My daughter is three years old. She likes crafting, colouring and anything glittery. She likes reading stories and painting pictures and watching CBeebies.

She also likes jumping in puddles.

It came as a bit of a surprise, then, to see a huge banner on the wall in the kids’ section of a well known shoe store recently. “Because girls love comfort and style, we design both into our shoes” it said. And then, on another wall, “Because boys test their shoes to destruction, so do we”. 

It’s the first time I’ve noticed that particular piece of marketing – maybe they didn’t feature those exact banners in the shop in our former home town. Either way, I was left a bit confused.

Do boys not like style? I know plenty of boys who have clear ideas of what they will and won’t wear, so that doesn’t seem quite right. And do girls not like jumping in puddles, climbing up trees, scooting at the park? I have a little girl who is proof that’s not the case. She loves getting muddy with the best of them.

I’m not having a go at just this one store. I was in the supermarket the other day and looking for a few tops that Frog could wear to pre-school. I didn’t want to pay mega bucks as the chances of her coming home covered in glue or mud are pretty high, but I still wanted them look nice because, well, I’m a sucker for kids’ clothes. I searched high and low and could only find one set of tops that wasn’t pink, or covered in glitter, or featuring some irritating cartoon character. The boys had bright, bold colours – greens, reds and blues. But the girls? My choice was either pink or pink with sparkly bits. I walked out of the shop empty handed.

It’s not that I have a problem with pink. And I don’t have a problem with style being a big factor in girls’ clothes either. But why do we have to assume that boys and girls are so different? I’m well aware that some boys are pretty boisterous and love running around, shouting and getting muddy. But, equally, there are boys at Frog’s pre-school who are quieter, more thoughtful and love to sit next to her while she colours. Likewise, Frog is a huge fan of jumping over waves at the beach and running around at the park. She doesn’t JUST like sitting quietly, wearing pink and decorating paper with glitter.

There are some kids brands out there that really get that. I love Tootsa MacGinty for this very reason. Their clothes are styled for boys AND girls – there is no separate boys and girls section. Their clothes are bright and fun with not a hint of “girls only like pink and boys only like blue”.

I can’t help but wish that some of the high street retailers would follow their lead and offer clothes and shoes (and toys, come to think of it) without the loaded gender stereotypes.

My daughter likes the odd pink thing. Sure, she likes to sit and quietly craft. But she also likes to jump in puddles.

Can’t our kids like both?

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