It is hardly surprising that we still have a battle on our hands when it comes to reducing gender role stereotyping in our children when items of clothing like the one below appear in shops like Zara:-
Andrea Bevan, a mother from Leicester has quite rightly objected to the use of the word “Master” on a boys jumper saying “it is a totally inappropriate sentiment to be teaching to our children and the future generation”. Zara have responded by saying “Our kids’ collection includes a very wide range of products designed to provide our customers with choice and deliver positive messages to both girls and boys.”
That is not good enough. They need to remove the offending article and do better to provide gender equal messages to our children. Things that both boys and girls can wear without highlighting unnecessary differences.
Children have an awareness of their own gender from around two years old. By the age of four they appreciate that gender is usually stable across the life span and that outward appearances in clothes and hair, for example can be deceptive. Then this rigidity shows a decline between six and nine if encouraged. Why would we therefore be allowing such extreme forms of gender stereotypes at such a young age? It might seem like something small, but it’s not. As soon as we assign gender to a child we start shaping their attitudes and behaviours accordingly, which obviously perpetuates the gender myths.
It is this sort of marketing that needs to change if we want to ensure that our girls and boys see themselves simply as equal human beings. Why is this sort of thing still allowed in this day and age.
Honestly, it’s a disgrace that this sort of messaging is allowed to be sold and as parents we all need to decide how to deal with it.
