Pink for girls...
“Be careful Victoria, you don’t want her to grow up ‘butch’.”
That was the sting in the tail to my mum’s innocuous interest in my daughter. A light and breezy chat about whether Florence liked dolls and teddies suddenly turned into a snippy sermon on gender alignment.
You see, mum had recently sent me a list of books she wanted to buy Florence. Like all good liberal (high) minded mothers I didn’t mind what she bought as long as she avoided dullard wastrels in pretty dresses i.e. princesses (I didn’t want my daughter lusting after a windowless tower and a 100 metre pony tail before she could string a sentence together).
The conversation with my mum ended with me rubbishing her antiquated notions of femininity and her telling me she needed to go and weed the geraniums – her favourite euphemism for ‘you’re getting up my nose and I can’t be bothered to talk to you’.
My affronted feminist self took immediate refuge in the Pinkstinks website. Pinkstinks is a movement that challenges the ‘pinkification’ of young girls. Gender stereotyping (particularly in relation to girls) comes under fire from their feisty activists. Anyone who manufacturers toys, books and even grocery items that propagate the idea girls are merely pretty and vacuous is called to account. I thought it was a fine call to arms for anyone concerned about how girls are defined and a welcome damning of pink’s unrelenting grip on girlhood.
I was about to email the Pinkstinks link to mum when my daughter toddled by with baby Bubba. Bubba is a heavenly confection of pink and blonde plastic. Bubba is nurtured to within an inch of her tiny life. Florence LOVES her very pink Bubba.
Yowzers!! My own daughter had succumbed to the malignant forces of pink right under my self-righteous nose. Burn baby Bubba! BURN!
Except, I didn’t think that. I thought about how she enjoys playing with her brother’s train set and his fleet of cars, but that her heart is with Bubba and the army of soft stuffed things guarding her room. I thought about how she loves helping with the chores and how she likes watching Angelina and Peppa– not so much Thomas and Roary.
In many ways my daughter is a (stereo) typical girl and I started to wonder if that’s more down to biology than marketeers wooing her with their gender agenda. She may respond to ‘girly’ things because she doesn’t have a bucket load of testosterone swilling around in her system.And that may make her more gentle and eager to help and more nurturing. Less of a risk-taker, less physical, less arghhh!
Why can’t my daughter be all those things and have a robust spirit? Why can’t innate femininity coexist with ambition? Is the princess conundrum really setting up our daughters for a life of domestic servitude and stymied independence?
If it did then we wouldn’t have a current generation of women who are lawyers, writers, entrepreneurs, politicians etc. We’d all be in glass boxes with a poisoned Granny Smith wedged in our mouths waiting for Brad Pitt to do the honours. My lovely friend Cath grew up on a diet of Girl’s World and Rapunzel, yet she miraculously avoided their oppressive clutches to become a doctor.
The Pinkstinks movement has its heart in the right place, but I’m no longer wholly convinced by its message. Emphasising girls’ ability to be brave and courageous is great, but at what cost? Are we telling them that being a girl isn’t enough – to be valued you have to be, well, more like a boy.
Because let’s face it, many things that little girls and big girls love don’t rate too highly in the respect stakes. Take clothes for example. Fashion is often framed as an extension of celebrity narcissism and consumerism. It’s art’s low point. No matter that a Louboutin heel is an exquisite blend of mathematical thought and aesthetic imagining, we’re taught that loving clothes isn’t a good fit for the intellectually engaged.
Now think of all the things in the average boy’s bedroom. There isn’t a single item that would attract social derision when translated into a future career or interest.
Ensuring girls grow-up with a healthy self-esteem and the confidence to pursue whatever life path they choose is critical. However, in the process we should be wary of demonising their natural instincts.
A desire to nurture and express kindness are as important as strength and bravery. Liking gorgeous frocks won’t make her vacuous. Mild romantic fantasies involving handsome blue bloods won’t forestall future healthy relationships with ordinary non-blue bloods. And there’s nothing wrong with pink – just as there’s absolutely nothing wrong with my Bubba loving daughter.
For the last ten years Victoria has been writing about music. Like most things in her life her young children are starting to wheedle their way into her words. You can find her on Twitter here.
Pink for girls. Thoughts?
Comments
58 Comments so far
I have one girl who, despite all my best efforts, is a pink girl. My washing line is a swathe of pink, pink, pink. I say ‘try mixing it with another colour?’ ‘No thanks Mummy, just pink please’.
