While I& #39;m on the subject of @Matalan, let& #39;s have a peep at their children& #39;s clothing. First, what messages are boys getting about themselves? Well, they& #39;re superheroes.
My husband joined me at this point, and he said, & #39;What& #39;s wrong with these messages? Don& #39;t all kids like gaming?& #39; And I said, & #39;Come with me to the girls& #39; section and see how many of their clothes tell them they have ownership of games, tech, science.& #39;
So he did. And here& #39;s what little girls are being told about themselves.
Like their adult female counterparts, they& #39;re being urged to LOVE. Nothing wrong with this message, except it doesn& #39;t appear anywhere on the boys& #39; clothes.
They& #39;re *still* being urged to dream about fantasy animals rather than engage with the real world.
Girls are ordered to Be Kind, again not a bad message in itself but why isn& #39;t it all over the boys& #39; t shirts? I& #39;ll tell you the practical application of this drilled-in messaging: if, in a classroom, there aren& #39;t enough iPads to go round, guess which sex rushes to give theirs up?
And guess which sex takes them without even a second thought? That pattern is replicated all the time. Girls are groomed to give up their spaces, time and possessions in a way boys are not.
Girls in Matalan don& #39;t take part in competitive activities but they are allowed to dance, in bows and princess crowns.
It& #39;s like an order.
Be perfect, girls. That& #39;s your job.
Don& #39;t concern yourself with the real world. Fantasy is your small, untroublesome domain.
I could have made this thread as long again (no, please, Kate, enough) but I ran out of time and anyway you get the point.
It& #39;s no good us ringing our hands about girls not taking careers in STEM when we& #39;re pushing them away from those subjects right through childhood.
It& #39;s no good us ringing our hands about girls not taking careers in STEM when we& #39;re pushing them away from those subjects right through childhood.
It& #39;s no good us wondering why so many boys grow up unable to reach out to friends, emotionally disconnected and vulnerable to mental health problems when we& #39;ve told them plainly that love and positivity is just for girls.
We& #39;re telling one sex here they don& #39;t deserve to have boundaries or a stake in the real world, and the other that their most significant relationship is with tech.