9, Delivering Diversity - Challenging the stereotypical views about gender

Delivering Diversity

Clare Willets from online retailer 'Not only Pink and Blue' shares her experience on challenging the stereotypical views about gender.

It’s not that long ago that it was illegal for women to wear trousers. The law in France banning women wearing trousers was over-turned in 2013! We assume that these rules are a thing of the past and we often focus on girls being empowered; but from hairstyles to careers and pockets to sports, if we take a look at the messages we give our children we can see how pervasive these stereotypes still are.

60% of parents are worried about gender stereotyping

An increasing number of parents who are aware of gender stereotypes. A recent Fawcett Society study found that 60% of parents are worried about gender stereotyping. We often acknowledge the limitations that gender stereotypes place on girls’ but we are also starting to see the limitations they place on boys as well.

Research carried out by Let Toys be Toys looking at toy catalogues found that only 13% of children playing ‘caregiving’ activities were boys. Yet a study by Dr Paola Escudero and researchers from MARCS BabyLab found that five month-old boy babies were more engaged with images of dolls than cars. When we look at the way clothes and toys are divided in our shops and online stores it’s easy to see how stereotypes can be reinforced. It’s around 3 or 4 years old that children start to understand the concept of boys and girls and they quickly learn which of those categories they fit into. Equally as quickly the short cuts for those (pink or blue, caring or active, quiet or boisterous) fall into place around how they are ‘supposed’ to act. We only have to look at the slogans on clothing to tell us. The pink tops with ‘cute’, ‘smile’, ‘love’ and the blue tops with ‘adventure’, ‘hero’, ‘boisterous’ are clear for us all to see and that language gets imbued into the colours in-turn becoming short cuts for those stereotypes – pretty in pink.

Th e world wasn’t always blue for boys and pink for girls.

Some people will tell you that boys ‘just don’t like pink and dresses’ when in fact the world for boys wasn’t always blue, short hair and trousers. It used to be a world of dresses for both sexes until the turn 1900’s. Th ere are images of F. D. Roosevelt at 2 years old in a dress with long hair. In 1884 boys and girls wore white dresses until they were around 6. It was practical with easy access to nappies and white could be bleached. Th e world changed and, believe it or not, blue became a colour for girls and pink for boys. Th e view in 1918 was summed up in Ladies Home Journal “Th ere has been a great diversity of opinion on the subject, but the generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. Th e reason is that pink being a more decided and stronger color is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.”

Stereotypes create limitations for our children

One of the main reasons we need to challenge stereotypes is because they create limitations for our children. By “age 7, children’s career aspirations appear to be shaped and restricted by gender-specifi c ideas about certain jobs.” Th e ‘Drawing the Future’ study showed that boys overwhelmingly aspired to traditionally male dominated sectors while girls drew more ‘nurturing’ sectors. It shows that we have to be mindful of the how we talk around our children, what they see and hear and the if we really want to stop children limiting their own options very early, even before they have had a chance to explore what these diff erent careers are like.

Stereotypes can be unlearnt

Th ere is good news though, we can change this. Th e brain is malleable, can un-learn these stereotypes and remove the limitations that are placed on each individual. As Gina Rippon says in her book ‘Th e Gendered Brain’: “We now know that, even in adulthood, our brains are continually being changed, not just by the education we receive, but also by the jobs that we do, the hobbies we have, the sports we play. Th e brain of a working London taxi driver will be diff erent from that of a trainee and from that of a retired taxi driver.”

Th e brain is always learning.

And for parents that’s really positive because even though stereotypes are often reinforced in cartoons, fairy tales, books, toys and clothes with a conscious eff ort we can encourage our children to challenge and question these stereotypes enabling them to become the individual they want to be.

Clare’s top three tips to challenge stereotypes with your kids:

 Be aware of your language – do you use diff erent language with boys are girls? Be aware of using more emotional language with girls and encouraging more active behaviour with boys. It’s always good to ask yourself – would I say this if they were a boy/girl.  Reinforce that all colours are for all children. Pink and blue become the short cut for gender stereotypes so by demonstrating that all colours are not gendered we also challenge the associations with these colours.  Try to mix up your toys and play time so that there is a mix of active, crafting, kitchen and building play.

Put them together so that children can move between them with ease and they don’t see a ‘girls’ set of toys and a ‘boys’ set of toys. Clare is CEO and Founder of notonlypinkandblue.com an online retailer challenging stereotypes in children’s clothes, books and toys. Clare set up not only pink and blue to challenge the tradition of dressing girls in pink and boys in blue. After all, there are 11 colours and over 10 million shades to choose from! As well as all the colours, she wanted to see more inclusive books with diverse role models, and toys that feed imaginations. Not only pink and blue, has also developed a parental leave programme that encourages uptake of shared parental leave and they also work with leaders from multiple fi elds to map out and promote the benefi ts of a world that does not stereotype children.

Clare’s top three product tips:

 It’s so hard to fi nd colourful, fun, practical kids shoes which is why we love these canvas sneakers and shoes.

You can buy them here

 Dolls are great for all children and this Fair Trade, soft and tactile doll with other clothes options such as a basketball kit and football kit. You can fi nd them here

 All children like adventures and this comic book adventure series is great for a bit of fun and escapism.

You can fi nd the series here.