I have another daughter who will quite happily wear pink, or whatever colour I ask of her, but her real super duper favourite colour is red.
Try buying red stuff for girls? Downright hard.
Both girls play with dolls, nurture their babies, cook with me, dig in the garden with their daddy, kick footballs, jump rope, climb trees and playground equipment, dress as princesses, and save Rapunzel in her castle.
They are what they are. They like what they like. I just try and offer them lots of different stuff to choose from, and let it go from there. Best I can do.
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When I was little I had a black baby doll named ‘Coco’.
And I was born in 1988.
I can’t tell if that’s PC or not…..
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“because being a girl is degrading.”
It frustrates me to the point of anger that pink and purple are the only colours available in girls clothes and toys, but I hate with a PASSION that the movement against pink swings so far as to imply that being a girl is bad. Is being a mum bad? Is being a nurse bad? Is cooking for your family bad? No. These are all noble things. Needed things. Things that make life sweeter, lovelier. There is nothing degrading about being a girl, this THIS is what we need to get into our heads. Traditional gender roles are not evil. Granted there is a nauseating abundance of pink crap and I would love to be able to buy a yellow umbrella or a black and white bike, or a green and red tea set, or a pale blue and orange play tent for my daughter – I would love the choice – but I am not going to demonise pink because it just gives it more power and it’s just a colour. The real issue here is the problem we seem to have with girls being girls and yet it’s encouraged that boys be boys! Hello! We need to stop saying that being a girl is weak.
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I’m disappointed by this article, I feel like it really misunderstands and misrepresents the messages of the Pinkstinks campaign. Pinkstinks isn’t about saying there’s anything wrong with pinkness or femininity per se, but about challenging a culture which only offers girls a limited range of stereotypically ‘girly’ products and concepts.
It’s not about demonising girls’ natural instincts. It’s about giving them the freedom of choice and empowerment to follow them:
“Pinkstinks believes that by recognising and celebrating the fact that there’s more than one way to be a girl, that the benefits for all children and wider society will be boundless.”
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I can highly recommend the book ‘Cinderella ate my daughter’ – the author addresses a lot of these issues in an inquiring and non-judgmental way. She doesn’t have any easy answers, she tries to celebrate her daughter’s femininity but to make sure she has lots of options too.
The book shows how insidious a lot of the marketing is … for instance, a lot of the reason there are girls and boys versions of toys is just to encourage parents to buy two of everything!
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It’s funny to wonder what our kids will be like when they’re older. My first daughter is gorgeous but not at all fussed about what she’s wearing or how I do her hair, or even spending that long with her barbies. My second daugher isn’t 2 yet and loves handbags, bracelets, necklaces, but then also Thomas and Roary and matchbox cars. One extreme to the other!
Time will tell what they’ll be like when they’re older….
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When I was little I was obsessed with my doll (actually, I refused to call her a doll. Bonnie was my ‘baby’). I had two, Bonnie and Jenny. I also loved pink.
However, most of my games with my dolls involved them getting hurt, and me being the doctor and bandaging them up. I wanted to be an ‘Eskimo’ when I grew up (that is, a doctor who is also a mum. I have no idea why I called it that).
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with girls playing with girly toys. I adored playing with my dolls, but I now really dislike children. I also would hate to be a doctor – too much blood.
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I have three girls. This is the house of pink. I’m more in danger of injuring myself with the chainsaw I use to cut through the oestrogen in this house than anything else.
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Also, has anyone noticed that whilst Disney Princess figurines abound, there are hardly and Disney Villain figurines? I could buy my as yet unborn niece an Ariel, Sleeping Beauty or Snow White doll, but no Ursula, Maleficent or Evil Queen doll for the former to do battle with. If you can eventually locate a Mulan doll, you still can’t buy any figurines of the Hun army she so valiantly defeated. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a Mulan doll with her dressed in her armour, with her sword and trusty steed. I think that’s sad.
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Totally irrelevant to the topic – but I would just like to say that Malifecent is totally badass. I love her.
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Out of interest, why would you want to buy the villains?
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Can’t be a hero unless you’ve got something to overcome.
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Because the boys have villain toys that you can buy. Girls need to be able to learn to fight villains too.
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I have a Malificent figurine – its about 20 years old now and I still love her!
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“Fashion is often framed as an extension of celebrity narcissism and consumerism. It’s art’s low point. No matter that a Louboutin heel is an exquisite blend of mathematical thought and aesthetic imagining, we’re taught that loving clothes isn’t a good fit for the intellectually engaged.”
