Long post alert. You have been warned.
My 6mo is fascinated with Oscar. Her face lights up when she sees Oscar. I am glad that at least one of them is showing interest in the other!
Anyways, thats not the point of this post. The other day, I went shopping for my little one. I wanted to buy her clothes with a dog print… just to showoff this character she is developing. Unfortunately all I could find in the baby girl section were flowers and other pretty pattern – mostly in shades of pink. None in the shade of blue. Pink is pretty…and flowers are lovely too. But not a single blue for my girl? And what about dogs. Or cats. Girls like them too. The closest to an animal print I found was a bird. Still a long way to go before my girl grows up, but when she does, she will most probably have a fascination for tech – just like dad. But again, while I came upon lots of clothes with robots, cars, satellite, spaceships, planets… in the boys section, there was none in the girl section. Seems like robots aren’t pretty enough? My girl is going to miss out.
While walking around the store there, browsing through so many of the kids brands, it was eye opening moment for me – to see in real – how we pre-define what girls and boys should like …right from size NB. Don’t get me wrong. I am no extra-ordinaire. I have joined the “pink and flowers for girls” bandwagon too – unknowingly. I have pink vests. I bought cot sheets that have pink dots. Her quilt covers have pink shades. Her cot bumper is pink. Her playmat is pink. ALL of the toys gifted to her are pink. The only “animal” toys are her pink bunny and pink butterfly and mouse with pink feet. I guess it was my personal wish to get her interested in animals that I bought her a teddy bear and a dinosaur – incidentally both are not pink. Was it because it was not meant for girl babies?
There are always big talks of the need of women to venture out into tech, into science, into mining – all the “not so girly” professions. I think the change will begin once we stop feeding into “all things pretty for girls” concept. Girls can be cute and pretty. And they can be smart and innovative and creative too.
I am personally going to try my best to stay away from this social stigma. For starters, I bought a beautiful blue vest for my girl. And another with a cute doggie print. And a gorgeous navy blue jumper – from the boys section. I think she will be just as adorable in them!
What do you think? Would love for you to share them. I am sure I am not the only mum having these thoughts.
Our Gorgeous Chaos 
It’s a vicious circle though I suspect. Manufacturers want to make what they know will sell. Customers can only buy what’s available. The manufacturers see that those items are selling well – and so make more – of the same.
I guess the question that springs to my mind is “Are all of the baby clothes for that age, gender specific in function? Or could you just put her in a boy’s tractor or T-Rex outfit?”
The other way is to go the way that so many mums, frustrated by the lack of well designed baby gear have gone, and design your own!
With beagles on of course.
james x
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Hey James,
I totally agree its a vicious circle.. the chicken and the egg situation really. That is why I am going with the “Be the change you want to see” thinking. Very cliched, but change has to start somewhere!
I am 6 month old mum, so as far as my mum-knowledge goes, baby clothes are gender neutral in function. As long as they are comfy and cute (and on sale!), I think we, as parents, should not be too biased for pinks or blues and spaceships or flowers. But I am hoping that one day there will be a dress that my girl wants to wear that has the T-Rex … or a beagle on it….Without me having to design one 😀
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