How pink is your Christmas?

Last year in the run-up to Christmas, we highlighted the gender-stereotyping of toys. This year, Pinkstinks - the campaign and social enterprise that challenges the culture of pink which invades every aspect of girls' lives - has a Christmas campaign calling for the Early Learning Centre to stop its pinkification and gender-stereotyping of children’s toys. They are quick to point out that ELC is not the only culprit but as they claim to be centres for learning, it's only fair to critique exactly what our children are learning from them. And if it's that girls and boys should be channelled into narrow gender stereotypes rather than having a wide world opened up to them, then parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents would be wise to ask themselves if that's what they want to support.

You can read more on their blog where there's an inspiring story about 13-year-old Philipe Johansson and Ebba Silvert from Sweden who reported Toys 'R' Us to Sweden's Advertising Ombudsman because all the boys in their Christmas catalogue were portrayed as active, and all the girls were portrayed as pink and passive. The Ombudsman decided that the Toys ‘R’ Us catalogue “discriminates based on gender and counteracts positive social behaviour, lifestyles, and attitudes” and the company was issued with a public reprimand. So this year the catalogue will be different!

UPDATE: There's an interview in The Guardian with Abi and Emma Moore who launched PinkStinks which begins: 'Towards the end of the great war, in June 1918, America's most authoritative women's magazine, the Ladies' Home Journal (it still exists), had a few wise words of advice for fretting mothers. "There has been a great diversity of debate on the subject," it wrote, "but the generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger colour, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl." '

Comments

[Ruth Wells]

I am quite firmly a fan of the colour pink (I even take guilty pleasure in scattering glitter around at points!!) but as a Mum of a little girl I am also accutely aware of the 'pinkification' of children's toys. (My daughter happily states her favourite colour is brown!).
I get so cross seeing adverts for 'Barbie' or 'Play Kitchens' with pretty girls 'floating around' giggling and pandering to very traditional gender stereotypes. I love that my daughter is as excited about dinosaurs, pirates and cars as she is with buggies, babies and cooking. It is frustrating though that advertising and packaging is still so hung up on narrow gender ideas. One of my friend's husbands was mortified that his son wanted a baby buggie for Christmas. Perhaps these items should be placed upon the top shelf and placed in a brown paper bag following purchase!!
No wonder trying to encourage young people to explore gender stereotypes and raise their aspirations is difficult when they have been socialised into these ideas from childhood.
Sorry I'm ranting!!

[Amanda]

In response to the boys with buggies issue - I think it is very healthy for my 3 year old boy to enjoy pushing around a baby buggy as there is a reasonable chance that he willbe a dad himself one day and I want him to be a good daddy! And he sees his own dad doing it a lot.