Victoria. I’m glad you brought up the “N” word. Narcissism is often portrayed as a “feminine” trait by the media, but any quality psychiatric expert will tell you that NPD is more common in men than women – and BPD is the female equivalent. Wonder why……..
“Now think of all the things in the average boy’s bedroom. There isn’t a single item that would attract social derision when translated into a future career or interest.”
Except, some boys will grow up to become engineers, and others motor mechanics, even if all boys have the same “racing car” theme in their bedrooms. Wonder why……..
Pink DOES stink – and Blue does, too.
Wonder why………
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Meh. My daughter loves pink, pink pink. She also loves mud slip n slide and climbing trees. My son loves to cook me breakfast on his pink BBQ and has a penchant for tutus and high heels. He also loves trains, cars and air karate chops. I grew up never being allowed a Barbie because it was against my mum’s feminist principles – all I wanted was a doll whose hair I could brush. Luckily j can now play Barbies with my little girl to my heart’s content. Kids want what they want – just let them be – theres no need to force them as long as you are not forcing them down a particular route ….. An open mind and playing with your kids is more important than stressing over what they’re playing with in my opinion…
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Yes!! Thank you…I think we over think it sometimes! JUST.LET. THEM. BE!
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I loved barbies when I younger, i dont feel they warpped me in anyway. I also had a radio shack remote control monster truck (I still have it & pretty confident it still works). When my son was about 1-2yrs old he had a baby doll & stroller that he loved to push around now it’s all about cars & our wii
Let them play with whatever makes them happy, it doesn’t matter what aisle u Found it on
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I often get described as hating pink. I don’t hate pink at all. I hate that it’s a uniform for little girls and that for a while there it was the only colour I could find clothes in for KDot.
And that toys are either pink or blue and girls must have pink and boys must have blue and that’s that.
I wear pink myself. I dress KDot in pink sometimes. But that’s the key – sometimes. Not everything needs to be bloody pink!
I don’t like the pink stinks idea as it feels like it says that things that girls are into or have traditionally done is not worthy (or even stuff like cooking, or being a teacher or nurse or parenting and caring for babies). Stuff that girls are into is awesome. So is stuff boys are into. I don’t see why everyone can’t be into everything. I certainly don’t remember such division when we were kids, and Mum concurs – she said we only really dressed in white as babies, she dressed my brother and sister in colours so people could tell them apart, and toys like Lego were just blocks. We had Barbie and GI Joe (the Barbie for boys) and dollies with prams, and Tonka trucks, but certainly didn’t have lame girls Lego, and definitely didn’t have the merchandising tie-ins (girls=Dora, Barbie, Princesses, Fairies, Boys=Ben 10, Toy Story (not sure how that’s for boys rather than girls), Cars). I blame Disney!
There are, thankfully, other things you can get that aren’t so specific. And parents who don’t freak out about a little girl enjoying playing with trucks!
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I don’t think the pink stinks movement is about traditionally feminine things being bad- from what I’ve read on their website their main gripe seems to be that the toys are so gender segregated. They recently applauded a decision by a major London toy store (Henley’s?) to do away with their ‘girls floors’ and ‘boys floors’ system of organisation within the store and simply arrange the toys by type. So for example, they now have a dolls section, a cars section, a nature section etc etc.
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I think that’s what it feels like and I think that is often what people end up running with, mistakenly or not.
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I like pink. Don’t have a problem with it. As a matter of fact I have a kick arse bright pink dress, that doesn’t feel girly or soft. My true love is purple/maroon/black.
Kids will be what they will be, either because of you or in spite of you. If you place too much emphasis on a colour or type of toy, you risk just drawing more attention to it.
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I remember when I studied primary teaching, and some of of the psychological stuff… there’s a stage, about 4 years old, when kids typically go nuts on their own gender stereotyping. They’ve decided what girl or boy things are, and go nuts on it. And then they grow out of it. Or not. But there’s definitely a recorded thing that pretty much most kids will go through.
I was definitely the same at that age, and loved pink and skirts and stuff, and then by age 8 was a big tomboy.
I think it’s important to just let kids know their options – and also lead by example! If you’re a mum, show your kids that you can do stuff with a car or technology, and if you’re a dad don’t be afraid of knowing about clothes and cooking or whatever. Let them know that they can like many things and don’t have to be stuck in a gender box, and then they’ll choose what’s right for them, hopefully!
