A Scots mum-of-two has slammed high street fashion giant Primark for using ‘sexist’ slogans on children’s clothing which ‘reinforces old-fashioned stereotypes’.
The furious parent, from Edinburgh, said ‘outdated’ wording on some t-shirts and jumpers promote boys as “future leaders” while girls are told to “smile” and “be kind”.
The clothes, which are said to be suitable for children aged upwards of three months, have already been criticised on social media, Edinburgh Live reports.
Primark said “inclusivity was important” to the brand, adding they offered “a broad range of styles…to cater for every taste and preference”.
One t-shirt, designed for girls aged nine to ten, features the word ‘smile’ in a heart design on the upper right arm, while another in the same range asks ‘could I be any cuter?’.
By comparison a hoodie designed for boys includes an insignia reading ‘go for it’.
The mum, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: "It makes me so depressed that in 2022 that I can take my daughter to buy clothes, and she is being told to 'be kind' and 'smile' while her older brother is branded a 'future leader'.
"It's damaging - and condescending - that from a young age girls are encouraged to look happy and pretty."
She added: "I thought these old-fashioned stereotypes were a thing of the past, but obviously not if big brands like Primark are still churning out these sexists tropes."
Several of the clothing items were highly criticised by novelist Kate Long in a post on Twitter last week.
Do you think that 'be kind' slogans on clothing for children is damaging? Have your say in the comments.
Tagging the store online, she wrote: "Stop telling girls their place is to serve others! Stop telling boys they should have nothing to do with kindness and love! What are you, a throwback to the 1950s?"
A Primark spokesperson said: "Inclusivity really matters to us and we work hard across our campaigns, stores, and products to reflect this.
"We offer a broad range of styles across our kids clothing to cater for every taste and preference and have evolved our approach in recent years to remove gender specific labels on all our kids and baby ranges.
"Ultimately, we want our customers to choose and decide who and how they wear our clothes and our campaign imagery and the way we talk about our clothes reflects this.
"However, we are always learning, we welcome customer feedback and will continue to look at where we can do more."
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