To rant at Waitrose

[Lucifera]

There have been quite a few threads on the topic of the "gendering" of products for children, all-pink for girls, all-cammo for boys, etc, so I'm encouraged to think that some of you won't think IWBU to send this email to Waitrose:
I picked up a copy of your "entertaining" brochure in a store at the weekend, and was pretty shocked at your suggestions for party food and ranges of cakes for children. So the girls get Barbie and princesses while the boys have football and pirates? You even have sex-segregated menus - for heaven's sake! Do the children you know only invite other boys or other girls to their parties? Not even their sisters or brothers?
I am completely sick of the way everything for children is gendered these days, from nappies to bikes - and now food! I'd expected better of your company.
I imagine you will tell me it's what parents and children want. It seems to me they don't get a choice.

wastingmyeducation - having a DS and a DD, I do find myself only buying intensely girly (if not neccesarily pink) clothes for DD to acessorise all her hand-me-down jeans and jumpers with - but I haven't rejected any of DS's old clothes as too 'boyish' yet (I think I will draw the line at handing down power ranger pants though )

I always feel a need to buy trains and power tools for little girls of my aquaintance who seem to own nothing but pink plastic. I comforted myself this morning when DD was wielding a toy iron that it was OK because said (purple) iron does in fact belong to DS who absolutely insisted on buying it with birthday money when he was 3

Actually, my ds is fascinated with household cleaning equipment. My dad gave him his own dustpan and brush for his 1st birthday though he still wanders round with the house ones. I'm hoping we'll be able to put his fascination to practical use one day.

Back to the OP - I am mildly intruiged - are there no gender-neutral cakes? What about noah's ark (or animal cakes generally) - or generic chocolate 'happy birthday' cakes? Please tell me they haven't divided those into boys' and girls' (blue smarties vs pink smarties?!)

Message withdrawn

Rubyloopy - Waitrose once a month, Tesco or Aldi the rest of the time! tho' last time at Aldi got £40 parking fine so not so cheap ...
StealthSquiggle, there were a couple of cakes that were slightly more neutral, but the "girls' menu/boys' menu" was really what prompted my email to them.

How did you get a £40 parking fine in Aldi?

Stayed too long, MsSparkle. Parked, wandered round town, came back, did shopping, drove off. Week or so later, penalty notice in post - they have some sneaky camera! My fault of course - an expensive 13 minutes.

Don't know what you are moaning about, try buying a cake for a 40 year old man, now that's a challenge. I ended up with a busty boobs cake

Daphne - I think I would have gone for the pirates over that one, personally

Fairies and sparkles for girls and pirates and diggers for boys = lazy and formulaic IMO.

Some kids like it, some kids like it all, some kids like the opposite of what they're 'supposed' to like, according to retailers. I don't really like being told what colour my DD has to wear i.e. pink. It's all cobblers.

I wouldn't bother ranting about it. Just vote with your pound and get a local cake maker to do the cake and get what you want.

Well in the end he quite liked the boobs! They had a nice lacy basque over the rude bits so not too bad.

i have waitrose entertaining magazine and i cant see what your complaining about. They havent sectioned cakes girls and boys so in theory could assume cakes are for either sex. They have also used a lot of unisex names to personalise a lot of the cakes so can only assume its u that has assumed the princess cake is for a girl and the pirate cake is for a boy!

Message withdrawn

We made a Thomas the TE cake for gs last year, bought coloured icing etc; it wasn't what I'd call an unqualified success, but as he was only 3 he was graciously pleased and admiring.

Lucifera, you have my support... I would suggest boycotting stores that irritate in this way, but so few shops seem to present any non-gendered options, I have started to fear I am going to have to construct clothes for my baby from sackcloth and hessian.

And it is so depressing and weird that 25 years ago when I was a child, this was not a problem! It probably wasn't even a problem 50 years ago...

aw thanks SugarGlider, I do keep hoping there will be a huge consumer protest against it, which is why I complained to Waitrose in the first place.