Children absorb the messages they see in the media, but what if those messages are printed directly on their shirts?
Graphic tees and fun phrases on kid’s clothes aren’t anything new, but now parents are calling out brands who deliberately print sexist messages on clothes for children.
These examples will make you shake your head, but thankfully, most of these items were pulled from stores after parents complained.
Hmmm… last I checked, women can be doctors and men can be nurses….
This image was recently tweeted by @TheMedicalShots and people were quick to point out that it enforced dated gender roles. it’s important to remember that there are female doctors and male nurses working to help patients every day.
This photo says it all.
One frustrated parent tweeted out this photo of the selection of shirts in the boys’ section versus the girls’ section at Asda. Boys are encouraged to plan their futures, while girls are told they’re adorable.
Here’s another store that told boys they can do anything, while girls can focus on… shopping.
These signs were hanging in a Boden clothing store near the respective boys’ and girls’ sections.
As you can see, one encourages boys to go on adventures, while the other one says, “Girls, new clothes are in sight. Fill your pockets (and wardrobe) with flowers and race this way. ..”
These “Ghostbuster” shirts from Old Navy.
The difference here is pretty obvious. Apparently, boys get to be automatic Ghostbusters, while girls have to settle for being Ghostbusters-in-training. What?
Why would anyone want to be Batman’s wife?
This problematic shirt was spotted at a Target a few years ago, but I still can’t believe that someone thought this would be a good idea for a children’s shirt.
Boden drops the ball again.
One mom tweeted out this photo from the Boden catalogue that shows just how skewed the messages are when it comes to boys and girls. The boys’ shirts say things like, “Genius”, while the girls’ shirts say, “Smile.”
This little girl is not impressed.
One little girl went viral after she posted a video of the clothing selection for girls at her local store. As you can see, the girls’ shirts said things like “Beautiful” and “I feel fabulous”, while the boys’ shirts said, “Think outside the box”.
This major mistake by the Gap.
The Gap was under fire a few years ago when their back-to-school campaign called boys “Little Scholars” and girls “Social Butterflies”. Yikes…
And Target strikes out again.
First of all, why would anyone even want to think about their toddler’s dating preferences? Isn’t that really weird considering they’re only two-years-old?
