Finally! Department store chain kills gender label for kids clothes
That girls are only allowed to wear "girls clothes" and boys only "boys clothes" (whatever that is) is not 2017 at all!
At least that's what the British department store chain John Lewis thinks and, as of now, does not use gender separation in children's clothing.
"We do not want to promote gender stereotypes in our collections, but we want to give our customers more choice and diversity, and let parents or children decide what they want to wear," explains children's clothing director Caroline Betts opposite the Independent.
A real step, many find:
Hurray! John Lewis ditches boys and girls labels from his children's clothes //t.co/1NuB9LWvzc
? Alison Perry (@iamalisonperry) September 2, 2017
This is excellent! A step in the right direction and hopefully other big stores will follow suit. I am looking at YOU @ nextofficial
? Roxy Stafford (@ouestlacamera) September 2, 2017In practice, what is John Lewis doing differently now?
Instead of subdividing children's clothing into "Girls" and "Boys" as before, John Lewis now awards "Boys & Girls" or "Girls & Boys".
In addition, the chain will no longer offer its goods in two separate areas. A new collection, which is deliberately gender-neutral, brings the company also on the market.
Otherwise, the assortment remains: From pink skirt to blue shirt, you will find everything in the department stores in the future.
Practically, this means: If you have a daughter who prefers to have the blue shirt, you do not have to go over to the boys' section anymore and have a funny look.
Review: So much freedom confuses customers
Andrew Bridgen, a conservative politician, fears that customers are overwhelmed with this new freedom. He told the British Independent: "I have no idea what was going on in John Lewis. 'Boys' and 'Girls' labels are informative, and I think removing them could confuse the customers, it looks like Political Correctness is on the rise "In the right direction, it's questionable, I can not imagine many customers buying a dress for their 6-year-old son."
Twitter also had negative reactions:
LIKE JOHN LEWIS ... GENDER NEUTRAL KIDS CLOTHING !!! WTF? ..... BOYCOTTED
? BREXITNUTTER (@ hardbrexit1) September 2, 2017
The truth: John Lewis follows the trend
Anyone looking beyond the textile industry will find that John Lewis is following an anti-sexist trend that began around two years ago in the UK.
Stevie Meriel Schmiedel, Managing Director of Pinkstinks Germany eV, tells us: "In fact, the initiative 'Let Toys be Toys' in 2015 caused the drugstore chain Boots to no longer advertise its toys as" for Boys "/" for Girls. "Harrod's announced in the same year, to label toys no longer for sexes. "
Other measures: In 2016, London's mayor banned sexist advertising on buses, and the Advertising Standards Authority has just developed clearer rules against sexism in advertising children's products.
And Germany? Behind behind ...
This shows, so Schmiedel, "that the actually extremely conservative country in the resistance to sexism in advertising is much further than we."
However, Schmiedel also says: "That's because in the UK, the gender madness has begun earlier, in our case, the Pink Blue Hell is compared relatively new."
As far as the labels are concerned, the gender stereotypes are still a reality, at least for the big chains. Every H & M labels girls and boys departments - there is still a lot to do!
