There’s this new company, Girls Will Be, that everyone at Scary Mommy is slavering over that caters to girls (shocker!) and we’re all supposed to praise the heck out of it. Now, as a mom of girls, I too am distressed at the choices at the stores when summertime comes. The shorts are too short, the shirts are too tight, and everything at Justice is covered in glitter or sequins. I mean, honestly, I’m not trying to raise strippers here. So the main idea of this new company is that girls should have clothes that are functional, comfortable and modest and not just pink and purple. The idea is a great one! But the marketing campaign they’re going with is disturbingly SJW-like branding. Instead of shirts with “Brat!” written on them (which, admittedly, are hideous and I would never buy them), there are images of microscopes and math equations and books. All of those things are preferable to cheeky sayings that are weirdly sexual. And I’m all for science and reading! But it feels a little contrived, nonetheless. (Although, there is one shirt with a girl doing martial arts on it that my daughter would flip over.)
The shorts are nice and long and covered with pockets for keeping treasures. They look sturdy for climbing and playing and hiding all sorts of cool things. My girls would love them. I have two of the kind of girls who prefer to be in jeans instead of dresses. They play with toads, get their hair cut short, climb trees, build forts and weapons and make friends with beetles. Most of that is just being a kid and most kids like to get dirty. They should most definitely have comfy play clothes that aren’t embarrassing or revealing or shedding glitter in the forest.
This company has the right idea, but I hope it doesn’t stray too far into the political messaging. From the company website, the marketing ploy is clearly playing into current cultural norms:
Because girls love everything from dinosaurs and math to art and soccer. And they should never think something is only for boys. Because girls are more than pretty and sweet – like strong and smart and fierce.
Well, duh. Whose parents are telling them that math is only for boys? This is part of that SJW whine fest that says science and math discriminate against women and minorities. (Newsflash: math does discriminate against stupidity, but I’m pretty sure that’s not gender related, nor will it change by putting an equation on a teeshirt.)
A part of me wants to support this new company wholeheartedly (because I do support better options for girls clothing, as every mother of girls should), but the other part of me worries this will be used by radical feminists to push more of their “girls rule, boys drool” philosophy on everyone. Okay, we get it. Girls are great. But they’re no greater than boys. And I’m more than a little tired of the constant cheerleading for girls. My poor son isn’t going to have it all come up roses. Not only is he a boy, but he’s white! He’s already destined to be stereotyped as a date-rapist. When do we start caring about boys, too?
In any case, the shorts and t-shirts are pretty cool and I think I’m going to try them out for my tree climbers. I have a feeling all those pockets are going to be fun to search through at laundry time.
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