I read an interesting article titled “Sexist Messages on Baby Clothes” which discusses the idea that people are expected to fit into their assigned gender category from birth shown by the messages on their clothes. Slogans on onesies can perpetuate sexism because often times they focus solely on appearance and beauty for girls instead of other features too such as brains which seem to be reserved for boys. For example slogans on onsesies for girls include “Cupcake,” “Princess,” “Pretty like Mommy,” and even “I’m Too Pretty To Do Homework So My Brother Has To Do It for Me.” Retailers suggest that girls will always be one step behind boys. Many people view this as sartorial sexism. Onesies for boys include “Adventure Seeker,” “Mr. Personality,” and Gymboree even has a “Smart Little Guy” line. The article does not say that this sexism is intentional or that they are trying to make a statement about smart men and pretty women. Instead it is saying that these little sexist choices just happen and the Western World still has far to go.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Blogging Assignment Week 15
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This is interesting, thanks for sharing. I was talking about this topic with my boyfriend's brother over the weekend. He just became a father to a baby girl Sofia, and he is constantly arguing with his wife about her dressing Sofia in pink.
ReplyDeleteI agree with him that his baby should wear gender neutral colors, so she could choose what she likes or does not like when she is a little older. It is very hard to convince young mothers that they really don't know the gender of their baby until he/she grows up enough to know how he/she really feels. In my opinion, babies/children should have that option and not have the parents choose for them...
I was just replying to the blog above talking about baby clothes, so I wanted to add to that by sharing tips for buying gender neutral baby clothes with those who plan to become parents one day or who have brothers and sisters with kids.
ReplyDeleteChoose Neutral Colors
You should only purchase neutral colored clothing when you are buying gender neutral baby clothes. As tempting as it is to purchase clothing that is pink or baby blue, you'll need to resist that urge until you know the gender of your baby. You'll be buying clothing for your new child for many years to come, which means you'll have plenty of time to purchase cute gender specific clothing in the future. Neutral colors that are perfect for both boy and girl babies include yellow, white, green, black and red. Many stores that sell baby clothing these days even have gender neutral sections for parents that aren't interested in finding out the gender of their baby.
Read more: http://www.infobarrel.com/Tips_for_Buying_Gender_Neutral_Baby_Clothes#ixzz1ey2PMt4O
I think it's really interesting that we are so obviously gendering the clothes of infants. In this sense, I think that we're teaching kids from an early age how society perceives their gender and therefore how we want them to present their gender. And I recently read an article talking about the different ways in which adults speak to children - using descriptive words like "pretty" for female infants and words like "big and strong" for male infants. In this sense, we're both consciously and subconsciously impressing our own gender stereotypes onto children that don't even have a perception of their gender yet. I think this says a lot about why our societal constructs of gender are as strict as they are.
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