to hate it that companies genderise childrens TV show merchendise? For example my SON loves fifi, but EVERYTHING to do with her is pink ..

[Disenchanted]

Now him wearing pink doesnt bother me, he has pink Fifi pyjamas and pink fifi vests! But I would like to be able to get him more boyish stuff with the programs he likes.

but why is all 'Roary the racing car' stuff aimed at boys, ect.

Why cant they make boys jeans / jumpers with Fifi on, and girls skirts with Roary on?

It makes me sad when we go into a shop and DS is pointing at the fifi stuff - how do I explain to him he cant really wear it becasue its a nighty or a skirt.

I know! DD likes bob the builder and quite a few other "boyish" programmes - it's so silly isn't it?!

he doesnt have to have fifi on everything does he?

This drives me nuts too... ds2 adores Dora the Explorer yet everything for that show is pink (wouldn't be an issue, but ds1 goes on and on and on about it being a girrrrrrrrrrls toy and winding up his brother about it)

why dont you just buy the toys and dress them in normal, nice clothes ?

DD's 3 amd LOVES Postman Pat, she's got a boy nursery bag and plently of Boy Pyjamas ! I did manage to find some pink Pat Pjs on ebay though, have you tried there ?

My munchkin likes Peppa Pig - I would love to buy him the duvet cover but they are all REALLY pink and girly.

i agree-my ds ADORES peppa pig and everything is pink-i dont buy character clothes but sometimes get jammies-am startingpotty training andhe chose fifi knickers to wear-love him

you could try and get some transfers and iron them on ?

enid,

MOST of his clothes are 'normal clothes'

but we do buy the occasional 'character item' but what Im saying is that its hard to buy him the occasional Fifi item because its all pink.

The only characted clothes hes got at the moment are his fifi pyjamas & vest, so no need to shudder at the thought of my son, thanks

Asda has some blue Peppa Pig pjs atm with George and a space rocket, Mothercare has some blue Dora/Swiper pyjamas.

I was soooo chuffed when I found the Swiper PJs for Ds

dd3 loves all things pirates. i am opften in the boys section checking out their pirate/skull and crossbones gear.

i am very annoyed with tesco as all their girls welly boots has small heels. so far they havent had dd1+dd3 size in stock in the boys section either.

i've just ordered DS2 a Dora duvet set for his birthday as he loves Dora. I did ponder though as it is a bit girly pink/purple but then slapped myself around the face for being so daft! He loves Dora...who cares!

This is a major peev of mine too. Along with only boys playing with cars and only girls with dollies in the ads. We should gang up on the manufacturers and get them to change. Why are they so stupid and narrowing down there target audience? The MD's must be men!

Isn't this part of a wider thing that there is SO much gender stereotyping around? The same issue hacks me off, too, because my dd (encouraged by me) loves Postman Pat and Bob the Builder.

Have you also noticed what shops and catalogues do with dress up costumes? Have you ever seen a doctor, police officer or firefighter costume modelled by a little girl? Or a nurse's costume that doesn't involve a little dress? FFS, even female nurses don't even wear dresses anymore. In one store (Woolworths) they even had a range where the label on the police costume said "boy".

There is so little "girly" stuff that is doesn't look like the pink fluffy glitter fairy exploded all over it! I thought we'd come further than that.

the sex stereotyping involved in marketing to children is awful, I agree disenchanted

another mother of a peppa pig fan here. he sees the tshirts in next or wherever and pesters me for them. and i got hell from my parents this christmas because i bought him a pushchair and train driver doll.

I agree with you....same with the Dora stuff and the peppa pig stuff.......
I mean the programmes are obviously aimed at boys and girls equally...so...why not do the same with the merchandise...

DS2 used to love Peppa Pig but all the merchandise was pink and very girly. Thankfully Mothercare saw the light and started making boys' Peppa Pig pyjamas.

I agree my son likes singing and dancing and according to his friends mother high school musical is only for girls...why? He also likes fifi and peppa pig but is embarassed about this... why when he is only just 5 ?

But he does like things aimed at boys too.. its the stories that he likes not the femininity aspects of fifi and peppa...

It's the same with 'Happy Meal' toys. Why do they have boy or girl ones? My DD loves cars - usually better than the scandalous tat they pass off in the so-called 'girl' meal box.

Stereotyping occurs from birth. It's really hard to raise individuals in the face of all the gender nonsense we're bombarded with.

there is no reason why HSM can't be 'for boys' - there are loads of boys in it. It is essentially a love story and for many people, that is enough to make it 'fpr girls'.

I don't think there was this much pink about for small girls ten years ago.

Is it a fashion thing or is it just 'easy'. Esp when teamed with a lovely sparkly logo with 'babe' on or similar.

FWIW - i have 2 boys and have the same problem with skaterboys / skulls and camouflage gear. Or a T Shirt with 'little shit' on it of course.

YUK!

sorry to go off message - as the mother of a son who loves pink / babies / cooking i agree totally with OP.

god ehll grow out of it

ahem, this is serious conversation. Bet you don't even know how old son in question is. Might be 12