To think that nothing is going to change for women while girls are still targeted with this bullshit?

[WinterTrees]

In Sainsburys this morning. In the boys' clothes aisle I noticed tops with the words UNLIMITED and UNSTOPPABLE printed on them. Took a quick detour down the girls aisle to see what similarly empowering messages were being directed at them...

If people buy it, they will be selling it.
It's up to parents to encourage, not shops.

I'm just amazed we haven't had anyone yet completely missing the point, and posting the usual 'I can't get worked up about this. Surely they just print the slogans that girls/boys prefer?'

They sell this shite because it’s customers want to buy it
This this and this.

My daughter would have picked the boy shirt. It's not because it's in the boy section that it would have stopped her.

Pare TS are the ones who pick the clothes for their kids!

Give the boys tops to the girls then !.

I agree with @TheViewFromTheCheapSeats. My DDs (10&7) know that we can look in either section of shops for clothes we like, and we often do when buying generic items like trainers, joggers, t shirts etc. My DF tried to tell DD1 that boys shoes were cut different but she soon sorted him out

@HorrifiedByDaughter

I just don't understand it. We have an extended family member who as soon as they found out their second child was a girl they threw out all their son's outgrown clothes, toys and books and brought entirely new things. Apparently there was no chance their daughter would have an interest in duplo, trains or cars. We grabbed them and I take great delight in sending photos of our 1 year old girl playing with them, but I really feel for their daughter, her development is going to be so funnelled into being pink, pretty and nice.

That’s very weird.

I have a toddler son and a baby daughter. I’ve bought virtually nothing for her as she’s currently either wearing gifts or his old clothes. They’re just clothes!

I hate this too. For some reason that 'Let's Stay Home' one has particularly got my back up.

To the PP who said they didn't see 'be kind' on boys t shirts I did actually see a few this year in primark (and bought my DS's some) but they are very rare, granted.

I think gendered clothing is partially bought because it's there, rather than because it's more popular.

If a frazzed parent is in ASDA needing to buy supplies for an upcoming holiday, they're unlikely to leave and go elsewhere because of gendered messaging on garments.

If a whole aisle of childrens clothes was neutral I equally don't think most people would bother leaving in favour of buying from a more sexist shop..

But perhaps I'm wrong and there's a sizeable chuck of buyers who would be unhappy with a lack of this shit

I hate this sh*t.

Thankfully there are places that sell “girls” clothes with more empowering messages, if you can afford them.

thespark.company/collections/feminist-t-shirts/products/on-wednesdays-we-smash-the-patriarchy-feminist-t-shirt

www.teaplease.co.uk/products/pasta-not-patriarchy-jumper-1

Etsy also have some good sellers too.

Christ, the girl's ones are spectacularly shite, aren't they?
They must think there's a market for it, though... 🤷🏻‍♀️

That is bad, and a bit naff @WinterTrees YANBU.

It's a shame you have to pay more to avoid sexisim.

I imagine the cheapest clothes with the sexist messaging are coming from outside of the country, mass-produced for pennies and shops here are only concerned about their own profits.

muthahoodgoods.com/ This one has some good T shirts for girls - not perfect, but better than Sainsburys

Don't buy them. If they find boys clothes sell and their girls clothes don't, perhaps they'll sack the designers.

@ThreeLittleDots

It's a shame you have to pay more to avoid sexisim.

I imagine the cheapest clothes with the sexist messaging are coming from outside of the country, mass-produced for pennies and shops here are only concerned about their own profits.

It is a shame but maybe it’s a good thing In a way. If we shop more sustainably and buy better and less, it’s an all round win.

I was looking at the baby clothes in Boots a couple of months back and they had a boys’ pramsuit and a girls’ pramsuit. The boys’ one (which was blue) had a teddy bear on it. Fine. The girls’ one (which was pink) said ‘Beautiful little thing’.

Why do clothes need any bloody message on them anyway?

@Bancha

I saw a top in Tesco for girls (obviously) that said “please look after me” on it once. I refuse to buy my DD anything with slogans on it, and if my next DC is a boy I will do the same.

You mean the one that had a picture of the Earth and was clearly about looking after the planet, not the child?

@Reduceddutiesboredom

I hate this sh*t.

Thankfully there are places that sell “girls” clothes with more empowering messages, if you can afford them.

thespark.company/collections/feminist-t-shirts/products/on-wednesdays-we-smash-the-patriarchy-feminist-t-shirt

www.teaplease.co.uk/products/pasta-not-patriarchy-jumper-1

Etsy also have some good sellers too.

I have a t-shirt from The Spark Co that says 'Don't tell me to smile' on it. DD has a t-shirt that says Smile, so if we're wearing them at the same time, we are contradicting each other a bit!

Ffs 🙄

DD has had some some tops with empowering messages from matalan in the past

I totally get that people are buying it, which is why they're still producing it. I guess I'm just disappointed (and ragey) that there's no sense of corporate responsibility here. Yes, parents will pick it up while they're in the supermarket because it's cheap and they do co-ordinating outfits and have 25% off quite regularly. And because their child has had a growth spurt and they haven't got time to go into town and trawl around Primark and M&S and Next for nice plain stuff, nor the cash for Boden or Joules or wherever (I'm out of touch with current kids' brands!)

But I'd just like to feel that the companies who get literally thousands upon thousands of pounds of a family's budget every year might actually have some interest in looking out for them. In actively taking steps towards positive change in society and taking tiny, simple steps to make it safer for 51% of the population. This is big business with access to the finest brains in marketing and fashion - surely they're not recruiting blokes who shout 'cheer up love' out of van windows to design their kids clothing ranges? If they produced clothes with no slogans on, or slogans that managed not to enforce damaging, regressive bullshit stereotypes I daresay they'd sell those too.

Plus I bought my middle DS a top that I had thought was unisex (it was a preloved FB purchase) - just a simple black and white stripy t shirt. But when I put it on him something nagged at me that it was a bit different to his usual t shirts, and eventually I twigged that the neckline was lower and the shoulders were slightly dropped. I’m so used to boys’ t shirts having a relatively high collar I was shocked at realising how much clothes for girls routinely show that little bit of extra skin from an early age (he’s 5). It was only that I could see more of his collar bone and neckline but it still surprised me how much difference it made.

Clothes for girls are typically shorter, tighter, flimsier and more ‘decorative’. It puts them off running around and being more active, whereas boys’ clothes have more pockets and are more suited to climbing trees, playing in the park etc.

I've just had a look at that Twitter link and I'm shocked at the stuff. So girls have to be kind (always) and be nice and stay home and boys can be awesome and roar and be wild and have adventures. Someone who buys kids clothes for the retailers needs to have a serious look at what they are doing. I didn't actually see it until it has been pointed out but now I do, I can't see anything but. I just accepted it. And I'm angry that I did.

Personally, I dislike all clothing with wording on (Mummy's little monkey, Awesome kid, etc) and have never bought it. The best way to effectuate change is to shop elsewhere. If enough people do that, then shops will stop selling this stuff. And if they don't, at least you don't have it in your house!