Baby Clothes, Stereotyping, and Marks and Spencer
A stroll around Edinburgh M and S was the inspiration for this post
We’ve had quite a few babies recently in our extended family so I’ve been spending time in baby/children’s departments.
It’s been interesting.
I was browsing in one of the UK’s more famous stores, Marks & Spencer, and as I glanced across the sections I saw a sea of pinks and frilly stuff (Girlswear) and a puddle of blue, brown and sombre colours (Boyswear).
M & S are missing a trick here. Instead of falling in with the vast majority of retailers and stereotyping our children into adult styles far too soon, they could break away from the herd. Who knows what might happen if boys and girls had brightly coloured clothes, fit for purpose, i.e. playing and exploring? (I even saw a baby grow in the boy’s section with a shirt top and tie- how horrendous!)
Maybe if our boy children were allowed a bit more colour early on in life, the sombre suits that men wear might give way to a bit of colour (not just the odd risqué tie), and maybe women would not be criticised as ‘not being serious’ if they wore bright cheerful clothes to work. How revolutionary.
Come on, M & S, I dare you. Produce some cheerful, colourful children’s clothes and don’t push them into gender stereotypical adult mode well before their time!
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