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?

The trouble is there is no point paaying loads of money for clothes that last a few months.

Dd used to be a glittery pink princess ( her choice.)
She is now a complete tomboy and wouldnt be seen dead in pink or glitter. She loves camoflage...so i think they grow out of it and clotjing becomes less gendered as they get older....even in Primark!

excuse typos

I agree OP and it's awful.

POP have good sales, i only ever buy it at 50% off. It's ridiculously durable and you can sell it on ebay for close to what you buy it for.

I think gendered clothing is doing children a disservice. Clothes affect self image and how others treat them (peers as well as adults). It harks back to the 50s when girls aspired to be pretty, demure, decorative. Boys were out having adventures, learning to be strong, brave and capable.

You can't run and climb well in a skirt or dress, or a top with ruffles and pom poms. Or shoes with bows and no grip.

My advice is check both sections in shops. There are some odd manufacturer rules like stripes are generally for boys and polka dots for girls (wtf?) and the only shade of blue in the girls section generally being what I call Frozen Blue (the colour of Elsa's dress)

Have you checked the H&M website? I clicked on kids and immediately saw these 3 plain-ish t-shirts?

Just realized you have a son not daughter.

Have you tried Zara or Gap?

AdultHumanFemale that was me asking about pronunciation, thanks! Will try to memorise (but will probably forget and carry on saying Pole Arn ee Pirate).

The trouble is there is no point paaying loads of money for clothes that last a few months

I disagree. I buy top of the range Scandi brands (Polarn, Moromini, Krutter etc) they last for years, being passed around the family then sold on to be used again.

Absolitely. Dont see this gender crap in Polen y pyret

H&M are fab. I love this t shirt.

I'm not entirely sure I've observed the same as a lot of PP. I buy DC cheapish clothes, none of is particularly gendered or with slogans because I just choose what I like from the selection they have in whatever shop it is, whether that's Primark or John Lewis, they all sell plain coloured clothing or clothes with bears or stripes or whatever. I don't really accept the premise that cheap = excessively gendered. It certainly doesn't reflect my experience.

Yanbu, OP. Check out The Children’s Place (cheap US shop) if you want further proof...

www.childrensplace.com/us/home

Slogan clothes are horrible anyway. Personally I don't care whether it says "GAP", "Gucci", "daddy's little princess", "hipster", or "feminist warrior": they're all pretty naff imo. Dislike them on adults too, but at least the adults have chosen to wear them.

I get Boden and polarn o pyret stuff on eBay. eBay has honestly been a godsend for me as a parent, so much decent clothing for dirt cheap. I also love H&M.

Agreed about supermarkets and primark, they’ve always been the same. Always a lot of Disney clothing too.

Oh, adulthumanfemale, how disappointing
I assumed it meant polar bear and pirate!

YABU because - Monsoon- you honestly couldnt get more gendered than dressing a girl like victorian flower fairy and a boy like an edwardian gentleman about town.... and its fairly pricey too. So point disproved.

Cornetto, your daughter reminds me of a little girl I babysat once. As I tucked her up I said 'Night night pigeon'. She replied, 'I'm NOT a pigeon! I'm a princess! A DINOSAUR princess!'

I stood corrected!

Supermarket clothing does seem to be particularly bad for it.

You don't have to buy into it though. I buy all my children's clothes (and my own clothes and books, toys, furniture etc, I'm not selectively mean!) from charity shops and eBay. I don't see the point in new things. So we have good quality, branded/designer wardrobes for far less money than we'd spend even in Asda.

Its awful. The shops are set out to herd us all into gender groups. My DD loves H&M and we buy a lot of clothes that don't come from the 'girls section' they have dinosaur patterns, tigers etc.
If anyones daughter only likes pink clothes ask yourself why. Is it because the clothes shops have decided she should?

I would put my daughter in a superhero tshirts or I eat soil tshirt if I/she liked it. When she liked daddy pig she wore clothes from the boys section because they always had George & daddy pig. If a boy wants a shine & sparkle like a fairy tshirt buy him it.

Most children's clothes are gender neutral. It doesn't matter what section of the store it is in.

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

But that's just it. It perpetuates the myth that girls are like x and boys are like y. Personality traits are not female or male. That's why gendered clothing is so harmful. I do think the colour is a secondary issue but clothes with slogans that describe personality always tend to be gender stereotyped.

Most children's clothes are gender neutral

My son was about 5 when he started refusing to wear clothes he saw as 'girly' they are gender neutral in the sense that anyone could wear them but they are targeted at a specific gender and children know that from a young age.

Slogans on a T-shirt will make them behave a certain way??? Yes. My son thinking he is Superman has ruined our lives.

The message on boys clothing is usually positive. Girls get'sparkles' 'princess' 'glitter' 'unicorns' 'shine'
It's utter BS. Always pink, always sequins. And yes the OP is correct - cheap stores are the worst. Why must girls like pink? Why must boys like blue? If your answer is 'they don't' then you can be part of the solution

I managed to clothe two boys for 12 yrs on a very tight income without a single slogan and in reds, oranges, greens and browns. I shopped at Tesco, Sainsbury, H&M, and Asda.

There is no need to buy gendered clothing with awful slogans if you don't want to. But they won't stop selling them till people stop buying them.