Gender stereotypes on kids' clothes

[Annalouisa]

I was looking for t-shirts in both the girls and boys section of a a big UK high street brand when I noticed the difference in slogans between the boys and girls (i.e. the words on the t-shirts):

BOYS T-SHIRT SLOGANS:
Be the change
Cool Cool Vibes Cool Cool
Cool dude
Cool to be kind
Dino Dunk
Freestyle
Hear me roar
Make today the coolest day ever
Roarsome
Urban
Yeah!

__okay, so those slogans are innocent, right? No problem at all! But now check out the slogans on the girls' t-shirts:

GIRLS T-SHIRT SLOGANS:
Beautiful
Be happy
Be happy and smile
Daddy’s superstar
Extra fun
Happy
Happy Happy Happy
Hello
Love
Lovely
Love to dance
Rainbow
Smile and pass it on
Sweet
Wonderful

__having seen the difference in slogans, I don't find them innocuous at all. I know it's just one retailer (begins with P), but I have since checked out another big supermarket one, and there's a similar preoccupation with telling girls to be happy happy, smile, smile to be happy etc.
Why aren't the boys told to smile smile smile and be happy happy happy?

Might be reading too much into it, but the girls' slogans sound almost like a chat up line: smile for me, lovely, my sunshine, smile and be happy, love to dance, you're so sweet... not envious, but yucky

I find this is better with some brands than others, and it can also vary a lot year to year. One year a retailer near me had all kinds of silly stuff about love on girls shirts, another though it was all about girl empowerment, with no corresponding boy empowerment slogans in the boys department.

Most of them no matter what are kind of idiotic so these days I largely just avoid shirts with slogans.

Gendering is a big deal though. It reinforces negative stereotypes for boys and girls. It reinforces ideas that certain toys and clothes are for girls and for boys. It pervades everything, the moment a child is born everything is gendered in society.

I think this depends. If boys stuff is all militaristic, while girls is associated with something very air-head-like, that's negative.

On the other hand if there is some difference in styling on colour associations, both of which are in themselves fine, I don't see that as a problem. We all know that there are boys and girls, it is ok if there are slightly different cultural markers attached to that. Pretty much every adult understands that these are customary rather than intrinsic associations and children learn it at the developmentally normal time as well.

"On the other hand if there is some difference in styling on colour associations, both of which are in themselves fine, I don't see that as a problem."

Can you explain what you mean?

In its mildest form, it can lead to the old "cheer up, love, it might never happen" comment, which no woman ever shouted at a strange man walking past her. It sounds like a stupid comment, but really it's a micro-aggression.

Somewhat embarrassingly, as a young person, I genuinely didn't realise the, 'Cheer up, it might never happen!' thing was rude. I just thought it was a thing you said to cheer up people who looked worried. I said it to many a random man before I realised!

I agree 100%.
I always put my baby on white, no logos.
I hate all this be kind crap.
What you really mean is: females, know your place.

On the other hand if there is some difference in styling on colour associations, both of which are in themselves fine, I don't see that as a problem. We all know that there are boys and girls, it is ok if there are slightly different cultural markers attached to that.

What earthly purpose would 'colour associations' alone serve though? Why should there be different 'cultural markers' for small children, unless it's to facilitate treating them differently in some way?

Stop over thinking about everything. A girl wearing a pink slogan top or boy wearing an army top makes no difference to the world.

The clothes suit a purpose.

As children grow there individuality will shine through and select the clothes they like.

All this is middle class women having too much time on their hand. Does it really matter if little Molly where's a pink top with be kind and little Stewart a dinosaur top on.

Rebornagain what purpose does wearing a pink top with the words Be Kind serve?

@Rebornagain

Stop over thinking about everything. A girl wearing a pink slogan top or boy wearing an army top makes no difference to the world.

The clothes suit a purpose.

As children grow there individuality will shine through and select the clothes they like.

All this is middle class women having too much time on their hand. Does it really matter if little Molly where's a pink top with be kind and little Stewart a dinosaur top on.

