by Monica Lowry,
This past December, Tasha Sanders wrote an excellent article dissecting responses to gender variance in children. Specifically, she discussed what life is like for her 7-year-old son Emery, who doesn’t conform to stereotypical gender roles. He loves to dance to Lady Gaga and Katy Perry, wears Disney princess heels, and partakes in other activities that have unfortunately made him the target of bullies who call him a “girl.”
In thinking about those bullies who insult young Emery, it’s borderline-heartbreaking to realize they’re simply repeating messages that have been drilled into them by society since birth. What, then, can be done to break this trend on a bigger level for future generations? The answer may reside in the work being accomplished by campaigns that seek to tear down the walls between children that are built by gender stereotyping.
In particular, I’m looking directly at the worlds of fashion and toys, both of which have an immeasurable impact on the way our children view themselves primarily through their advertising. And interestingly enough, it’s actually worse now than it was in the 1970s when it comes to the way toy companies target children based on their gender. The Atlantic points to the fact that the concept of princess-themed toys wasn’t really a thing before the ’90s.
The author, Elizabeth Sweet, noted that toys were quite gender-specific from the ’20s through the ’60s, though—girls played with mini-dinner sets while boys played with construction kits, for example. But things changed in the ’70s when more women entered the workforce, though it apparently didn’t last long. From the mid-’80s onward, toys continued to be marketed in a gender-stereotyping manner, though the article rightly points out that this doesn’t need to be how it is. Toys don’t need to be completely androgynous and bland, either. As Sweet pointed out, they can be just as colorful and wonderful as they were in the ’70s; they also need to be decoupled from gender. In doing just that, “It opens up the possibility that children can explore and develop their diverse interests and skills,” she wrote.
I concur—and I’m not the only parent who does. For the past few years, groups like The Brave Girl Alliance and Let Toys Be Toys (LTBT) campaign has challenged toy and publishing companies to put an end to targeting genders. They argue that toys are made for fun, learning, and, perhaps most importantly, fostering creativity and educational socializtion. Why, then, are companies trying to stifle those notions by telling children which toys they should play with? It’s a question LTBT continues to ask as part of their campaign, which has seen success with some retailers removing the “boys” and “girls” signage, for example.
Similar strides are being made in the world of fashion on several levels. First, there are the designers themselves, who continues to dissolve the gender lines by doing away with clothing made specifically for a boy or a girl. The groundbreaking UK clothing line Tootsa accomplishes this goal by offering unisex items that often feature colorful patterns and/or animal faces, such as their trademark fox. They’re designed for children—not “boys” or “girls,” just children. And that sentiment is one that’s driven home by proud mother and TM founder Kate Pietrasik, who started the line after being frustrated by the gender-specific lines available to her young daughter.
On a bigger scale, UK department store chain Selfridges is moving toward a more gender-neutral approach in some of its locations and online. According to WWD, the company’s goal is to “take…customers on a journey where they can choose to shop and dress without limitations or stereotypes.” The Selfridges creative director drove that point home by telling WWD that their not jumping on any kind of gender-neutral trend. Instead, they’re “tapping into a mind-set and acknowledging and responding to a cultural shift that is happening now.”
That cultural shift is hopefully one that can be found overtaking not just the world of fashion and toys, but our society as a whole. I, for one, look forward to embracing the day when my own daughter need not worry, nay, think about what it means to be one gender or another because of some advertisement, retailer’s signage, or anything else. Hopefully other companies can learn from what the steps being taken by those mentioned in this article.