Five Items Exclusively For Boys That Reveal How Gymboree Thinks About Girls

Gymboree understandably got into some hot water over the weekend for hawking some very sexist onesies. The garments, featured for different genders of course, told boys that they could be “smart like daddy” while girls could aspire to be “pretty like mommy.” Outraged mothers took to Change.org and Momsrising.org to demand that the garments be pulled for enforcing the idea that girls just remain decorative while their little brother excels at Algebra.

Mary Elizabeth Williams at Salon said it best when observing how kids are conditioned into certain roles and capabilities simply by their sex, as she wrote:

“Our children are sold gender expectations from before they’re born as a friend learned when her sonogram technician announced the sex of her fetus by declaring ”it’s a princess!”

A quick jaunt over to Gymboree reveals that the very problematic onesies have been pulled. But keep browsing and you’ll soon discover quite a few outfits strictly for boys that convey just how strong, smart, and talented they are.  Meanwhile, all the girls get are messages about being “pretty peas,” cookies, cupcakes, and “glam” princesses — which says a lot about how Gymboree views little girls in comparison to their “genius” and “strong” counterparts.

[ITPGallery]

(photos: gymboree.com)