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I completely agree. I find it very frustrating when people who are supposedly promoting equality for girls do so by simply supporting the stereotypical masculine model and criticising anything that falls into the stereotypical feminine model. That’s not equality.
I get so frustrated with this sentiment yet I come across it all the time. I was at a 5 year old’s party last week and having a conversation with 3 other Mums. We were talking about the rain cancelling the footy for the weekend which then led into a conversation about after school activities in general and who had girls or boys etc. Then 2 of them started doing that thing where they boast how tom boyish they were growing up. They are so proud that they weren’t ‘girly’ in anyway. One was saying she has always been her father’s ‘son’ and how great it has that she has 2 boys and no girls and has never worn make up. Then the other Mum pipes to confirm how cool she also was growing up because she was an only child who lived on a property riding bikes. She was so proud to announce that she never played with barbie dolls.
Then I mentioned that my 3rd and youngest son has inherited all of his sisters old pink cups, plates and cutlery etc and that for 2 years he refused to ride his brothers blue scooter and only his sister’s pink scooter (yes eventually he did get his own!). We thought it was quite cute how much he loved riding around in a pink barbie helmet.
Response from one of the other Mum’s…..you should buy him some green things that aren’t pink.
WTF! He’s now obsessed with orange. I’m so glad I had a girl and 2 boys close together because our house is filled with every colour of the rainbow and I didn’t have to over think it.
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I used to feel the same way until I started noticing my nieces love for pink and dolls. She had a lot of animals and stuffed toys but no frilly pink doll. We went to a Xmas party and older girls ( she was 11 months) got barbies and baby dolls. As soon as she saw them her face lit up and she wanted one. So I bought her a frilly pink doll for Xmas and she LOVES it. I however was worried about her having only white dolls. So I tried to find some multi racial dolls. Almost impossible!! They are all white, all blonde all blue eyes! It’s so hard to find anything else! I managed to find some at Ikea so got her an African doll. It just amazes me that there is this massive gap in the market!
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I was on Romper Room when I was 4- it was almost Christmas and Miss Kim asked us all what we wanted from Santa… my mum claims she burts into tears of pride when I told Miss Kim that I wanted a “black Barbie doll”
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I don’t think we get the multi racial dolls like America, possibly because Africans/Hispanics etc are a far smaller percentage of the population. I saw more multi racial dolls in the US last year. It’s interesting to note I had an African American Barbie doll in the 70s.
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I did this with my niece too… and her only comment was ‘but she’s not pink’! Nothing about the colour of the skin. I had given her one of the ‘Tinkerbells’ that had a yellow dress. Can’t win them all!
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Lol I love that!!
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Lol, I live on a mountain so get about in hiking boots or gumboots and my little girl has a shoe obsession! She also has a rock obsession and a particular love of the colour green. I was exactly the same, loved a tree top cubby house but went on to study fashion design.
The only thing I say no to is bratz dolls. No no no.
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Agree! Bratz dolls are revolting.
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They mystify me – I don’t know anyone who buys them or encourages others to buy them for their kids, but they’re still selling, I assume. Awful things they are.
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The whole pink stinks movement has very little to do with the actual colour pink in itself. It’s more to do with the fact that toys for boys and girls tend to be strictly gender segregated; toys specifically marketed at girls usually involve ‘imagination play’ and feature indoorsy activities like sewing or cooking, and these toys are often coated in a layer of pink. Not that these activities are bad, of course, but the sad fact is that they’re becoming all that’s expected of little girls.
Don’t believe me? Fine, I have a challenge for you. Go to a department store toys department, and go to the girls toys section. (You won’t be able to miss it, trust me.) See if you can find a girls toy that:
Doesn’t feature princesses, fairies or ponies
Doesn’t involve a variation of domestic chores/activities
Doesn’t emphasise a girls physical, outward appearance (so no dress up dolls, hair styling or make up kits, make your own jewelery kits etc)
Actively encourages the development of problem solving/spatial awareness skills
Actively encourages anti-social tendencies (e.g guns, monster trucks, monster/villain figurines)
Of course, even if you make an effort to avoid all the cliches above, your little girl will probably still want to play with a barbie at some point. Why? Because they’re everywhere, that’s why. The question is what are you going to do- assume it’s just a phase and keep making the effort to expose her to a wide variety of toys and activities? Or just assume it’s all biology, throw in the towel and load her bedroom up with pink crap?
