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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to find the "dream jobs" page in the ELC catalogue annoying?

65 replies

MrsFogi · 04/02/2008 22:00

Why is it that the girls dressed as a nurse and some pony girl and the boys get all the other jobs? Surely it would not be too mindblowing for a little girl to be a vet, doctor or policewoman? Do the people who put these things together live in the 1950s. The other pages seem fairly segregated as well.

OP posts:
edam · 04/02/2008 22:45

don't forget orange, Harpsi. I have hideous memories of wearing mostly orange and brown.

Habbibu · 04/02/2008 22:45

Oh harpsi - you're right! I'd forgotten all the brown. Plus some orange and green.

S1ur · 04/02/2008 22:46

I buy both colours for both ds & dd. But it does annoy me that toys are gender stereotyped and segregated. Walk into mothercare and the girls section has dolls and play food and mock jewellery/high heels, the boys has cars and blocks and tools.

That's just stupid. it is unneccssary, it just says girls should like this stuff and boys should like this stuff. WHich is plain stupid.

Habbibu · 04/02/2008 22:46

x-posts, edam. You're not my sister, are you?

MotherFunk · 04/02/2008 22:46

Message withdrawn

harpsichordcarrier · 04/02/2008 22:47

it is very hard to find a doctor's outfit for a girl, believe you me. nurses - plenty.
I bought franny's ds a lovely fairy outfit last summer. it was what he wanted and lordy did he suit it

AhhChewww · 04/02/2008 22:47

UANBU

I've seen this catalogue recently and thought exactly like you. Why not have boy and GIRL doctor, girl and BOY NURSE?
Surely one of the biggest toy sellers in the country should be promoting gender equality and stop stereotyping such young children

MotherFunk · 04/02/2008 22:49

Message withdrawn

hunkermunker · 04/02/2008 22:49

ELC is actually marginally better than it was, imo, wrt the pink and blue stuff.

I feel my ranting had some effect

Not sure about Next though - I emailed them a while ago to complain their clothing was reminiscent of that worn by mad elderly golfers.

hunkermunker · 04/02/2008 22:51

To clarify, clothing for young boys in Next. I also complained about the hooligan nature of some of the slogans and motifs.

And more recently, I saw skulls and crossbones on girls' clothes in there, so maybe I got someone moved departments or something?!

S1ur · 04/02/2008 22:51

lol hunker

tiredemma · 04/02/2008 22:51

My ds2 has all kids of 'pink' stuff. ( I have just gone upstairs to check on him and he is lay between a naked barbie and miss hoolie from balamory. which is slightly worrying.)

I wanted a girl - I got ds2 who is probably more of a girl than I could ever hoped for.

Habbibu · 04/02/2008 22:53

Skulls and crossbones, hunker? you mean PIRATE gear? Were there baby eyepatches too?

LadyVictorianSqualor · 04/02/2008 23:01

It's the emo influence on the fashion industry hunker, now girls get skulls too.

Housemum · 04/02/2008 23:03

I have a problem with pink full stop - why are so many things coming in "pink" versions nowadays? Next have a whole range of girly pink crap - aimed at adults - we are obviously all TAPS (Thick as Pig Shit) who only buy things if they are pink, and we have a weakness for shopping and shoes (eg purses with "shoe fund", tax disc holders with "shopaholic" etc) - we may as well go and simper behind our (pink) fans like a bad costume drama...

Harpsichord - what do you mean by hard to find a doctor's outfit - surely they are unisex? We have blue theatre scrubs (sainsburys) and a white coat (ELC). Just checked DD2's rail - we have the obligatory fairy & mermaid, Mrs Santa, beautician, nurse, theatre scrubs, doctor's white coat, firefighter tunic, police tabard and trousers - it's boys that are hard done by as it's deemed OK for girls to wear trousers but even the most PC parent would probably be uncertain about buying fairy stuff for a boy.

I can't quite understand why shops have to have things in boy/girl definitions - Argos are bad for that - wanted to buy DD1 some Lego or K'Nex a few years back - comes from the page marked "Boy's Toys". And what is with making the same product in 2 colours? If I want a toy CD player or whatever I just want to buy it - not to find it as the "boy" or "girl" version.

Oh Lord, am rambling now, sleep deprivation does that to you...

hunkermunker · 04/02/2008 23:04

???

Housemum · 04/02/2008 23:05

LadyVic - the skulls are now on the kiddy clothes because, as DD1 told me, "Skulls are, like SO over..."

LadyVictorianSqualor · 04/02/2008 23:11

Is it the same for neon pink and stars?

MotherFunk · 04/02/2008 23:14

Message withdrawn

harpsichordcarrier · 04/02/2008 23:20

you think it's hilarious that other people care enough about gender steretyping in marketing to campaign ?
hunker cares about loads of stuff, honestly you are in for quite a larf-fest when you hear about all the stuff she can be arsed to complain about.

LadyVictorianSqualor · 04/02/2008 23:23

I promised the lady at my local council today that I'll write and complain to her bosses that they were so busy. Apparently they keep cutting staff, I'm getting rather addicted to complaining, it must be mumsnet.

MotherFunk · 04/02/2008 23:26

Message withdrawn

LadyVictorianSqualor · 04/02/2008 23:28

It's not about the way you dress your child, motherfunk, it's about the way companies like Next genderize their clothes, and girls have to wear pretty ickle fairy pink stuff, whilst boys need to look like punks and have stupid slogans across their chests about how naughty they are.

anneme · 04/02/2008 23:29

Oh - I never thought of DS1 dressing as a pirate (which he does most days) as being stereotypical boys.
I bought DS1, aged 4, the playpeople dolls house for Xmas because I thought he would like it and ended up removing all the packaging because it was so girly - why could that not be for a boy too?

Housemum · 04/02/2008 23:31

Sorry, MotherFunk, didn't mean to insult your sister - the point I'm trying to make is that the manufacturers seem to have leapt on a pink bandwagon and there is so much of the stuff out there. Will take myself off to bed now...