Yes. Clothes suit a purpose. So why the nee to reinforce negative stereotypes??

look at the gendering if toys including Lego. Most of the "boys sets" are rescue, weapons, warfare, fighting, racing, the "girls sets" are animals, singing, friends, play houses...

Look at the slogans girls clothes bday and the imagery...and then the boys.

Then go on somewhere like Smyths, look at the electric ride on vehicles. 99% of bits are pictured on police motor bikes, fire brigade, fast cars, diggers etc

The girls are being pushed the pink and purple cars. Horse drawn carriage, little mopeds.

www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/outdoor/electric-ride-ons/c/SM060313

All day everyday girls are told to be gentle,kind,.soft and submissive
Boys are heroes, strong, aggressive, dominant.

THIS IS A PROBLEM.

@ThirdElephant

In its mildest form, it can lead to the old "cheer up, love, it might never happen" comment, which no woman ever shouted at a strange man walking past her. It sounds like a stupid comment, but really it's a micro-aggression.

Somewhat embarrassingly, as a young person, I genuinely didn't realise the, 'Cheer up, it might never happen!' thing was rude. I just thought it was a thing you said to cheer up people who looked worried. I said it to many a random man before I realised!

This made me laugh! Just hope you didn't say to anyone on their way home from a funeral or something

Stop over thinking about everything. A girl wearing a pink slogan top or boy wearing an army top makes no difference to the world. The clothes suit a purpose. As children grow there individuality will shine through and select the clothes they like.

@Rebornagain, there is this little thing called social conditioning. You don't wake up on your 18th birthday and go: "Wow, all these years I have been taught that women are gentle, kind, soft and submissive, but I now realise they really are just like me, and I can't expect them to 'give it up' on demand, and actually, maybe, putting a roofie into their drink isn't such a fun thing. Better tell my mate before we go clubbing again. Uh oh."

Seriously, you know there is a whole new male movement out there that is founded on the premise that women owe them sex. It's not exactly overthinking when we have an actual, real situation/problem.

Yes, would be good if people with grudges and mental health problems didn't have access to guns, but let's fix all the 1,000,000 everyday instances of sexism that shape that man's thinking before he decides it's okay to try and basically 'own' or subjugate a women.

Clothes matter. Exposing my inner geek here, but that's why in Ancient Rome, the toga was reserved for the free Roman citizens. Also look at many religions, where clothes are a major signifier.

If clothes didn't matter, we'd all run around in potato sacks

@00100001

"On the other hand if there is some difference in styling on colour associations, both of which are in themselves fine, I don't see that as a problem."

Can you explain what you mean?

There is nothing wrong with pink shirts, or blue shirts, or plackets on the left or right. So if custom suggests that there are different styles associated with men and women's clothing, it really doesn't disadvantage anyone.

The idea that humans won't make cultural distinctions around certain things like clothes based on sex seems pretty unlikely to me, we're too interested in sex differences and signalling them. So I think it's worth considering what is really objectionable and what isn't.

There's nothing wrong with pink shirts in of themselves, no.

But when we're told pink is for girls and blue is for boys, and that shirt is pink because it's a girls shirt....that's where the problem lies.

Why does a 4yo girl need to have a t-shirt that says "pretty" a d a 4yo boy have a shirt that says "trouble maker"??

They don't.

Sorry but my daughter is very conscious of influencing her child. The child still makes a beeline towards clothes suited to the child’s gender inc toys ..not really anything you can do about it!

Normally I would be completely in agreement with a thread like this as I loathe gender stereotyping and am not keen on clothes with slogans on either. But unless I am misunderstanding the slogans, there is a glimmer of hope in a couple of the boys' ones. It's unusual to see "cool to be kind" aimed at boys, and whilst " be the change" could mean many things it sounds generally positive to me - an environmental message maybe?
My 16 year old DS would certainly wear either of those, though he'd probably want them in pink. He has quite an extensive collection of pink shirts. He's been asked quite a few times whether his choice of shirt means he is gay or trans and he likes to reply "It means I like pink shirts" and walk off. That's my boy.😁

@MrsAvocet

Normally I would be completely in agreement with a thread like this as I loathe gender stereotyping and am not keen on clothes with slogans on either. But unless I am misunderstanding the slogans, there is a glimmer of hope in a couple of the boys' ones. It's unusual to see "cool to be kind" aimed at boys, and whilst " be the change" could mean many things it sounds generally positive to me - an environmental message maybe? My 16 year old DS would certainly wear either of those, though he'd probably want them in pink. He has quite an extensive collection of pink shirts. He's been asked quite a few times whether his choice of shirt means he is gay or trans and he likes to reply "It means I like pink shirts" and walk off. That's my boy.😁

Yes, 'be the change' is no issue...if it appears on "girls" and "boys" shirts equally.

