To Want a "Let Boys Be Boys" campaign too?

[Mowgli1970]

I totally agree with MN's campaign but think boys should have someone to back them up too. I'm fed up of slogans on t-shirts alluding to boys' bad behaviour ("Whatever" "I've Got a Bad Attitude") and boys' things generally - I'm a monster, I'm a monkey, I'm a little shit (ok, I made that last one up). My son is sweet, kind, sensitive, intelligent, articulate and generally lovely. Why can't I buy something for him that's a positive message (I can buy any number of "Little Princess" type, fluffy bunny, angel, sweet stuff for dd if I choose)? There's a niche in the market here...

I agree completely. I have two sons and whilst the "I have an attitude and I'm proud of it" slogans may suit my youngest at times, it certainly doesn't suit my eldest or I suspect 50% of the boys out there!

I have seen negative girls t-shirts ("I'm Mrs Bossy", "I'm a diva" "bad girl" etc etc but as you say, there are plenty of positives to balance it. I don't think I've ever seen a positive boy's t-shirt.

And why do the shops insist that all boys love football??? Boring! My two can't stand it.

i took a slight double take at "i'm a little shit" but it isn't that ridiculous - bet there's something out there!
agree about football, my DS is getting indoctrinated

Personally I don't see "Little Princess" type t-shirts as a positive thing, I refuse to have such a thing for my dd. To me that is what some of us are trying to counteract, the idea that girls should be pretty and sugary sweet, whereas boys get to do all the fun stuff like just playing and enjoying being a child, without being made aware of their appearance and sexuality and old fashioned gender roles at a ridiculously young age.

there is

It's not just t-shirts either - mugs, lunch boxes, pyjamas, bedding, party bags etc. If you're not interested in dinosaurs, football, trucks or TV there's very little choice. If anyone knows of a website that stocks "nice" boys' stuff, please let me know.

Oh My God borderslass - !!!!

I find the Let Girls be Girls thing a bit lame tbh, and am therefore equally about doing the same for boys. I've never felt any pressure to put my ds in any "I'm a little monster" tops, quite liked the "Weapon of Mess and Destruction" tops (although I only saw a girl wearing one of those).

So sorry, YABU.

Mowgli1970 - define "nice" boys stuff please!

There's plenty of plain stuff. Ds has plain duvet sets from m&s, a plain tupperware lunchbox etc. Having said that now he's 11 he chooses to plaster himself in skulls but that is his choice

Just as I hate pink and although the rails are full of pink for girls in the shops, dd has lots of lovely clothes. I don't think it is that difficult to bypass all the silly gender oriented stuff. Just don't buy it.

Actually, my boy has a fine collection of slogan t-shirts that his sister can't wait to get her paws on. Her favourites are
'Music dude with Attitude'

'Mud is Good for You'
and
'My t-shirt is better than your t-shirt'!

Otterinaskoda - nice is, of course, subjective hence the quotes. But for me it would mean items that are not perpetuating the myth that boys are badly behaved, obnoxious or violent. I think it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you wore a t-shirt that says "This Bitch Bites" (as a 5 year old was at our school fair) it sends a message to people, but more importantly to the wearer, that that's who they are. The same with boys. Or maybe I just need to not think so much about it...

I agree with Patsy. I don't actually see why you can't just buy plain things? There are plenty out there (and they are usually cheaper than slogan ones).

For the record DS1 loves football and DS2 loves Dinosaurs, but I'd still rather they wore clothes without big logos or slogans on.

My DH bought a "I'm Mommy's Little Princess" T-shirt for DD purely to wind me up - she wore it once, in an extreme laundry crisis.

I think it is perfectly possible to avoid naff slogans for both boys and girls if you choose to. The only one DS ever had was "If you think I'm bad, you should see my Grandad" - bought by my father and now being worn by DD.

Personally, I think there is something for most tastes if you look hard enough - DS has astronauts on bedding/curtains, but it was a close call between that and jungle stuff - either of which is (IMHO) pretty gender-neutral.

