Is it just me who is sick of the Paris effect?

[Theincrediblesulk1]

Seriously! i don't class myself as a feminist (funnily enough oh is though) but i am sick of women and girls doing adopting this whole "oh i love pink and fluffy things" and "i love shopping" especially when mums push this on their little girls

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

My friend once told me her three year old loved shopping! I was thinking she is three she likes picking her nose and running in circles."i love her being girly" was also one little gem!

Don't get me wrong if your child is girly fine thats great but forcing this fake image sparkly fluffy princess crap on them makes me sick!

[RobynLou]

drives me up the wall too.

I have very much encouraged DD's interest in dinosaurs and trains. It means she's now into watching archeology programmes and through that various historical periods - Romans/tudors etc and reading books about how different types of engines are built and work.

Where can you go with typically 'girly' stuff? no where I find very interesting!

[Theincrediblesulk1]

Exactly!

There is only so much pink crap one can take, i breath a sigh of relief that i don't have girls when i see Dolly's (barbie types) in bikinis for sale!

Come on wtf!
I loved dinosaurs when i was akid, and loved nothing more than to play in the mud.Also liked a bit of mummy role playing.

But the toys now days look like a perfect pink pony has vomited on them all.

The only message i can get from all of them,is be a pretty girl and don't think then you can land yourself a footballer and keep tiny dogs, in an attempt to fill the vacant space in you.

Sorry for the rant lool

[kickassangel]

i absolutely hate the pink/blue divide. dd loves everything pink/sparkly/fluffy (she just turned 7) BUT her real interests are all the natural science stuff & running around/climbing/jumping, so I can live with that.

we both hate shopping.

[Theincrediblesulk1]

Hello kickassangel,

That is fine your girl loves all that stuff, i have no problem with it. Its when its forced upon them because their mums want them to become a certain type of girl.
Its the mums who live through their kids and wished they had been princesses and all that rubbish!!

I knew a little one who was not even remotely girly, not a hint of dolly bird about her. But her mum insisted in dressing her head to toe in pink and attempting to force her to love pink!

[kickassangel]

yeah, i'm fine about it now - sooner or later she'll grow out of it. as she seems totally hooked on science, she could end up working in quite a male environment, so maybe best if she stays 'feminine'.

i just hate that it's so expected - she just suddenly declared a dislike for 'boy colours' and started refusing to wear blue (apart from jeans).

however, i also hate when people expect certain behaviours just because she's a girl - she's not much into clothes (pink & comfy does it), almost never plays with dolls, and regularly plays running around games at break, rather than girly chatter. sadly, some people seem to find this strange?

she would, however, love a cute dog to carry around in a handbag!!

[Orangerie]

I had a friend who swore no girls of her was ever going to be pushed into these kind of stereotypes, then she turned 3 and EVERYTHING was about pink. Both parents were dismayed.

Having said that, I remember DS and his friends (also boys) being fascinated about pink at that age. The taste for it didn't disappear until plenty of people make it clear that pink was for girls only. Thank you.

So, girls are pushed into a pink world, and boys are expelled out of it?

[ElephantsAndMiasmas]

i heard a couple of women talking the other day, one saying that as she has a boy and is now expecting a girl, she has already got rid of all the blue clothes . She has literally given away or thrown out everything blue or "boylike", and wants to buy all new pink girly stuff for the baby. I didn't know what to say.

What are the mums getting out of this?

[chocolatestar]

I hate this too. DS likes pink but he is starting pick up that this is not ok from the world around him which makes me so sad. I hope that he can hold on to it if it is what he wants and doesn't feel too much pressure to say he doesn't like it.

I was buying clothes for him the other day, usuall array of sludge brown and blue. I was in mother care and the tag lines for the clothes for boys was something for even the fussiest of cheeky monkeys and the tag line for girls was give us a twirl. It actually made me feel a bit ill, they are toddlers and already we are telling girls that they are there to be looked at.

[Othersideofthechannel]

I agree, but what has liking pink, sparkly things got to do with Paris?

[RobynLou]

I think she means Paris hilton?

[vetnursegirl]

Agree. Makes me sick.

I have a friend who actually gets very angry with her DS if he picks up any of his sister's pink 'girly' toys/clothes.

Really sad.

[Theincrediblesulk1]

Hello everyone,

Glad i am not alone. I was talking about Paris Hilton, sorry if i didn't make it clear. My son enjoys a drop of pink, i think its probably his fave colour at the moment and red.

