In addition to the general annoyance of it all, is this feeling that the thing is a sort of the culmination of numerous cultural sore points for me:
- Constant merging of retailers and brands, resulting in fewer consumer choices.
- The war on intellectualism: "We've merchandised out the need for imagination! And the need for your child to try and figure out on their own what their place is in the world!"
- Pervasiveness of marketing. In some instances, we've found that a clothing item simply isn't available at all without a character likeness on it.
- Perhaps the worst: Sexism, pure and simple. On boys' clothes? I've seen lizards, sharks, tents, basketballs, etc. etc. and all that is bold, adventurous, and diverse about the world. On girls'? Princesses, flowers, and butterflies. Oh yeah, and rainbows. Dream-land. I shit you not. There's seriously nothing else. And all is right in the world when Sharon does a program for a group of second grades and all the boys want to get their hands all muddy and all the girls shriek when a snake is taken out of a cage. Is it any fucking wonder? I do behlieve that there is an innate factor at work in the two genders for gravitating towards some of these preferences and tendencies. But Christ, our culture exacerbates it. Can a girl currently grow up to be a scientist, or a life-long athlete, or a president? Sure-but right now I have the depressing feeling that-in most cases-it has to be in spite of her background, rather than as a result of it.
Posts
5 comments:
I started a comment for this when first posted, but I had a crash and forgot to come back.
The whole thing sickens me generally, but people do like their lives encapsulated in tiny little boxes. It's part of 'The Path'. This is what you do when you are this age, and this is how little boys and girls do at this age. Most of these things seem to just eliminate any reason for people to think about the choices they make. Not thinking makes life easier, no matter how ridiculous society's expectations may be.
That said, is there anything that would keep Lucy from wearing boy's pajamas? Why even refer to them that way? It's not like their are dramatic physical differences between boys and girls at that age.
It was a little bit of a bummer, when Lucy was younger, to have people think she was a boy because of a lot of her clothes.
A lot of boys' clothes are, in another way, not much better. We use those themes (nature, camping) that we are able to, but a lot of stuff is construction equipment, sports (which isn't all that bad), or (gag) hummers or military. You would not believe the new camoflauge (sp?) sensation that is sweeping the racks of toddler clothes sections. It's never too early to teach your little boy to sneak up on the enemy!
There's also a lot of ugly navy, gray, and olive drab in the boys' sections. How hard is it to have cute, gender neutral yellows & greens? Or animals that aren't sharks & dinosaurs? (not that I have anything against sharks and dinosaurs). My complaint is that there is no middle ground. How great it would be if there were shirts available with animals you actually see in MN. Squirrels, moose, loons. Kids'd love em! They are available, actually, for about $17 a pop, in the visitors centers of our state parks.
As with organic/local food, you probably can find other choices if you're willing to seek it out and ultimately pay for it.
There's always options, for a price. Part of the annoying side of being the liberal elite without the requisite disposable income.
Post a Comment