OMG at the "little shit" baby vest...
YANBU
Too much gender stereotyping in kids clothes, for both sexes. I only have a DD and avoid all the "princess", "shopaholic in training" type offensive shit daft things, but the boys ones are almost worse.

My point is though that this stuff is out there. Just as Mums could buy plain stuff for girls. Let Girls Be Girls Campaign is trying to ban clothing that sexualises young girls, maybe there could be one for boys that bans clothing/merchandise alluding to them being violent/dirty/nasty/smelly etc.

I agree with Otter.

I don't like the "Little Monster" type slogans for DS so he doesn't wear them. I have no problem finding him alternatives. He's currently wearing a plain blue t-shirt from Vertbaudet but most of his clothes come from Tesco or Next or M&S. You don't have to spend a lot of money or go somewhere special to avoid the slogans, IME.

My son's sweet, kind, intelligent, funny too but he doesn't need his clothes to proclaim that for him.

YANBU.

I hate the fact that boys are stereotyped that way. My ds is very sweet.

I buy alot of clothes for ds from Zara. I also buy packs of plain white or plain blue t-shirts from Primark. Primark also do plain jumpers in the winter, but you have to wade through all the slogans to get to them. Ds is 3 and so far has not worn anything with a slogan on it.

I find there are alot of stripy tops out there for boys, so ds wears alot of them with a pair of cords.

the football ones drive me nuts - partly because I'm scottish living in england, partly because they seem incredibly badly made, but mainly because they are absolutely EVERYWHERE at the moment. The worst are the 'future England captain' and 'england star in training' ones - forgive me for finding these inappropriate, but aren't the current england players and captain renowned more for their questionable morals and off pitch criminal activity antics than for their talents on pitch? not a message I want associated with my child.

that said, I've been able to get a lot of nice unisex baby clothes for DS, and plan to keep getting him as unisex stuff as possible so it can be handed down to subsequent children no matter the gender (living up to scottish stereotypes of cheapness, who, me?!)

I particularly dislike the slogans that refer to boys loving speeding cars and motorbikes.

But yes, they can be avoided.

All the same a total move away from these slogans would be great. I imagine that a boys campaign would be alot harder to get off the ground though.

I completely agree.. if you give a dog a bad name in the end he will bark to it.

I also agree with there being a balance. I think there should be a ban on people saying things like 'well he's a man what do you expect?' Especially in front of children, because it it is such a negative stereotype. And puts across the message that boys/men are just x, y and Z.

I think there is a difference between say, thong sets and padded bras for girls and a silly slogan on a t-shirt. I have one of each, and I am sorry, but I really don't feel as though my ds is being pushed into being a narrow stereotype in the same way my dd might be, if I let the media, advertisers and manufacturers have their way with her

I agree the slogans are not nice, but people idiots must be buying them, or they wouldn't make them. Just don't buy them. I have never bought a top with a slogan on for either of them, and I don't find it hard to clothe them.

I don't think it's the same. There is much greater choice. And even if boys are 'encouraged' to be noisy, muddy, in-your-face, isn't that so much better than being encouraged to be pink, pretty and passive?

I do find the dominance of certain themes such as football and Ben10 a bit irritating but it isn't so hard to avoid them.

kveta: we're Welsh, and most of the football related stuff being sold here in Wales is England stuff for the World cup.

Both boys like football (especially DS1), and so last week I bought DS1 a Brazil shirt and DS2 an Italy shirt. We were paying in a shop over the weekend and the spotty teenager man at the till asked them quite sharply why they weren't wearing England shirts. DS1 replied (with a grin) "Because we're Welsh".

DH keeps joking about buying an "I support two teams, Wales and whoever England are playing" T-shirt. Or at least I hope he's joking or we might get lynched...

I don't buy the I'm a Terror type ones either but my gripe with boys clothes is that you go from cute baby clothes into 'big boy' ranges so quickly

kveta we live in Scotland and most shops still sell England football tops luckily my ds doesn't like t-shirts but prefers proper shirts always has since he was little but they didn't really do slogan tops as much when he was little.