Its the attitude that comes along with it ifywim, Its a stereotype we force on our children, cant they just be kids a while.

One of the girliest girls i know is hardly ever seen sporting pink, her mum has not forced her to be girl she just is.

I hate the message we are sending to little girls at the moment, I just wish society would snap out of it, seems we have taken a step backwards sometimes.

[Ephiny]

I hate this too, I don't even know why there are separate boys clothes and girls clothes for very little kids - why not just children's clothes, in a variety of colours? Same for toys etc.

I've known boys who loved pink etc too, though they tend to be pretty strongly discouraged. It seems like lots of kids take a liking to bright colours, i.e. pink, and sparkly glittery things and dressing up, because it's fun, but the girls have this strongly encouraged and rewarded, and the boys are laughed at or forbidden.


funny thing is the people doing this are often the first to insist that 'boys and girls are just different, it's nature' - if this is the case (and it is to some extent) why the need to force it and police their choices, why not just let them be themselves and like the things they like?

[Ephiny]

I hate this too, I don't even know why there are separate boys clothes and girls clothes for very little kids - why not just children's clothes, in a variety of colours? Same for toys etc.

I've known boys who loved pink etc too, though they tend to be pretty strongly discouraged. It seems like lots of kids take a liking to bright colours, i.e. pink, and sparkly glittery things and dressing up, because it's fun, but the girls have this strongly encouraged and rewarded, and the boys are laughed at or forbidden.


funny thing is the people doing this are often the first to insist that 'boys and girls are just different, it's nature' - if this is the case (and it is to some extent) why the need to force it and police their choices, why not just let them be themselves and like the things they like?

[Theincrediblesulk1]

Agreed Ephiny,

My little boy has two baby dolls, they were mine when i was little. I would play with them with him to get him used to becoming a big brother. Its not stopped him pretending his fingers are guns and screaming " I will use my powers to destroy!" Every five mins. I don't know why some people cant just let the kids be for a min, let them do what they want, Its such a small space of time, before they are judged for acting quirky, let them make the most of it i say.

[Manumission]

Witty

[HopelesslydevotedtoGu]

Yes this worries me too, I try not to have any more pink stuff than any other colour for my toddler's clothes and belongings, but it is difficult to manage. I don't really find many true gender neutral clothes now so it is obviously 'girl's clothes' eg girl's tops have a different cut to boy's tops even if neutral colours.

In my area it seems to be quite class/ socioeconomic divided (hoping not to offend here, my observation) - the working class / lower socioeconomic mums are the ones often going for full on pink and frilly from day one - huge pink pram, pink clothes, baby hairbands with huge flowers on newborns. Is it a fashion thing? Or seen as aspirational? It looks like everything is brand new and very well cared for.

[Packergator]

#schoolholidays, innit?

[SharingMichelle]

I have two daughters and a son.

First daughter was into dinosaurs and science and and hated pink. She got geology sets for her birthday, and her favourite book was 'The Human Body'. I was younger, and was rather naively pleased with myself that she wasn't one of those stereotypical 'girly girls'.

Second daughter is an explosion of pink. She is 4yrs old and races off to put on 8 accessories any time we leave the house. She loves barbies, her favourite colour is pink (accented with purple of course), she is ballet, and princesses, and fluff, and handbags. She is also a strong, feisty little girl with opinions as strong as the next 4yo. It's just who she is, and I'm glad I am a bit more relaxed and happy to let her be who she is.

In our family it's fine for boys to dress as Snow White, and girls to play mechanic garage. All options are available to all children, now including the option to be a fluffy pink girl if that's what you currently want to be.

[Kennington]

This nonsense is a British American thing. Girls in mainland Europe aren't encouraged to wear as much princess attire nor pink.
If the children aren't as exposed to it they won't be interested in wearing it.
This is only my experience from working in France and observations in Greece and Spain.
The Kim kardashian look isn't so popular there either. Lucky English speaking world!

[HackAttack]

My older boy loves pink, I don't care, it's a colour. Actually he is partial to a bit of shopping, unfortunately I'm not. Never really thought about it, he also likes space stuff.

[Wolfiefan]

Zombie thread people. Bumped by troll.

[Statelychangers]

Dd loves pink - ever since she was small she would only wear pink - all other clothes were left unworn. Through the end of primary where pink wasn't cool - she loved it like a dirty little secret, she's 13 now and still the pink love reins supreme. She loves all traditionally girly things - I have no idea where she got it from, it wasn't me or dh but we do have to respect her choices.