Can I be proud of DD here please?!

[NotTodaySatan]

It was DD's 7th party last week and it was at hell a soft play.

At the end of the disco the party organiser asked the girls and boys to split into groups to receive their party bags.

DD asked (politely): Excuse me, why are there separate bags for girls and boys?

Party Host: Umm. Because that's just how it is (me: ).

DD: well it's wrong. Girls might want to play with the toys in the boys bags and boys might want to play with the the toys in the girls bags. It's gender stereotyping.

Party host: Nothing.

Then one of DD's friends, clutching the fashion related toy from her bag said "Boys don't play with fashion toys" with a grimace.

DD: Of course they do. There are lots of male fashion designers. Don't be silly.

I'm proud of her .

OP, your daughter sounds fab and I can't see any rudeness. Rude would have been to say "I don't want this stupid fucking party bag, it's a load of sexist old cobblers" and chucking it back at the employee

I only wish I had been encouraged more to say what I thought as a young child. The level to which I was made to defer to adults and never, ever question them has made my adult life much more difficult that it needed to be. We don't do this to boys to anything like the extent we do it to girls, and if that isn't a valid field to have a bit of a feminist shout about, I don't know what is.

Well done OP's DD! The rudness was entirely on the part of the venue, thinking gendered party bags are in any way acceptable. Glad they were called out on it. I'm not sure I would have had the confidence to speak up as an adult (although I'd certainly have written a strongly-worded letter!!)

Some cool outspoken children here :) My ds is much better at challenging things than my dd although she has become more confident as she's got older. She cares more about what people think of her, and while some of that is personality I'm sure some is learned too. ds has never cared about other people's opinions or the consequences of his actions very much (which has been problematic at times to say the least!) but I'm sure he has got way more validation for being opinionated and outspoken.

Love that How women have to speak link. Depressing, not generally my personal experience but very funny

Quote: “I came. I saw. I conquered.”

Woman in a Meeting: "I don’t want to toot my own horn here at all but I definitely have been to those places and was just honored to be a part of it as our team did such a wonderful job of conquering them."

a suggestion for next time, list the bags and ask everyone to queue for who wants what.
And go her

Good for her!

Some parents shared similar anecdotes when I was preparing an article for Let Toys Be Toys recently.

I was (and still am) too scared to speak up most of the time but I hope my daughters will be more self-assured.