Battle Power!
Children's marketing is depressingly gendered. There's heaps of research to show it, and now there's also this blog post, which is where the image below is stolen from. Battle Power! is for boys, obviously. The original post has one made for girls too - it's worth checking out and ranting about with friends. Because it sucks. It really, really does.
I've been thinking about this more than usual recently, because several couples I know have babies due soon. And of course we have to buy presents... I was originally just going to get them these adorable baby booties I found in Taiwan, but then I realised they might be considered too feminine. So now I need to find a neutral stuffed toy, or at least something boyish enough for the parents to accept; there's no sense gifting something that'll never be used.
It seems like it's more acceptable to get something a bit subversive for girls. Pirate tee-shirts for girls - cool. Dolls and flowers for boys - oh no! He's grow up GAY! (like that's such a bad thing anyway...).
I've been thinking about this more than usual recently, because several couples I know have babies due soon. And of course we have to buy presents... I was originally just going to get them these adorable baby booties I found in Taiwan, but then I realised they might be considered too feminine. So now I need to find a neutral stuffed toy, or at least something boyish enough for the parents to accept; there's no sense gifting something that'll never be used.
It seems like it's more acceptable to get something a bit subversive for girls. Pirate tee-shirts for girls - cool. Dolls and flowers for boys - oh no! He's grow up GAY! (like that's such a bad thing anyway...).