Anyone else find "pink princesses" ubiquity deeply disturbing?

[Annner]

Have a look at this

After years of wondering whether I do read into everything too much, this site is a breath of fresh air.

[KingCanuteIAm]

[belgo]

While we're at it, I hate baby boy blue. It looks terrible on my ds. In Belgium baby blue is traditionally a girl's colour.

I got my girls' hair chopped off last week. It's the best thing I ever did - no more tears and tantrums trying to wash and brush their hair!

[belgo]

I do get a shock every time I visit the UK and see so many little girls wearing pink. I don't mind pink, but it really is everywhere.

[sweetkitty]

I actually like pink it's my favourite colour I do dress my DDs in pink a lot as I like it and once they reach about 5 it's all black and reds and mini adult clothes which I hate.

One of my DDs is pink obsessed the other one loves purple and green (as green is the colour of the Hulk)

I do buy other colours for them there are loads of lovely little summer clothes for girls that are not pink. As they are getting older though they are choosing their own clothes more and more

[belgo]

sweetkitty- yes I agree pink and girly is better the mini adult. I hate the playboy brand.

Fortunately clothes in Belgium are far more interesting for children, but nothing as cheap as Asda.

[pointydog]

We live in a society which is constantly manipulated by big-bucks marketing and I think the same issues confront boys as girls.

The best we can do is be aware and be critical when it comes to interpreting the images and messages that surround us. We need to discuss these things with our children so that they can make their own minds up.

[sweetkitty]

belgo - I agree I detest anything Playboy or anything with slogans on it. I also love lilac for little girls too.

Most mums of boys I know moan about the lack of clothes and also once they are 6 months + they are all slogans/dark colours mini mens clothes.

[desertgirl]

my 2.10 year old son is quite keen on pink at the moment, seems a shame that he will be learning before long not to express such preferences.

[oodlesofpoodles]

Boys and girls clothing is equally dull unless you are prepared to put more time and money into buying clothes. My dd loves pink (although not as much as ds loves green), she prefers dresses over trousers and likes to be accesorised but that doesn't mean that she will grow up to be some sort of loser bimbo. I was a complete tomboy and cried if I had to wear a dress but it hasn't made me more "inspirational, important, ground-breaking and motivating" than my girly, pink loving, dress wearing sister.

[KingCanuteIAm]

Desertgirl, my 8yo ds still expresses those preferences and stands up for his right to do it, it is possible but it takes a strong child

[NationalFlight]

Oh gosh yes it's frightening how all girl clothes xseem to be made in pink, and all boy clothes in blue. Not NICE pink/blue, but yukky pale pink and blue that looks vile on most children.

Ds1 is starting to say he hates pink - that's school then, other boys being taught by their parents/shops that it's not on to like it.

It's so pervasive and upsets me inordinately.

Belgo I agree - baby boy blue clothes look hideous on mine too!!

I didn';t know it was trad. a girl colour there - that's quite nice.

[belgo]

Flight- in Belgium blue is traditionally for a girl; pink is for a boy!

Now belgian parents are revolting against baby colours and many little girls wear purple, brown and black; boys wear brown and grey. I prefer much brighter colours, and navy and some khaki.

[silverfrog]

belgo, you've reminded me of something that happened when dd1 was born.

we lived abroad, and I worked at the British High commission. After dd1 was born, we all went to some garden party affair, with dd1 dressed in her finest hand me downs (I honestly only bought 2 packets of vests for dd1, the rest all came via cousins) - which just happened to be a blue sleepsuit.

The Belgian Ambassador approached, and congratualted us on our daughter (he actually knew she was a she as he had seen dh the day before), and there wasa collected intake of breath form everyone around, as they wondered how to tell him he had made a huge mistake. was very , and no one could initailly understand how he had known she was a girl, and everyone got very confused when he said that baby blue was what girls were dressed in in Belgium, was quite hard to get around various language barriers with that one!

[mrswill]

Is there any body out there who actually likes to dress their dd in girlified clothes other than me?? Anyone out there.......
(would hang back shamedface, but am too busy admiring dd floral and pink dresses)

[belgo]

mrswill- sometimes it's fun to dress them up girly

[belgo]

that's interesting silverfrog. My girls both had a pink snow suit and I often got asked by elderly women if they were boys.

[silverfrog]

my dds have a lovely range of dresses, and girly clothes.

Some of it is pink, but not all of it by any means.

In fact, dd2 waswearign very fetching deep purple shortie dungarees today, with an orange t-shirt, and she looked very girly (and thinking about it, that's her second pair of purple dungarees!)

[silverfrog]

we were in Africa, so loads of people thought dh was desperate for a boy (and since dd1 was dressed in blue assumed she was one), and they thought we should be most offended that our "boy" had been mistaken for a girl

[belgo]

My girls have lovely clothes but they are little prima donnas when it comees to getting them dressed in the mornings- they rarely put on the clothes I co-ordinate for them - preferring to mis-match weather-inappropriate clothes instead.

[silverfrog]

ah, dd1 is ASD, and mostly compliant. It hasn't really ocurred to her that she could disagree with what I dress her in (she's 4.8), and dd2, at 2.3 is right int he middle of copying whatever her sister does, so thankfully it hasn't really ocurred to her to argue back (at least, not about clothes ) either! Long may that last!

[belgo]

Getting the children dressed in the mornings is something I'm hoping will be easier with a boy then it is with two girls

[oodlesofpoodles]

It used to be blue for girls, pink for boys in UK too.

[19fran76]

It's not the colour in itself that is the problem but the narrow & prescriptive definition of what it is to be feminine that is being so widely marketed. The emphasis on appearance rather than meaningful achievements/values etc. As a woman I am aware there are certain societal pressures/attitudes that are directed towards women/girls that do not apply to men/boys. I believe that there is a lot in our mainstream culture that is not particularly healthy/helpful & it is only natural that I should want to protect my daughter from it.

[Annner]

Wow! went for tea, and then came back to a clothing discussion.

For me, it's not so much the colour in itself, but all the packaging that comes with it on girls and their roles. In fact, that site talks a lot about boys and the "cheeky monkey/ mini hooliganz" syndrome that they are expected (?) to live up to.

I have seen how the same companies marketing pink and frilly princesses are the ones leading them towards early sexualisation at the "next" stage - sometimes with overlap. How many times, for example, do we see the idea of "pamper parties" marketed at KS1 or preschool girls? It's a short jump from there to Playboy merchandising, IMHO.

[KingCanuteIAm]

What is wrong with a "pamper party" for a child? Why is it bad to teach a girl that getting together with all your mates and having a good giggle whilst getting silly stickers and glitter put on your nails can be fun? I am very sorry but sometimes the boundaries of what is "early sexualisation" are a bit too wide for my liking.

I am an adult, I am (well was) sexually active, but I do not think that slapping on a coat of nail varnish equates automatically with getting laid, or wanting to look like I want to get laid. I am with you on padded bras and thongs for 9yo but nail varnish for a 3yo? Come on!

There is a lot out there that is wrong but a 3yo, or a 5yo or even a 10yo is not going to get hold of playboy merchandise if you don't let them. By the time they are 8 or 9 yo they are more than old enough to be told the connotations behind that stuff and the reasons you don't like it and, if you have done a good job raising them, they will most likely agree with you and want to avoid it anyway!