To be so sick and tired of gender stereotyping?`

[lifesabitchandthenyoudie]

Looking for a sports bag. Put that phrase into search in a well-known auction/sales site. 170,000+ results; most of the listings state 'Men's and Ladies' bags showing both dark colours and pastel shades, the listings that are just 'Men's' are all the dark colours and more utilitarian, the listings that are 'Ladies' are all the light/pink/pastel shades.

It's the same with all the horse equipment, lately; some years ago there suddenly appeared lots of pink stuff, marketed for girls. About the same time as pink, 'girly' lego came out. I simply can't believe we're here; it's worse than ever!

ffs. The first item I've looked at even has a 'gender' spec: Men.

They can fuck right off!

There was a rash of "girls tools" a few years back - screwdrivers with pink handles, that sort of thing. But no thought into the fact that women's hands are on average smaller so things have to be weighted differently, with the balance point in a different place. A bit like making ladies' gloves the same size as men's but pink!

It's annoying that we should be expected only to like pink, but the real problem is the number of things that are designed for the average male body and do not cater for smaller female bodies - including safety critical things like seat belts and, I understand, stab vests.

Yes it annoys me too I was looking for something the other day, "all unisex in here but the floral stuff is all upstairs" the assistant said. Upstairs was stereotypical Womens and downstairs stereotypical mens. Just put it all together please

I have never had a problem just using tools, gardening gloves etc. that are just sold as things

I don't see then as 'men tools' or whatever just tools, bags, gloves

YABVU. I love it as it makes it much easier to find what I want for me and my girls rather than searching through loads of boys/mens stuff.

(and yes, there is a difference, because I only want to buy pink/pastels/yellows and fairies/unicorns/rainbows etc)

Why not just filter by colour then?

@MereDintofPandiculation Yes! Trying to find 'work' gloves that fit me, or (heaven forbid) steel toe-capped boots in my size is like trying to find a thing that's very hard to find sorry I'm crap at metaphors! How on earth can they not make stab vests for women? Surely that's a gross dereliction.

And don't get me started on how all Womens t shirts are see through but men's are decent thicker quality!

OP - my DD is/was at agricultural college and needed steel capped boots. I was worried they would be too heavy, but when we got some from the recommended supplier they said they had specially sourced lighter weight ones due to the high % of girls on the course.

I just bought a house and I am planning to do some DIY.

None of the protective gloves in DIY shops that I have seen so far fitted me and when I looked online for some what comes up for protective gloves under ''women'' is gloves for gardening and washing-up...

Apparently women don't do DIY and hold power tools according to manufacturers. Or wear overalls (again all protecting clothing I have seen seem to be aimed at tall men...).

Haven't had issues with riding equipment though. I easily found stuff in neutral colours.

You might not like pastel pink but a lot of people do. If the bags didn't sell well they wouldn't be made in such colours.

You're right, it is worse than ever. 32 years ago when my eldest was born, I never dressed her in pink - baby clothes came in lots of colours: yellow, mint green, turquoise, peach etc etc. When my granddaughter was born 2 years ago I excitedly went out to the shops expecting a similar choice only to be confronted by a wall of blue or pink. Honestly, a huge out of town Next store with a wall of blue or pink. It's very depressing how entrenched gender stereotypes have become.

When you say sports bag do you mean backpack/rucksack? Because they fit differently depending on whether they are made for men or women. I tried on quite a few to make sure mine was comfortable for hiking. The colour thing is slightly irritating but probably driven by sales. I don’t know any men who would choose pastel shades when buying a bag…

There’s some ambivalence though. Having respected the request not to buy anything pink for my bloke’s grandaughter, her mum is refusing to cut her hair, despite a daily battle and lots of tears when it’s combed. She refuses to have it tied back too. Every time I see the fight she puts up I bite my tongue and stop myself saying “Just cut the child’s hair, ffs”.

@Blossomtoes Has she tried a Tangle Teezer? Absolute game changer for knotted hair.

I got myself an oversized T from boho mens, the most comfortable T I’ve ever worn in my life! I’m going to be going back, loose fitting and covers bum in leggings, honestly I wish womens Ts were like that!

As for ‘gendered’ stuff, well unfortunately society are now celebrating sexist stereotypes more than ever. Especially ‘girly’ shite.

I have a little bit of a dilemma over this...
DD has had a growth spurt and as a consequence her barely worn hiking boots have been outgrown. They are navy with a tiny bit of pink trim (she actually wanted the "boy" ones with orange trim but they didn't have her size). I really want to list them as unisex on vinted or similar ... but will anyone actually buy them for boys?

I will defend Lego Friends though... they've had some awesome sets, a lit better than the "boy" equivalent. I notice the packaging is becoming less pink....

My sister, who is the repository of all the family's tools from two generations before, said she would be quite pleased with pink ones, because her friend, male, if he borrowed them, woud bring them back.

You totally missed the point, didn’t you?

Dye the pink trim orange, or green, anything not pink.

I tried to get a laptop bag. There is nothing suitable for taking a laptop on/off a train in/out of office unless you look for a man's laptop bag. All I can find are large tote bags (so I can't go hands free) or a dainty backpack (which is useless on the underground). I just want an over the body laptop bag that holds my laptop and my wallet... can't find one.

It's Driven me up the wall for the 2 decades since I became a parent but I love my pink toolkit. DH borrows it but knows there will be hell to pay if he doesn't put it back, all clean and neat, rather than losing it in one of his SIX! toolboxes.

@Gerrataere exactly, my daughter prefers the men's t's and hoodies apart from the Man written on the zip haha

@JustGotToKeepOnKeepingOn I don't understand, can you not just get a "man's" one anyway if you like it? Sorry, I'm probably being a bit thick!

The pink blue non sense has got really bad, made worse by these awful gender reveals. Influencers and their ‘pink princesses’ urgh.