Comments on: Girls don’t jump in puddles

By: Molly

Molly — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 11:19:53 +0000

Well you’ve found one customer who would happily purchase one of your non-gender specific ranges! It’s not that I have a problem with pink per se, just that it’s not the ONLY colour my daughter likes. Often, she’d rather have green, red or blue!

By: Rachel Horne

Rachel Horne — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 10:21:08 +0000

At The Hooded Towel Co. we supply hooded towels and were thinking of going non- gender specific with one of our ranges. But we have found that the buyers and distributors don’t like this.
We have made the decision to have a different range on our website ( when it’s complete) and sell our other range through distributors.
So frustrating what are we doing to our kids. I feel like we are going backwards, in photos from the 70′s it’s difficult to tell who were boys and who were girls brill!

By: otilia

otilia — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 20:34:49 +0000

I hate stereotypes. My 4 year old loves jumping in muddy puddles and playing with cars but also loves dolls and make up. So why not let her be?

By: Molly

Molly — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 19:56:09 +0000

Absolutely – it’s everywhere! TV, clothes, kids’ shoes, toys… we can’t escape it. Frustrating!

By: Molly

Molly — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 19:54:46 +0000

Gosh I’ve got all this to find out. If it was me, I’d be tempted to just reuse the plain ones and ditch the frills!

By: Molly

Molly — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 19:53:28 +0000

I don’t think it’s so much about choice between boys and girls necessarily – it’s more about certain toys and clothes being so clearly marketed towards one sex or the other, with this assumed set of traits, likes and dislikes attributed to each sex. The reality is that not all boys are the same and not all girls are the same – and they will often share many of the same interests. I definitely recommend Tootsa MacGinty. Really lovely clothes without the gender stereotypes!

By: pinkoddy

pinkoddy — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 19:51:36 +0000

And I know it is a bit gender stereotyping myself but things like cartoons being gender specific – like Peppa pig it’s mainly pink stuff (personally I don’t mind my son having pink and he loved Peppa so had a pink bedspread but would have been nice to have had the option).

By: Molly

Molly — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 19:50:31 +0000

That is surprising – and a bit disappointing to be honest. I guess it’s a deep-rooted thing. Parents are responding to age-old stereotypes themselves, probably without even realising it.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 19:49:51 +0000

My daughter (2) is loving jumping in puddles at the moment, I have to get her changed every time we get home. I didn’t really realise how differently things are marketed until I had one of each, and now I see it everywhere. Even things like the plain white school polo shirts – I thought they would both wear the same ones but when buying for my son I noticed that the girl’s ones have little frilly bits on them. Same with the basic plain white PE T-shirts – the girl’s ones have a more ‘feminine’ fit even though at that age they are all the same shape.

By: brinabird and son

brinabird and son — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 19:28:04 +0000

I struggle with the opposite! Why do girls get so much choice & for boys it is all so limiting? As for shoes specifically its funny as it is the one thing my wee man is fussy about. The last time we went shopping he was very specific about what he wanted. He is only 2 and a half by the way. I’m going to check out that website you mentioned.