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Primark has been criticised by shoppers for selling ‘appalling and sickening sexist’ clothing telling girls to ‘smile and have positive energy only’ – while boys are told empowering phrases including ‘be ready for an adventure’.
The British High Street store faced criticism on Twitter yesterday after bestselling author Kate Long lambasted the ‘incredibly sexist and outdated’ messaging on the brand’s T-shirts.
She shared a selection of logos found on garments intended for girls – which included ‘Keep on smiling’ and ‘Be good, do good’ – as well as those embedded on tops for boys, such as ‘make the rules’ and ‘awesome adventures’.
The social media thread was met by a furious tirade from others who have had similar experiences, as one said: ‘This is such an important thread! Unconscious bias is everywhere! I spent my whole childhood pushing against traditional “girl stuff”. I’m 43! I can’t believe this is still the state of it.’
Primark has been criticised by shoppers for selling ‘appalling and sickening sexist’ clothing (pictured) telling girls to ‘smile and have positive energy only’ – while boys are told empowering phrases including ‘be ready for an adventure’
The British High Street store faced criticism on Twitter yesterday after bestselling author Kate Long lambasted the ‘incredibly sexist and outdated’ messaging on the brand’s T-shirts (pictured left is a top for girls, and right, is one for boys)
Kate, who is best known for her work The Bad Mother’s Handbook, took to Twitter with a string of images comparing the two collections that had been divided in store by gender.
She captioned her thread: ‘Strap in for a thread about the hugely sexist messaging on children’s clothing at @Primark. The store I popped into was in Chester but of course it’s a nationwide chain.
‘Let’s begin with the messages girls are being hammered with. Females must Keep on Smiling,’ she began, before sharing the other logos she’d found.
Then she went on regarding the boys’ section: ‘… Needless to say there was *nothing* about the need to be loving, kind, grateful, joyful, perfect or positive. Absolutely nothing.’
The author included: ‘The message to little girls is BE COMPLIANT AND PASSIVE. Always think of others. Put on a pleasant, smiling face for that is your job in the world.
She shared a selection of logos found on garments intended for girls (pictured left) – which included ‘Keep on smiling’ and ‘Be good, do good’ – as well as those embedded on tops for boys, such as ‘make the rules’ and ‘awesome adventures’
The social media thread was met by a furious tirade from others who have had similar experiences, as one said: ‘This is such an important thread! Unconscious bias is everywhere! I spent my whole childhood pushing against traditional “girl stuff”. I’m 43! I can’t believe this is still the state of it.’ Pictured, a top found in the boy’s section
Kate, who is best known for her work The Bad Mother’s Handbook, took to Twitter with a string of images comparing the two collections that had been divided in store by gender. Pictured, a T-shirt found in the girl’s section
‘Can anyone spot a difference in tone here? A difference in narrative? Boys are awesome in themselves and don’t need to consider anyone else.
‘Boys are about *doing* and girls are about *feeling*. Boys take what they want; girls consider others.
‘It’s INCREDIBLY SEXIST and outdated and unhelpful to both boys and girls. 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??’
Reaction: Twitter users were keen to comment on the thread, with one writing: ‘This is appalling and so depressing, but it’s nothing new.
Twitter users were keen to comment on the thread, with one writing: ‘This is appalling and so depressing, but it’s nothing new.
‘When my grandchildren were younger, I despaired at finding no choice other than military or camouflage designs for boys and pink, pink, pink for girls. Sickening.’
Another said: ‘It’s just infuriating. Girls: be happy, grateful, humble and smile. Boys: your an icon, a legend, the future, ready for adventure and action.
‘We really need the high street to think about the expectations these messages set. Why not have all these messages across all the clothes.’
However, others suggested they couldn’t see a problem with the slogans, with one writing: ‘You think people are getting their life advice from cheap clothes?’
However, others suggested they couldn’t see a problem with the slogans, with one writing: ‘You think people are getting their life advice from cheap clothes?’
Another added: ‘Which kid actually reads this, buys it and then follows it as that’s how they should be? No one.’
The author has previously noted other inconsistencies, having found a similar difference in tone on clothes made by Tesco last year, as well as Matalan’s.
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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