Finding a gender neutral outfit for your child can be a difficult task- there are gender stereotypes everywhere in society and the moment you see those lines on the pregnancy test, you realise that they exist in society whether you want them to or not.
Mother and YorkshireLive reporter Megan Shaw writes that everything down to books, toys and TV shows are subject to gender stereotypes. Girls should be into pink, prams and practice putting on makeup and cooking and boys should wear blue and play with diggers, trucks, cars and play sports.
But these stereotypes are increasingly archaic and as children start to develop their own unique personalities and styles it can be difficult to find clothing to suit them. And over recent years multiple supermarkets have come under fire for 'reinforcing gender stereotypes' through the choices made when it comes to children's clothes.
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YorkshireLive reports that Megan, who is a mother of two boys, decided that she would take to the shops to find gender-neutral clothes as part of her ongoing aim to allow her boys to define their own identity as they grow. And when she went to Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury's to look at their offerings, she was disappointed, but not surprised by the slim pickings available.
Heading over to Tesco first, the children's section was divided into two, one for boys and one for girls. The boys side was filled with blues, dark colours, slogans about adventure, superheroes and cars. On the other side, the girls had pink, glitter, flowers, unicorns and tutus - nothing neutral at all, apart from in the baby section
Next Megan went to Sainsbury's, where it was much of the same. A boy's section full of t-shirts with logos reading "one of a kind", "unstoppable" and "greatest of all time". The girl's section also had t-shirts emblazoned with logos, but these ones said things like "if the crown fits", "fashionista vibes" and "dreaming of summer."
The message being sent to young and impressionable children with these clothing choices could make them feel like they don't fit into the 'box' society wants them to. Why can't a little girl be unstoppable and the greatest of all time? And what is a boy wants to give off fashionista vibes or dream of summer?
Asda and Morrison's were much of the same, with camo, blue and "future legend" and "always epic" tops for the boys and pink, frills, animal prints and "so sweet" and "mermaid hair, don't care" options for girls.
Gender marketing is rife on the high street and while a number of supermarkets have changed 'boys' and 'girls' sections to 'kids' or 'children' sections, Megan believes there is still a division in the products and subliminal messages within the designs that still remain a problem.
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: "Our kids range includes a wide range of designs which everyone can enjoy and we do not label our items ‘boys’ or ‘girls’.”
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An Asda spokesperson said: "We have a wide range of gender-neutral and unisex kids clothing in our stores and on George.com but we also know that many families find it convenient when shopping to have clearly defined areas of the store dedicated to boys and girls clothing. These are guides based on how we know customers like to shop but we encourage customers to purchase and wear whatever clothing they prefer regardless of the signposting in store."
A Tesco Spokesperson said: “We are committed to diversity in our F&F clothing ranges, offering a wide range of designs. These photos do not represent the full breadth of childrenswear we sell.
"Among the many options we offer are dinosaur and football designs on our girlswear, sequins and unicorns on boyswear, as well as unisex clothing with a broad selection of graphics and colour palettes.
"We have launched even more choices recently, including a new bigger range for football fans, and our unisex ‘Bridges’ range.”
Morrisons was also approached by Yorkshire Live but declined to comment.
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