To think the NH museum shop letting girls down?

[Ambam]

So my daughter loves dinosaurs. I wanted to get her a dinosaur t-shirt for her birthday and went to the Natural History Museum online shop. But to me the vast majority of their kids clothes look stereotypically boyish (in terms of the colour palette and graphics). www.nhmshop.co.uk/toys-and-games/kids-clothes-and-accessories.html#4

She’s pretty gender heavy and I don’t reckon she’d like them.

This was a while ago but I’m now in the same position and just checked their shop again. It’s exactly the same. I get that you can say girls can wear any of the clothes they sell but, like I said, to me most of the colours and graphics align exactly with the “boys” section of most kids clothing shops. Kids aren’t stupid. They notice how things are pitched.

AIBU unreasonable or do you think their collection is a bit sexist?

[Edited by MNHQ to remove identifying info]

You're the one letting your daughter down, OP. Not the NH Museum. You are the one gender stereotyping and allowing her to be swept along in it.

As to stereotypically feminine colours are we talking purple and pink? And I'm assuming pastels?

I would guess some of it is the "male by default" position (which is obnoxious AF, obviously and dangerous according to Invisible Women, which had never really occurred to me before but now gives me fear).

I would assume it's also in part to do with availability of fabric/pricing of materials. I may be completely off base but with pigments and dyes used in lots of the art supplies I work with pastel colours are a lot harder to manufacture consistently and maintain a stable formulation (it's why super pale pastel alcohol markers are only found in the lines of the crazy expensive brands), it's a lot easier to maintain a consistent colour with a single strong coloured pigment in a primary colour.

I think a more interesting question is why are the "girl" colours washed out, insipid versions of the "boy" ones? I feel very sad about the options available in some shops. Where are you going to get your visual interest from? There's no contrast! All the same midtone or pastel shades.

Omg! Maybe that explains the glitter! Suddenly it all starts to make sense!

And grey is one of my favourite colours, goes well with just about anything! Pink or blue or black or orange or red...

Also, there are t-shirts and hoodies but no dresses.
To be fair they don't do any bottoms or all in one options. It's not like the boys get trousers and the girls don't get skirts.

Ask yourself again: Why is gender neutral always about the removal of stereotypically feminine options?

@Butchyrestingface I wouldn't say erasure as much as devaluation. Did you know that when more men enter previously female-dominated professions, salaries in that industry rise? And that when more women enter previously male dominated professions, salaries in that industry fall? It's interesting, isn't it.

"instead only offer colours that are stereotypically historically aimed at boys."

@Fresta Wrong. Pink was historically a 'boys' colour, especially when all babies where referred to as 'little girls'.

Prior to that the only people who could afford 'colour' were the flippin' gentry so bollocks to all of that too.

Dresses are something that are worn 'on top', @gamerwidow. I'm wearing a dress over leggings right now.

It's just interesting that in this gender neutral selection, for 'kids', that dresses happen not to be one of the options that you can wear on top.

Maybe some black or grey or red dresses, with 'T-rex-pert' printed on them?

It's funny those aren't there, isn't it.

I think you mean you’re pissed off because they don’t have the colour you your daughter wants so you’re kicking up a fuss and labelling it as “gender-stereotypical”

I don't understand the 'gender colours' point to your post.

Does your dd not have any navy blue, dark green, grey, red etc?

My dd is now 15. When she was young she hated the pinks and pastels. So she just picked a t-shirt in a (in your view) 'boy' colour. It soon just became her dinosaur t-shirt.

Maybe there should be a pink t-shirt there but like a pp said, I bet that would generate a huge amount of complaints from parents not wanting a pink 'girls' t-shirt. It's a bit of a mine field. You'd yo far better just encouraging your daughter widen her colour range a bit.

Boys can wear those too! Why is gender neutral always about the removal of stereotypically feminine options?

Because it’s weak to be a girl. We should all be more masculine. Boys in dresses and pink. Can you imagine the breakdown in society?!

🙄🙄🙄

Why would parents not want a pink t-shirt for their son or daughter, @Milicentbystander72?

@Milicentbystander72 Maybe there should be a pink t-shirt there but like a pp said, I bet that would generate a huge amount of complaints from parents not wanting a pink 'girls' t-shirt. It's a bit of a mine field. You'd yo far better just encouraging your daughter widen her colour range a bit

Why can’t the people who don’t like pink be told to widen their colour range a bit??

My DS 14 is Dino mad, one of his fave tees is a pink triceratops one.

Perhaps I should make him wear a more gender appropriate colour OP?

YABVU

Well of course everyone should wear all colours ideally, but I bet if there was a pink t-shirt with a dinosaur on someone would complain about it. That's all I'm saying.

@Milicentbystander72 why? Why would someone complain?

More colours are better

I don't object to any colour whatsoever. I love black, red, pink, orange, purple, turquoise, navy, teal, green, grey, electric blue.

I object to the association of stereotypes with colours groups that are stereotypically gendered. I object to stereotypically feminine colours being associated with emotions, the aesthetically pleasing, the inactive but pretty. I object to stereotypically masculine colours being associated with expertise, with science, with fact, with lack of emotion, with not being allowed to be pretty.

I object to gender neutral when it erases the stereotypically feminine and embraces the stereotypically masculine. That is not gender neutral!

"Why can’t the people who don’t like pink be told to widen their colour range a bit??"

@LovePoppy Do you think it could be because those people are male? Whereas it's ok to tell other people to widen their colour range. Other people who are... yep, you know what they are. Mums.

Can we have a pink dress with an anatomically correct picture of a velociraptor on it? Can we have a purple T.rex-pert t-shirt?

Where are the flowers on the black t-shirts?

Where are the butterflies on blue?

MotherOfDragonite and LovePoppy are spot on. Gender neutral always leans stereotypically male. I've never seen pink toys/clothes etc presented as gender neutral.

So you want a pink Dino top?
I think you’re being a bit hypocritical saying the NHM should make t-shirts for girls who like gender neutral things like dinos. Just buy one in a neutral colour. You can’t have it both ways.
Much better for nhm to make t-shirts in neutral colours so they can appeal to boys and girls. I’m sure you could source a pink Dino t-shirt though if you looked. My DD had a sweater w little dinos on it a few years ago in early teens (was grey but from the women’s section).

I object to gender neutral when it erases the stereotypically feminine and embraces the stereotypically masculine. That is not gender neutral!

OK, so what colours are acceptable to you then, if blue, red, green yellow and grey isn't?

Would it be OK without the blue, or if they added in pink?

I have just looked at the museum shop online and I think that the tshirt colours are great. They are all bright primary colours, or grey, none of which are "boys" or "girls" colours.

If your daughter wants pink, then that's up to her, but if you want her to not be so stereotyped then it is up to you to persuade her that red is a girls colour, or green or blue or whatever.

I think it's great that they don't have light pink or light blue t-shirts. My daughter loved pink, but one of her favourite tops was a blue George the Dinosaur top that we bought at PPW. She would also happily have worn red, green or yellow as they were all very bright.

These companies can't do right nowadays. People demand more than pink or blue, so they have neutral colours and still cant win.

I don't get it. There's navy, grey, light blue, purple, yellow, red, turquoise, green. Are you saying that all colours are boys colours, except for pink?

Yes, let's petition NHM to make some pink cutesy Dino t-shirts so that girls can look like girls. And at the same time accuse them of being gender stereotypical.