Are you tired of the battle of pink versus blue in the kids’ clothing department? One mom’s viral Instagram post about gender-neutral pajamas for kids opened up an important conversation about a much-needed change to the entire clothing industry.
Jamie Stelter, mom to a 21-month old girl and morning traffic anchor for local New York City news channel NY1, vented her frustration over the lack of diversity among kids pajamas at The Gap on Instagram. The post, which she warned was a “mom rant,” began “I just bought these super cute traffic PJs for Sunny from the little boys department of Gap but WHY WHY WHY are they not also in the girls department?! cause they’re blue? cause they have cars on them? cause only little boys can like blue and cars.”
The post quickly received hundreds of comments and likes, validating Stelter by letting her know she wasn’t alone in her frustration. Despite the fact that she had not tagged the company in her post, The Gap did comment with a promising response apologizing for her experience and agreeing that a change is needed. The company has since made some changes with the same pajamas being offered on both the girls and boys pages.
“Our design team in New York City creates PJs for both boys and girls to wear and love, mix and match,” a spokesperson for the brand told TODAY. “We are working with our merchants on improving the online shopping experience to better reflect our design intent.”
Many parents who responded to her post highlighted companies that are already offering gender neutral options, like Céline Dion’s gender neutral children’s clothing line Celinununu. Stelter hopes more companies will follow suit and accept the idea that clothing doesn’t need to be separated by gender, especially at this young age.
“I had no idea I would be totally flooded,” Stelter said. “One woman said her son has been bullied for wearing pink. Another told me that her daughter likes the boys’ stuff better, but doesn’t feel comfortable shopping in the boys’ department. My post really touched a nerve. Clearly I’m not the only person who wants to see a change.”
—Shahrzad Warkentin
Featured photo: Mon Petit Chou Photography via Unsplash
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