pink shelf. It didn't occur to me to be limited to the pink one. They just offered different things.

I've never had to explain to my daughter that the fact she likes star wars, pink, dresses etc. doesn't make her odd or different. Why on earth do you feel the need to do that?

My eldest dd is almost 5 and on numerous occasions she has seen a toy, costume or something in a shop, pointed it out and asked "is that just for girls/boys?". Obviously I explain that it's for anyone who likes it regardless of who they are. I can't be sure how much that is sinking in though.

When I ask her why she thinks x is just for girls/boys she will say something along the lines of "well it's pink which is a girl colour". It makes me sad in a way that this sort of shit has already had an affect on her. Makes me feel like I've failed her in some way.

I was a typical 'tomboy' growing up and was made to feel odd by my peers and even adults at times so that's why I feel the need to point out to my dd's (when the topic comes up) that having interests that don't conform to the majority doesn't make you weird or odd and that it's not ok to treat people differently because of their likes or dislikes.

There were two hour long episodes about it, I'll do a very bad job of summarising it in a short written post tbh. It's more complex than a direct link, it's part of a continuum. The classification of appearance based content and passive content as for girls is part of the issue, leading to girls judging themselves on their appearance only rather than their abilities.

Well put assassinated.

I really think anyone who doesn't see the issue here should watch that BBC documentary. It explains and demonstrates it all so well. I've always been against gender stereotypes and even I didn't realise how truly damaging they are until I saw the documentary. It's a real eye opener.

When I was a child in the 70s and 80s there really wasn't this much obsession with pink and blue. Children's clothes came in a variety of bright colours usually without brands or slogans, toys were just displayed by type. I had a pair of excellent roller boots for my birthday one year, and they only came in one colourway which was blue/red combined. These days they would come in pink or blue, and I'd know very well which ones I'd be supposed to be interested in.

I'm happy with the so-called segregation. Saves time when you're looking for a particular type if annual.
What next: complaining about girls' clothes and boys' clothes being 'segregated'?
In toy shops I want to know what section to go to for to buy WWE figures or doll stuff. Get a grip people.

Megabloks always spring to mind when it comes to this sort of thing. Why on earth does there need to be a set of primary coloured blocks and a separate set of pink/pastel coloured blocks? Why not just have a set of blocks with contains all those colours?? It's mostly babies and young toddlers who play with them and they don't give a shit about colours.

It starts so young

In toy shops I want to know what section to go to for to buy WWE figures or doll stuff. Get a grip people.

No one is saying don't have sections in toy shops.

Just don't have toys segregated by gender. There's no need.

No grip needed, thanks.

Yes. If you are worried about your children succumbing to subliminal messaging you are spend too much time thinking about shop displays and not enough time thinking about parenting.

I agree that people who think 'so what?' Should watch that documentary. The little things do add up to gender stereotyping, and that does have a negative impact on our children.

The book "testosterone rex" by Cordelia fine has just won the science book of the year and further picks apart the scientific basis for believing there are fundamental differences between males and females.

I'd also highly recommend reading "beyond pink and blue parenting" - an eye opening book containing evidence based info such as studies which found mothers talk to their male babies less than their female babies.

And for those wondering why all the fuss about pink? It's nothing to do with colour and all to do with categorisation. Our children detect that gender is an important category and then they pay attention to what is attributed to each group, male and female.

This is important. Why did Lego have to bring out 'girly' Lego ffs?!