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Thats why you pick unisex toys. Lego blocks (not the stupid pink ones), puzzles, books, board games,play dough, bikes and even console games (Nintendo DS and Wii etc). Just because you have a boy or girl, doesn’t mean you have to buy toys specific to either (or the opposite gender to make a point).
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Of course, you can find unisex toys which fit all the criteria I listed above, and that’s great. But I’m talking about toys which are specifically targeted at little girls.
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Oh, and if anyone is wondering why I listed ‘promotes anti-social tendencies’ as a desirable quality in a toy, I did wonder myself about whether to include it. But I decided it had to be in there, a) because boys toys do it all the time and hardly anyone bats an eyelid, and b) because I think it’s healthy for all kids to have an outlet for their aggression. Or at least, healthier than telling them they have to be best friends with absolutely everyone they come into contact with.
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People do bat an eyelid at toys that promote anti social behaviour for boys. A lot of people won’t buy toy weapons (guns, swords, axes) for their boys because of it. Boys can be just as antisocial with a stack of blocks frankly, or even a train set, if they wish.
I think you’ll find girls toys can have each of the qualities you listed except for the anti social one, but the difficulty may be finding a specifically girls toy with all the qualities.
This is why I bought a lot of unisex toys and just got the odd toy from the boy/girl section. I debated adding to this post and only did eventually because I feel that toys are not the only influence on a kids development.
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I honestly don’t care what toys or colours my daughter likes or chooses to play with. As long as she’s happy, i’m happy. Doesn’t matter to me if she ends up a high-flying career woman or a housewife with 5 children, as long as she’s happy. Whatever she ends up becoming, I’m not going to contribute it to her being allowed to have pink things and dolls as a child.
I seriously think some people need to relax and just let their children be children.
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I don’t have a problem with pink or girliness. I love tutus and disney princesses.
I just don’t like the way they market things to try to get us to buy more. My daughter has a walker which has bright primary colours and a farmyard theme. It plays old mcdonald has a farm. There is also a girl’s version which is pink and covered in butterflies but it still plays old mcdonald has a farm.
Why does there have to be two version of this toy? My daughter is one. She doesn’t care about pink and butterflies yet. The bright primary colours one does us fine.
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Totally agree! Why is there a pink tea set and a blue tea set – what’s wrong with the one RED tea set?
Let’s just let (and encourage) kids to be kids!
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I would love a little pink in our house…
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For a while I have agreed that pinkification should be avoided at all costs (oh the horror that girls should feel they can only be stay-at-home mothers, nurses etc), but then I wonder if by making such a fuss we are perpetuating the idea that these are less honourable life choices? We certainly need to let girls know that they have options – but not swing so far in emphasising all the other options that we don’t find ourselves implying that traditionally female roles are not as good as traditionally male roles. I have realised I was doing this with my daughter, kind of withholding dolls a bit. Like Victoria’s daughter, mine LOVES the dolls she does have (gifts) but has not given a hoot about the trucks I bought. I will definitely stop my girly stuff ‘censorship’ and instead be sure to have conversations about choices/societal expectations/gender roles with my daughter when she is old enough to understand!
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I say, let the kid play with whatever it wants to play with so long as no injury results.
The child will either continue to play with the article or put it down and leave it alone forever.
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I think it’s actually harder to support young boys and their love of dolls, doll’s houses, make-up and dress ups. It seems quite acceptable for a girl to play with cars and you can buy pink ones if they love pink but it’s very difficult to buy a nice doll’s house that isn’t the so called ‘girly’ colours or one that doesn’t have gender stereotypical figures (Mum ready to clean, Dad with a briefcase etc) And don’t get me started on dolls that represent my actual family (i.e black, lesbian) Thank goodness for internet and overseas shopping!
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I grew up loving Barbie and the footy. I climbed trees but also loved my dollhouse. I love pink though! I wore a pink wedding dress, coordinate my work stationery in pink and adore pink cupcakes. My soon to be norm daughter will have all the opportunities to play with what she wants but I won’t deny I’ve decorated her nursery in pink and have bought plenty of pink clothes. Im sick of certain people telling us we can’t be strong women and love pink. It’s just a colour, a gorgeous one but stil just a colour!!
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Maybe one day “others” will realise there are alternatives to pink everywhere & no one forces us to buy it! I love pink & so does my daughter! If I want to buy something because it’s pink then that is exactly what I’m going to do & since I was introduced to this pink stinks world I do it more so!
