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...

[trilbydoll]

DDs will wear boys clothes if I bring them home, seen in isolation they don't seem to realise they are boys clothes whereas it's more obvious in the shop.

I don't actually mind be kind etc I just wish everyone was given the same message. If boys were being kind rather than overbearing and creepy, girls could be kind without fear of harm!

[Onlyfoolsandhorseswork]

@BordelDeMerde

I had to throw out* a tshirt my inlaws sent over for my five-year-old that said "kiss my curves". Not the inlaws fault as they don't read English, and the tshirt was actually intended for eight-year-olds (my child is massive) but still...that message is so not appropriate to any age child. Ffs.

My mother once bought my (then 8 year old) dd a pink crop top with 'don't touch' written in yellow across the chest (it was that tiny I thought it was a size for a 4 year old)
I hit the roof-no way was she wearing that-my mother couldn't see the problem-i was told it would 'look nice with a short skirt'
She's part of the problem-she,along with lots of other parents and grandparents don't see this as an issue-if people didn't buy it then it wouldn't get made
Its all about the money

[habibihabibi]

Not UK but I saw a 7or 8 yr old at soft play wearing a particularly inappropriate t-shirt emblazoned with "Boom , boom , boom let's go back to my room.

[ErrolTheDragon]

ColdColdWinter - that one is really just a dig at the continuing use of 'mankind' rather than 'humankind' as a general neutral, I think.

[Amrapaali]

I think we should get off our collective arses and actually DO something. Not carp and wring or hands on MN.

We are 50 pc of the population. I'm sure there are more than a few entrepreneurial spirits amongst us. If any woman can start a company that produces ethical, reasonably priced clothes that girls would love to wear, I will literally throw wads of cash in this company's direction. I don't know enough about business but I have other skills that I will happily offer to such a company. Even if it is a tiny start-up.

My DD loves Rick and Morty. The only merch she found was in the men's section.

[GreyhoundG1rl]

@habibihabibi

Not UK but I saw a 7or 8 yr old at soft play wearing a particularly inappropriate t-shirt emblazoned with "Boom , boom , boom let's go back to my room.

Grim 🤢

[JaninaDuszejko]

The womankind one is looking a bit dated now, I guess it's suppose to be a twist on 'mankind' but of course now it rings horribly true in a completely different way.

[maddening]

Amazing you can find any boys clothes in sainsbury, the girls aisle at hours is massive compared to the boys.

Agree though re this sexist messaging but I also hate slogan clothing anyway.

[Grellbunt]

@TheViewFromTheCheapSeats

I do think one thing we can do is openly buy men’s clothing, and walk into men’s shops confidently whilst giving no shits. We can normalise it regardless of what some shops dictate.

Something tells me men's clothing isn't going to fit my female curves...

[TheGoogleMum]

I recently met someone who designs clothes for supermarkets and got a tiny bit of insight- different teams work on boys and girls clothes and it sounds like supermarkets request slogan ones or not and supermarkets choose which designs to buy rather than commissioning specific ones

[ErrolTheDragon]

Something tells me men's clothing isn't going to fit my female curves...

Yes... DD used to happily choose from any kids clothes on the rails, eschewing the logo'd ones (it was all Hannah Montana and High School Musical on the 'girls' clothes then), and cheerfully disregarding whether it was nominally 'boys' or 'girls'. But when she hit teenage, and wanted some nice sensible checked shirts.... loads in the shops, but none which would fit a petite but curvy girl. The few 'girls' ones available weren't cut for anyone with a bit of arm muscle.

[FatAnkles]

I can't believe things haven't moved on since DD was small. We were always raiding the "boys section" for her. She was never a pink, frilly girl. We used to go to H&M for t-shirts in the "boys" section because they suited her better. And lasted longer. The jeans were always better too.

We were very careful not to buy clothes with slogans on them that were sexist or not appropriate for a young girl.

Why is it still happening?

[pigsDOfly]

@BordelDeMerde

I had to throw out* a tshirt my inlaws sent over for my five-year-old that said "kiss my curves". Not the inlaws fault as they don't read English, and the tshirt was actually intended for eight-year-olds (my child is massive) but still...that message is so not appropriate to any age child. Ffs.

Bloody hell that's awful and completely inappropriate for a woman, let alone a child, of any age.

My son is in his early 40s and my DDs are in their mid & late 30s and I honestly don't remember things like that in shops when they were children, but I tended to dress my girls in bolder colours so wouldn't have come across pink sparkly stuff with stupid messages on.

