To think the cheaper the kids clothes the more gendered the clothing?

[howmuchtoomuch]

DS needed some new tracksuit bottoms for nursery today, so I popped to ASDA. I hadn't realised quite how prolific their gendering of kids clothing was, slogans everywhere!

On the boys side:
‘The louder the better’
‘A bit of dirt never hurt’
‘Rad like dad’

And the girls:
‘Smiley happy dreams’
‘Mummy’s little flower’
‘Giggly and cute’

And the two crimes against fashion I've attached here.

A recent trip to Sainsbury's saw similar results. Whereas a trip to Polarn O Pyret (which I can't afford!) didn't. Not a slogan in sight in PoP!

So why is it that cheaper clothes tend to carry gendered stereotypes? Is it market driven?

It annoys me too. Because I don't have the money to spend on non-supermarket clothing for dd, but that shouldn't mean I have to buy her 'girls are pretty sparkly empty headed morons' clothing.

I buy a lot of her stuff in the boys section. I shouldn't have to!

I don't like the BNP, should we leave them in peace to get on with it? No. You see sexist bullshit going on you should call it out.

My ds has a t-shirt from Boden that says 'I eat dirt', I thought that was a bit shit for them, but then it has a worm on it so I suppose it's OK.

:o

I buy pretty much all my children's clothes from primark or the supermarket. I absolutely agree that there is a LOT of gendered clothing. I do always manage to avoid anything heavily gendered though, it just takes quite a bit more looking.

Primark is the same, all the boys clothes are blue and the girls pink

Not in the older kids section, the majority of girls stuff in my local Primark is black.

Dd has a girls dinosaur jumper from H&M, so they're obviously not playing to the gender stereotype.

I'm having a DD in June. I'm dreading the deluge of pink ruffles from her GPs. They're already going on about 'finally being able to buy pink', they haven't realised that I don't have to dress her in any of it though...

nice one OP - YANBU and I don't think it's a small issue at all. Like you I tried to find non-sloganistic stuff for DD when she was little because it does matter.

Little girls get complimented on their looks or their 'good' behaviour, shit messages for them growing up - I want DD to break rules and find out her boundaries wearing DMs and with a buzz cut.

H&M is quite good for girls. Even the kittens and rainbows can be quite subversive. Older girls stuff has vaguely feminist slogans, which my dd (age 8) likes.

Are dresses / skirts vs trousers gendered and do they keep you awake at night OP?

I dislike kids’ tops that have gender specific slogans like “I’m a little princess” and “I’m a little monkey” but I cope by just not buying them

No TIRFandproud, I think you're taking my point to rather an extreme there. That's fine, I mean, if you want to feel you've gained a point over me, but it just makes you look a bit daft.

I do think this is a class-norms issue, tbh. However, I would say that despite being MC, I have spent large parts of my life with very little income, and have managed to clothe my children inexpensively with no pictures or slogans at all.

Asda, Sainsbury's, Morrisons etc all have plain long-sleeved tops, and t-shirts, you just have to snap them up when they're in. H&M usually have 3 for 2 on plain cotton tops. Gap usually have 40% off, or outlet shops- they used to have a lot of plain cotton clothing, but seem to be far more gendered at the moment. Second hand from NCT sales, eBay, Facebook, friends, mother & baby groups etc keeps costs down. I appreciate that this is easier for smaller children though, than older ones.

I agree it's a class-norms issue, but surely stores should slogan their clothes responsibly? I don't think anyone goes deliberately out of their way to buy heavily gendered clothing, it's just so cheap and plentiful.

It changes with time and trends. My DD's are 13 & 11 now but I remember when they were 1 & 3 all there was was neon or denim for girls and a trend for pink plaid/Lacoste style shirts for boys, whether it was Primark or Next. DD13 shops both sections, she has a pokemon ball T-shirt from primark which was in the boys section but also has a glittery My Little Pony T-shirt from Asda.

No.
The cheapest of the cheap places do plain tees and leggings.

If they sell gendered clothing it 'forces' parents to buy clothing for their girls and boys rather than saving and reusing for the next kid. (Someone will pop up and say they reuse anyway, but it isn't as straight forward as it would have been in the 70s when so much was in primary colours)

Good point DoneDisappeared!

The correct pronunciation of Polarn O Pyret, for the PP who asked, is almost impossible to write phonetically in English, it's got some particularly Swedish sounds, but I'll try:

POOL-ah-rn ('rn' as in the end of 'barn')
o (like the o in 'top')
PY-rett (the y a bit like the y in 'synchronise' but longer)

It means 'The friend and The little one'.

Any other Swedes who'd care to have a go?

I've noticed this too. At the extreme end it's pink fluffy/baby blue prams and diamanté dummy clips.

Oo the Polarn o Pyret website you get $10 off if you spend $255....

Bargain.

It amazes me that so many people get in a flap about gender stereotyping but then also get wound up about the trans movement .

Baby boys clothes in Primark are grey, black karki - they are not very nice seem to destroy easily.

I like Tescos for cheap clothes.

I guess if clothing wasnt so gendered people wouldnt have to conform to a certain look.

I'm not wound up about the trans movement malificent7, not at all.