AIBU to think there is definitely way less gender stereotyping now (for children) than in the 70s?

[threemiaowingfaces]

Just reading the 'I'm happy to be having a boy' thread and some of the responses made me think of the 70s!

Were my family weird or was this normal?

In those days, there was general Lego and also sets of 'Space Lego'. I wanted Space Lego for years but was told it was only for boys!

Same with Meccano.

I remember being in a bookshop, must have been about 9, and wanting a book about space, but parents flat refused and got me one about animals instead!

Does anyone remember the 70s bikes like Choppers, Grifters (?), Commandos etc. Really wanted one for about 5 years, but on my birthday, they gave me a folding shopping bike.

Same with BMXs when they came out - only for boys apparently.

I remember one year, they bought my cousin an 'Evil Kenival' toy that was like a bike with a man on it and you pulled a cord and it could do jumps over ramps and had flashing lights. The cousin gave it back because he already had two. I still wasn't allowed to play with it and they gave it away to another (male) cousin.

Were my family particularly mad or was this normal back then? What did they think would happen if I played with an Evil Kenival fgs?

I agree it’s much worse now with things being ‘for girls’ or ‘for boys’ - in late 70s/early 80s my parents bought me and my sister the things we were interested in -Lego, transformers, my little ponies, sindies and loads of diecast cars all were favourites. It wasn’t an ‘aren’t we progressive gender neutral’ thing, just that toys were toys and there was no reason why I couldn’t have a cowboy gun or a football for my birthday if that’s what I most wanted.

These days, I’d probably feel self conscious of those choices, which is quite sad.

I was answering an earlier quote, and they suggested that none of their DS’s friends did dance,

They identify themselves as trans, it’s not me assuming !

He was a boy who liked those things 🤷🏼‍♀️

They identify themselves as trans, it’s not me assuming !

What does that even mean though?

If the actual movement can't provide a definition for it, how does a young boy know he's 'trans'?

Is he dysphoric for example? Has that been diagnosed?

Or has anyone considered that he might be a gender non conforming boy in a world that doesn't accommodate this well, so we're pushing him into some nonsensical 'you're really a girl' trans corner?

I think that overtly there is less, but covertly and in terms of marketing there is so much more.Sex specific push chairs, car seats and so on are marketers dream. It's big business that's selling to to us now!

I think consumerism has played a huge role. Back in the 80s, people didn't have the kind of disposable income to buy things specific to girls and boys.

The thing I find particularly depressing is that "unisex" always means "boys stuff that girls are allowed to use." Unisex names are always boys names. There are no boy Roses or Olivias, but plenty of girl Ellises and Noahs and Jamies

I was going to say similar. I agree about unisex clothing and the shorter hair particularly.

I was born at the end of the 1960s. It may help to separate out the adult and the child worlds. The adult world of the 1970s was still massively sexist (page 3, benny hill) but there was a huge push for women’s lib, and a realisation that the next generation (ie me and my peers) should and would have a much fairer world when we grew up.

My parents had stereotypical gender roles in the family - dad did a blue collar manual job, mum was a SAHP. But I would “help” mum in the kitchen baking, and then “help” dad change the oil in the car. Like PP, I also had Lego and a great selection of matchbox cars, as well as a Sindy doll. Loads of toys were just kids toys, not for girls or boys, like Spirograph, Mouse Trap, Connect 4, board games. Pudding bowl hair cuts, T-shirts and corduroy trousers. I was constantly told that it didn’t matter to my parents what job I did when I grew up as long as it was honest and I worked hard. So I was expected to get a job and was not brought up to marry like some girls only a few years older than us. I remember dad telling us if we wanted to be street sweepers then that was up to us, but we should aim to be the best street sweepers we could possibly be.

Maybe it also helped me going to an all girl’s secondary school, but I never had any impression that certain subjects were not for girls, and the only jobs out of my reach were things where you needed a certain physicality or skill like being a soldier or footballer or ballet dancer.

Nowadays it superficially looks better for adults as men can be nurses and women can be firefighters. But IMHO we most definitely have gone backwards in enforcing such rigid gender stereotypes on todays children. How the heck my generation have raised the next to think like this I have no idea.

It sounds as though your parents were quite sexist in their thinking. My experience as a child in the 1970s/80s was nothing like that. I think I benefited from second-wave feminism and its messages about equality. When I was growing up, I remember the ideas being reinforced that boys and girls were equal, that girls could achieve anything they wanted. I took those messages literally, it never occurred to me that I couldn't do something because I was a girl.

Toys and clothes were not strictly divided according to gender stereotypes. We had Lego, trains, dolls, etc. at home. I wore my brothers' hand-me-downs. At my London primary school there was no uniform and nearly all the children wore trousers. There was certainly no Disney princess/pink and sparkly nonsense aimed at girls.

There is far, far more 'pink' vs 'blue' stuff about - toys, bikes not just clothes.

In the 60s/70s my mother dressed the 3 of us in the same (bought a few yards of the same fabrics, made us all shirts and shorts, which then got handed down) None of it was 'pink' or 'blue' as it is today

I think it's actually worse now, and I grew up in the 60s/70s

Having a son and daughter, I actually struggled to find unisex clothing, wellies, bicycles, coats etc!

When I was young my clothes were red, brown, orange and my wellies green. My bicycle was bright yellow!

Now everything is either pink or blue

Having a son and daughter, I actually struggled to find unisex clothing, wellies, bicycles, coats etc!
I tended to find that beyond the early baby range it was hard to find nice unisex clothing too, unless you went somewhere that cost a bit more.

Mamas and Papas, JoJo Man Bebe, Polarn o Pyret, Frugi were more reliably unisex I found, although Sainsbury's did a good range of unisex until around 2-3ish.

I wanted items that could be passed down younger DC and shared round friends and found it annoying how often even blue/green/pink/white items of clothing had stereotypical gender markers on them, from a ruffle, or bows, or being tighter fit/shorter for girls than boys, or pointless details on basics for girls. It felt like they were designing lines to maximise people spending twice because even basic navy leggings had something extra to genderify them.

Wasn't like that in my family. Boys and girls, cousins etc all shared toys whether it was Barbie and Ken or Evel Knievel or cars or games. Your parents sound like they're from the dark ages.

'Having a son and daughter, I actually struggled to find unisex clothing, wellies, bicycles, coats etc!'

The way to make them 'unisex' is just to give them clothes and let them mix it up! DD wears Ds' hand me downs so frequently pairing 'boys' shorts - which tend to be longer and have pockets - with more colourful 'girls' tops or bathing suits. DS likes bright colours which is harder to get for teen boys from high st shops so we've started getting him women's xs sizes jumpers which he then pairs with boots and joggers...

Actual 'unisex' brands can be really expensive ...