I'm not suggesting girls learn to be nasty or spiteful, far from it but all this 'be kind' rubbish. Couldn't be doing with that.

What about T-shirts for girls saying things like 'be assertive', 'don't let people walk all over you', things like that.

Girls need all the encouragement they can get to be able to make their voices heard.

[tellittomeslowlyandclearly]

@WinterTrees

I honestly can't believe that no one in the meeting where this season's collection was signed off flagged up that this might need looking at again. Who designs these things? Who approves them? I'd actually really like to know.

I haven't worked for Sainsburys, but a Similar price fashion retailer. Often factories that have been used previously will send samples to retailers and they either buy it or don't. They may make changes, but often they won't have time or won't be anything major as affects the price / lead time. So often a lot of stuff isn't designed by head office. They may have some designers buy more often stuff is developed by buying, by saying the rough thing they want to a factory. It's a nice idea a collection is put in a room and looked at together, but it really isn't.

[ErrolTheDragon]

I'm pretty sure all these big companies have a whole raft of 'diversity and inclusion' initiatives. So why can't they see this most basic and easy to deal with disparity in messaging (and often quality) between what they're offering for boys and girls?

[thewhatsit]

@Rummikub I agree and I’ve never chosen to dress my DD in that kind of stuff (she mostly wears her older brother’s stuff tbh and as far as I’m concerned a toddler is a toddler, there should be no boys vs girls toddler clothes). There are plenty of places that do unisex patterns and non gendered colourful clothes but the mass producers tend to go for the gender stereotypes .. presumably that’s the stuff people most want to buy?

It’s like when people have boy/girl twins and have a double pram with one pink and one blue hood. I don’t understand it, but it’s quite common. As are tiny baby girls in bows and headbands on their non existent hair. There is sadly a huge market for this stuff.

One of my female friends so surprised me when she had a baby and started dressing her every day in dresses (so impractical for when a baby starts crawling I think). She herself has a PhD, works in a male dominated industry, has gone on MeToo marches etc .. and then she popped out a baby and dresses her as Cinderella. Free choice and everything I guess..

[Rummikub]

and then she popped out a baby and dresses her as Cinderella.

This image amused me.

In my case I didn’t have the money other than to shop at supermarkets or primark. Family and friends would give gifts of clothing - usually pink and pretty and itchy.

[HeidiHaus]

How depressing, but unfortunately unsurprising.

I've bought a few from here, brilliant alternative to the high street slogans

www.scarfmonkey.com/

[Indecisivelurcher]

[quote HeidiHaus]How depressing, but unfortunately unsurprising.

I've bought a few from here, brilliant alternative to the high street slogans

www.scarfmonkey.com/[/quote]
Thank you so much for this link! My kids have been pestering me for matching tees, the spinosaurus is perfect!

[Ispini]

This nonsense has been going on for years. I remember when my DD was three I complained in a large retailer because all the toys were separated into boys and girls stuff. Tough stuff and blue versus fairies etc. and pink. My DD desperately wanted a tool kit so that she could ‘help’ her DH and grandad with DIY. The look on the assistant’s face was priceless, silly woman!

[ErrolTheDragon]

[quote HeidiHaus]How depressing, but unfortunately unsurprising.

I've bought a few from here, brilliant alternative to the high street slogans

www.scarfmonkey.com/[/quote]
They look good, and I'd guess they're good quality so if you buy them a bit big they should last a while (or be hand-downable).

But they're priced 'from £23'. The hoodies are £38. That seems a lot for a kid's top.

[lazylinguist]

Ffs

[PerseverancePays]

Why do little girls need high cut knickers and swimsuits that are uncomfortable and revealing but little boys get comfy pants and swimmers? Why are girls’ winter leggings as thin as summer ones, they get cold too or are they supposed to stay at home and watch the boys playing outside? Ditto sweatshirts, hard to find in the girls’ aisles, dainty tops instead. What can’t they design some nice prints and plains in reasonable colours and ditch the bloody slogans! Avoiding slogans really shrinks the available selection.
And no £24 for a child’s T-shirt at scarfmonkey is not really competing with m&s and Sainsbury’s.

[optimistic40]

Let's stay home

(Or we might get raped and murdered by those limitless men)

[AICM]

If people stopped buying it, they would stop selling it.

Who buys clothes for children...?