Last week I received a text from Cherith's school saying they would celebrate buddies day on Friday. Hence, we were asked to dress our kids in pink.
Wednesday I checked all of his wardrobe but failed to find anything pink. So I decided to buy one. The next day I go hunting a pink t shirt for cherry and it was such a task.
I went to my usual shopping adda and I told the lady, I want a t shirt for a three year old boy. She assisted me to the heap and asked me to check.. "I want something in pink" she immediately replaced the t shirt that she had in her hand and blabbered "Nahi hai"
"Ek toh hoga" I retorted "No mam, boys ke liye ek bhi pink t shirt nahi hai"..
I walked out of there and went to two other shops and after failing there as well decided to give one more try at a shop near hubby's office.
After about half an hour of the three staff and owner peeping into all the boxes, finally I found one. Eureka I screamed in my mind. Outside I said haash mil gaya!!!
I was thinking this colour discrimination of clothes is happening at the manufacturer level!!
First of all, there are limited dressing options for boys. Second, every store has a 70:30 ratio of stock where girls' clothing stock is higher than boys'. The most annoying thing is the dedication of particular colours for boys and girls attires..
Girls will have more options with red, pink, orange where as boys would have to opt from blues, greens and grays..
Although colours are universal, we affix boys with blue and pink with girls even before they are born. Imagine the plight of the other colours.. Poor they, might be feeling either out of place or feeling like an in-betweener perhaps!
On a serious note, it results in shaming and teasing at young ages.. Especially boys wearing pink. I remember hubby's nephew being bullied by his schoolmates for wearing a pink t shirt. He came home and swore never to wear it because he was called a girl for wearing pink.
What are we getting into our children's minds...?
I was once asked by cherith if boys can wear pink. "Yes. Why do you ask?"
"Mumma, bhaiya says that is for girls"
"There's nothing like that" and I decided to prove it to him in time..
We went out one day and I found a man wearing a pink shirt. "See that uncle cherry" I directed his eyes to the man looking the other way. "What colour is he wearing?" "Pink mumma" "Isn't it looking nice?"
"Very nice" his face lit.
"We have got so many colours around us and God has made all of them for all of us. So anyone is free to wear any colour." I completed.
A few days later hubby was skeptical of wearing a pink t shirt and asked if he should change as we were getting ready to go for a movie. "Its looking very nice papa" said cherry and I smiled, relieved that he had got the point after all.
It's not just about colours, it's also about the kind of clothes we wear and the jobs we do. I find a kind of discrimination everywhere..
For example I was told working, earning, night outs, were associated with boys and cooking, cleaning, stitching, painting were all tasks of girls.. So I never got a chance to enjoy a pajama party and my brother was opposed by mum when he walked into the kitchen to learn how to make his favourite dish.. While we cannot change the way we have been brought up, we can always change the way we bring up our future generations.
Things have no doubt changed now but that's limited to a few. A huge number of families are still unwelcome to these changes mine including.. I intend to go the other way in parenting my child though.
Let us make sure our kids have an all accepting view. So he wont find it hard if the girl he likes doesn't know how to cook. Or if the boy she is dating helps them at home chores. They would be fine if a girl is working late nights and also when a guy volunteers to take care of the child at home..
Let's not focus on Blues and Pinks anymore, let's liberate them to try, experiment, fail and learn with as many colours as nature offers...
That is how we would have all hues beautifully blended to make their lives as stunning as a rainbow..
Towards a colorful future...
CHEERS!
GOD BLESS!!
CHS
Wednesday I checked all of his wardrobe but failed to find anything pink. So I decided to buy one. The next day I go hunting a pink t shirt for cherry and it was such a task.
I went to my usual shopping adda and I told the lady, I want a t shirt for a three year old boy. She assisted me to the heap and asked me to check.. "I want something in pink" she immediately replaced the t shirt that she had in her hand and blabbered "Nahi hai"
"Ek toh hoga" I retorted "No mam, boys ke liye ek bhi pink t shirt nahi hai"..
I walked out of there and went to two other shops and after failing there as well decided to give one more try at a shop near hubby's office.
After about half an hour of the three staff and owner peeping into all the boxes, finally I found one. Eureka I screamed in my mind. Outside I said haash mil gaya!!!
I was thinking this colour discrimination of clothes is happening at the manufacturer level!!
First of all, there are limited dressing options for boys. Second, every store has a 70:30 ratio of stock where girls' clothing stock is higher than boys'. The most annoying thing is the dedication of particular colours for boys and girls attires..
Girls will have more options with red, pink, orange where as boys would have to opt from blues, greens and grays..
Although colours are universal, we affix boys with blue and pink with girls even before they are born. Imagine the plight of the other colours.. Poor they, might be feeling either out of place or feeling like an in-betweener perhaps!
On a serious note, it results in shaming and teasing at young ages.. Especially boys wearing pink. I remember hubby's nephew being bullied by his schoolmates for wearing a pink t shirt. He came home and swore never to wear it because he was called a girl for wearing pink.
What are we getting into our children's minds...?
I was once asked by cherith if boys can wear pink. "Yes. Why do you ask?"
"Mumma, bhaiya says that is for girls"
"There's nothing like that" and I decided to prove it to him in time..
We went out one day and I found a man wearing a pink shirt. "See that uncle cherry" I directed his eyes to the man looking the other way. "What colour is he wearing?" "Pink mumma" "Isn't it looking nice?"
"Very nice" his face lit.
"We have got so many colours around us and God has made all of them for all of us. So anyone is free to wear any colour." I completed.
A few days later hubby was skeptical of wearing a pink t shirt and asked if he should change as we were getting ready to go for a movie. "Its looking very nice papa" said cherry and I smiled, relieved that he had got the point after all.
It's not just about colours, it's also about the kind of clothes we wear and the jobs we do. I find a kind of discrimination everywhere..
For example I was told working, earning, night outs, were associated with boys and cooking, cleaning, stitching, painting were all tasks of girls.. So I never got a chance to enjoy a pajama party and my brother was opposed by mum when he walked into the kitchen to learn how to make his favourite dish.. While we cannot change the way we have been brought up, we can always change the way we bring up our future generations.
Things have no doubt changed now but that's limited to a few. A huge number of families are still unwelcome to these changes mine including.. I intend to go the other way in parenting my child though.
Let us make sure our kids have an all accepting view. So he wont find it hard if the girl he likes doesn't know how to cook. Or if the boy she is dating helps them at home chores. They would be fine if a girl is working late nights and also when a guy volunteers to take care of the child at home..
Let's not focus on Blues and Pinks anymore, let's liberate them to try, experiment, fail and learn with as many colours as nature offers...
That is how we would have all hues beautifully blended to make their lives as stunning as a rainbow..
Towards a colorful future...
CHEERS!
GOD BLESS!!
CHS
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