This particular rant is brought to you by the letters B, C and G.
B is for Baby.
C is for Clothing.
G is for Gendered.
Today started off poorly. We got up and took my computer for a visit to the "genius bar" at the Mac store. A few days ago my computer...got dropped/knocked off the couch by someone. The someone who was using my computer was not me and not Lucy. I'll let you deduce who did it. Anyways, Wall-E, my computer now has about 1/4 of the screen that has a white semi-transparent overlay on it, making it difficult to see what's under there. I did a really excellent job of not getting mad about the situation and stayed calm and forgiving, until this morning when they told me it would cost $400 to fix. F. No.
So I was pretty pissed off. On the way home from that ordeal we swung by Goodwill to grab a 1 cup measuring cup to scoop Lucy's food because the one we used for that before was left at the Country Hound Inn by accident. Since Ricky knew I was really upset he was being extra nice and asked if I wanted to look at anything else at Goodwill. As a matter of fact I did, so I marched over to the baby section, hoping to cheer my spirits with thoughts of wee ones (I'll get to my point shortly).
To my dismay, although not surprise, all of the baby clothing was awful. A quiet rant has been simmering about this in my head for going on two years now and it's time a let it out. I hate, HATE how all of the baby clothing is so overly gendered. Every boy item is littered with sports equipment or references, tools or construction equipment, cars, or ugly animals. Every girl item has bows or flowers on it or is a nasty shade of pastel pink or yellow.
Why is there such a need in our society to have your infant instantly recognized as a boy or girl? Why are the things that represnt a gender so meaningless? Why do people feel the need to shove their children into gender stereotypes before they can even talk?
I can handle and even enjoy some floral print on girl clothing; I wear and love floral prints. I hate the boy clothes the most because they try to be so macho. If we are going to dress our children in clothing with graphics on them, shouldn't they be of things that we want them to love and enjoy, like nature? Or if we want to try to shove them into an interest at age zero, why isn't it music instead of sports or cars? I have yet to see any baby clothing with pictures of pianos or cellos on it.
I also hate almost all pastels. I'm not saying that I can't enjoy a good lilac or soft blue, but pastels are mostly barfy colors. Why do we think babies clothes/toys/rooms should be all pastel? Is that supposed to be soothing? I think it's just nauseating. We all know that I love animals and don't shy away from clothing, decor, etc. with animals depicted on it. However, why is it that most animals depicted on baby clothes or textiles are all cartoony (not in an artsy way) and dumb? I would rather have no animals at all than these weird cartoon versions of animals.
Lastly, I can't help but roll my eyes when parents dress their children in adult-type clothing. You're 3-month old looks hellishly uncomfortable and awkward in a suit and tie. Babies should not wear jeans. Jeans are uncomfortable for small children, I remember. They feel stiff and they cut into your tummy and they let a breeze up the leg. No baby jeans. As far as I am concerned, babies should wear onsies and leggings all of the time, with a cozy pullover sweater if it's cold*. The snaps of the onsies are essential because babies are constantly picked up--I hate to see babies whose shirts are up to their armpits with their tummies hanging out, it looks so uncomfortable, not to mention cold. Babies are supposed to look snuggly and comfortable. Dresses are fine on baby girls, but mostly for special outings or church, or if there is a onsie underneath.
So that is my rant about baby clothing. Obviously I am no baby expert since I don't have one of my own but I have two eyes and have seen enough barfy/gendered/uncomfortable looking baby clothes for a lifetime.
*See my future baby pinterest board for good ideas on how to dress your baby.
http://pinterest.com/laurenmh/future-baby-things/
What I'm getting from this is when shopping for your shower if it is a girl you want lavendar, not pink and if a boy it should be pale green, not blue? Girls can't be interested in dinosaurs. Not when there are pink bows to interest you! Paleontologist or Cuteness expert? I know which I would rather be.
ReplyDeleteWhen my kids are not running around in just their undies, I dress them in hand-me-downs. Bags and bags of free, recycled hand-me-downs. I try to get rid of the extra barfy ones (I draw a firm line at cartoon characters), but aside from that I let them wear whatever is comfortable that they can get mud and lunch all over because that is how we roll. Not worth it to me to buy more than a piece here and there of clothes that I truly like or would like to think represent more of my style. The great thing about being a parent is that I think my kids look pretty darn cute in everything they wear regardless of it's nerdy-ness. :) Sorry if my kids' clothes made you gag. It was nothing personal.
ReplyDeleteMichelle! So good to hear from you! The only thing I remember about your kids, Amelia mostly, is how stinking cute they are. I am in full support of baby-nudiness and running around in diapers/undies. Kids that are dirty and messy at the end of the day look wild and free and I love that. I love kids that are comfortable. I just don't love the common options at most stores, especially for boys. Most things are just so gendered and that is what bothers me the most. I find it especially challenging to find gender-neutral things, especially if I'm buying baby things for a baby that I don't know the gender of.
ReplyDeleteLauren, I absolutely agree that the common options at most stores suck. I get so frustrated when I do go out shopping for my kids. I just want to scream, "Where are the plain/normal looking t-shirts!" It is so hard to find things that are not plastered with ugliness. That being said, I also refuse to pay $45 for cute, trendy and natural pajamas that my kids will wear for 3 months, spill on, poop on, get mud on, and/or just refuse to wear because they are being stubborn. So, that is why I am totally okay with letting them wear hand-me-down pink heart/green frog covered pjs. I don't have to worry too much about it with Amelia though, because she really is at least half naked about 90% of the time :)
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