However, I'd put money on it not being equal.

MrsAvocet
Be the change is a good slogan and can be positive, but if it only appears on clothing aimed at boys then it's further pushing the idea that boys are leaders, boys have agency, boys can achieve great things... meanwhile girls need to be passive, smile, be happy, be kind, give cuddles.

The predator/prey imagery is so clear once you notice it and the colours these images are printed on are usually split into two groups.

Meh I got annoyed about this pre having a boy and a girl and despite trying to get them to be gender neutral DS did want to run around with dinosaurs and cars (wear green and blue) and DD it was pink, bunnies and babies.

Of course there are external influences but inherently they were join to the stereotypes I wanted to avoid

This is what I really dislike when shopping for boys! Everything is trying too hard to be boy, animals such as crocodile used because these are not gentle animals. Then for girls it's all ponies and unicorns, super gentle cute dreamy.
Am sick of going to certain stores and seeing all dark colours used for boys, (particularly from toddler age) and bright colours used for girls. I've bought a lot of clothes for my little boy from the girls section, you wouldn't know it's girls clothes, yellow with little bumble bees on it, spotty tops and leggings, white top with pink rainbow stitched at the bottom. I have started to see a lot more neutral colours for boys but from only certain stores.

@Whstdoyouthink

Meh I got annoyed about this pre having a boy and a girl and despite trying to get them to be gender neutral DS did want to run around with dinosaurs and cars (wear green and blue) and DD it was pink, bunnies and babies.

Of course there are external influences but inherently they were join to the stereotypes I wanted to avoid

I read a study a while back with monkeys, where the researchers observed that the male monkeys were statistically more likely to be interested in toys and images of things that move- cars, balls etc- and less into stuffed toys and dolls, whereas female monkeys showed no significant preference and played with everything fairly equally.

So I imagine with boys it's somewhat more innate at least to start with while with girls it's more socialisation and conditioning, however unintentional. My DD went to preschool aged 3 with red as her favourite colour- this had been the case for over a year. Two months in, her favourite is now apparently pink, followed by purple. Could be coincidence, but I do think pinkification is contagious.

I can get on board with our intrinsic biological drivers pushing girls to more caring roles and men to more dominant roles

Eg. Men go out to hunt and gather, they're stronger, faster, more analytical minds. The women stay home and care for the children, make the gathered food into something for everyone to eat.

I get that as a rule males and females are different, and that's OK.

But what isn't ok is the continual reinforcement that women should be subservient to men, men mustn't show softer emotions etc. All women can hunt and gather, all men can care for the family. Etc.

Very boring but I suspect the genderization of being a sales tactic: if the clothes were neutral it would be easier to hand them down.
I used to buy clothes from the boy section for my DD and she questioned me from the age of 10 months, asking if they were boys' clothes. A red tee shirt with blue word "Mischief", brown and green socks with zoo monkeys on them, and a brown hat with animal face. At 10 months old, she must have observed what little boys and little girls wear.

@AuntDympna

Very boring but I suspect the genderization of being a sales tactic: if the clothes were neutral it would be easier to hand them down. I used to buy clothes from the boy section for my DD and she questioned me from the age of 10 months, asking if they were boys' clothes. A red tee shirt with blue word "Mischief", brown and green socks with zoo monkeys on them, and a brown hat with animal face. At 10 months old, she must have observed what little boys and little girls wear.

Wow, she was incredibly precocious! Neither of mine were beyond single words at ten months.

I find H&M and George to be good for plain, bright coloured tops.

So tired of seeing little boys in camouflage I mean WTF.