Gender is how someone identifies themselves, rather than the sex they were born with. Historically, the media has been full of gender stereotyping and sexism, especially in product advertising, commercials, and tv. With gendered marketing, there is a sharp “pink and blue” divide between what’s considered for girls and for boys. This can be seen in everyday products, like razors, toys, clothing, earplugs, disposable diapers, and more. I think the example of toddler clothing is very interesting. Many young girls’ tops are cropped so their stomachs show and shorts are significantly shorter than the ones for boys, sexualizing girls’ bodies from a young age. Boys tops have phrases about breaking hearts, being a stud, and flexing their muscles, normalizing messages about toxic masculinity. Girls’ shirts say “little and loved,” whereas boys’ shirts say “brave and strong.” I think gendered marketing in toddler clothing is particularly harmful because it tells kids what they should value and how they should act in highly stereotyped ways. In recent years, clothing brands are making more gender neutral clothing for kids, but it’s still pretty alarming to see how gender stereotypes have been ingrained into our society through something as simple (yet still impactful) as kids’ clothes.
I agree with you on how media tends to put a gender on certain products. A perfect example of this would be the difference between perfume & cologne. Perfume is more targeted to women because they tend to have a more fruity/floral scent. Whereas cologne has a deeper scent like a cedar-wood or bergamot. Although they serve the same purpose, they’re called different things purely because of gender. I will never understand why a gender has to be assigned to both scents. When I started buying men’s deodorant instead of women’s, my whole family became very confused. I never understood why it was a problem when every product does the same thing regardless of gender.
Going off on talking about gendered clothing marketed towards children, especially toddlers; I feel like that’s in a way sexualizing them in general. Thinking about it, why should a 3 year old boy be called a “ladies man”? Or why are young boys in general being called “heart throbs,” or young girls clothing, as you said, are extremely cropped, which give the connotation of “being sexy” because previously, showing skin was seen as provocative because the more skin is shown, the “sexier” a person is. It’s extremely weird that these young children are being sexualized through media, and are indirectly ‘telling’ them that this is inherently a ‘normal’ way to view themselves.
Your statements on gendered toddler clothing are very interesting. I completely agree with the fact that
since kids are being exposed to these sayings at such a young age, it truly shows that there are underlying issues in our society. This clothing forces the younger generations into gender norms at such an impressionable time. This will eventually lead to them feeling as though the have to act the way society is telling them to. Although there has been some progress made recently, products like these shirts will aid in keeping these “norms” around.
I think you made a very valid and interesting point about gender norms starting from a very young age. I never would have thought of toddler’s clothes in this way but after the examples you presented, it is clear to see that gender stereotypes are engraved in our minds from a young age. Whether it be the fit or the words labeled on these clothing items, they establish gender norms from an extremely young age. From a psychological standpoint, what we take in when we are young has a significant impact on who we are and what we believe when we are older. It is no wonder that society has these gender stereotype issues because they have been surrounded by it since their brains were developing and forming identities.
Your highlight on cosmetics that are targeting different genders is reflected in my post about soap and deodorant brands. I mentioned the “blue and pink” convention that these items typically categorize their products. Though I have seen shirts and clothing for kids like these before in the past, I find it shocking that I never recognized the problematic norms that these brands are setting at such a young age. I think that clothing brands should try to make larger steps towards creating sayings and clothing that can be worn by both sexes so children do not need to conform to gender norms when they are kids.
Notice how including concrete examples generates awareness and understanding in ways that simply writing about, rather than illustrating, can’t achieve. In future posts, seek to include a caption to provides a source for the image; in this case, I think readers would have appreciated a link as well, to follow the source and see which clothing lines are doing this (and it might be nearly all of them).