It’s funny my partner loves everything about me including my “pink-ness” None of my clients complain that I wear pink to work, my uni lecturers don’t mind that I submit my work in pink folders, my daughters school doesn’t freak at my pink shoes when I’m doing reading. I’m pretty sure that the guy at IGA doesn’t care that my green bags are pink. No one refuses coffee at my place because my kettle is pink. I can’t think of one way that my favorite colour disrupts my life at all!
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I grew up playing with boys toys mostly… I had an impressive collection of matchie cars, tonka trucks… but I also had Barbie dolls and I LOVED Disney princesses.
I even wore boys clothes a lot of the time… just because they were generally more comfortable.
When I had my long hair cut when I was about 7, until I began to grow boobies at about 11 or 12, I was constantly mistaken for a boy.
Basically, my parents let me play with whatever I want, and wear whatever I want.
My sister on the other hand, wore pink, and played with “bubbas”… because she wanted to. (funnily enough, her two year old daughter is OBSESSED with pink… to the point of stealing pink toys from daycare – because if it’s pink, it must be hers!)
Now that I’m an adult, I have long hair (and boobies, lol). I love the colour pink, but I also love the colour red.
I wear dresses sometimes, although I’m generally happier in jeans and tshirts. I love costume jewellery, and I love to do my hair up in pretty feminine ways.
I work in the construction industry, running my own business… so I’m a girl trying to work in a male-dominated industry that is quite rife with sexism.
All in all… I think people need to chill out. I don’t think what you play with as a child really has that much influence over who you are as a person… rather I think kids gravitate to the toys that fit who they are anyway. Parents have to be willing to let their kids play with and wear what they like… but I don’t think the apparent gender bias in toys and kids clothes is really doing too much damage.
Maybe the problem is in our thinking… why do we think of the Barbie dolls and baby dolls and pink things as “girl” toys. Why can’t they just be Barbie dolls, baby dolls and pink things? Why do the action toys and cars and blue things have to be boys things? Why can’t they just be action toys and cars and blue things?
There is a reason that toy and clothes makers are doing this though… because generally, girls like the stuff that is marketed as girly stuff, and boys like the stuff that is marketed as boy stuff. I think it’s just biology.
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Renae, I really think it more to do with each persons balance of hormones! Some of us have a greater dose of testosterone coursing thro our veins, and we have greater drive and are more “male”? I have done several career “firsts” as a female, but my uniform is pink, my business cards are pink, and I am also a happy Mum and grandmum. Love being able to have the best of both worlds! And fight the bastards who say we can’t!
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“Because let’s face it, many things that little girls and big girls love don’t rate too highly in the respect stakes. Take clothes for example. ”
You’re kidding, right?
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I also found that line particularly insulting.
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I dunno, I can see her point…
An obsession with fashion MAY be considered by SOME people to be a bit shallow…
*ducks for cover*
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It’s not insulting, it’s the truth. How much respect do fashion nuts get? How much shit do people cop for being into the latest trends and thinking it’s important? She’s not insulting people who are into that stuff, she’s saying that’s how it’s looked at.
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I realised that’s what she was saying, but I was disagreeing with her point about fashion being regarded as unimportant. It gets a massive amount of positive coverage, to the extent where women who aren’t interested can feel left out and/or ‘lacking’ in some way.
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Yeah I know, I agree with you – as a not into fashion/shoes/makeup/SATC chick, I have often copped suggestions of somehow letting down the sisterhood. I was disagreeing with Merinda.
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As a mother of boys, I’ve got to say, it goes both ways. My little boy loves pink, and having his nails painted when I do mine, and dancing to pop music, and his red shoes. He also loves Roary & Thomas and thinks that pushing people over and crashing his cars in a big pile off the couch is hilarious. I can only buy things for him in red, blue or black. Things that are pretty and sparkly are not considered ok.
You might not want your girl to be a vacuous princess but I don’t want my boy to be a skull logo wearing bully either. I have found the stereotypes get worse as the kids get older, and neither extreme is cool. Such a shame they can’t be everything.
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You can get a limited amount of clothing in pink for teenage or adult men. More so, if an item merely has pink on it.
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Excellent, excellent article.
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I think you’ll find most people’s issue is the constant slamming of the pink in girls’ toys. There’s a distinct lack of variety.
There’s nothing wrong with bring feminine or liking pink. Its about the fact that there should be options open to both genders, so they can define themselves.
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