Along with celebrity² trailblazers Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, thousands of parents worldwide are subscribing³ to the idea that you shouldn't force gender stereotypes⁴ on a child.

 

And it seems this attitude has spilled over to clothing, with many shunning⁵ traditional 'pink for girls' and 'blue for boys'.

 

A survey of 843 parents of 0-3 year olds showed that the majority of parents are happy to dress their children in non gender specific colours with 82 per cent of parents saying they like blue clothing on girls.

 

However significantly less (47 per cent) say they like pink clothing on boys.

 

Dr Amanda Gummer, child psychologist and founder⁶ of Fundamentally Children says: 'Children need the freedom to develop their full potential without preconceptions about what girls or boys should do or how they should behave. 

 

'Studies show that adults treat children differently when dressed in gender-stereotyped clothing so the move towards less gender-stereotyping in clothes as well as in toys and other areas of children's lives is to be welcomed.'

 

Nicolas de Rosen, one of the three founders⁷ of Box Upon a Time, a subscription⁸ box service for parents who commissioned the study, says:

 

'We have found a huge trend in parents moving away from simply dressing⁹ their children in gender specific colours. Parents are looking for more variety when it comes to their children's wardrobes and want clothes that will express their own personal taste and style.'

 

'With so much choice now available to parents they no longer feel they have to dress their children in stereotypical¹⁰ pink and blue. 

 

'Gender neutral colours such as white, red, yellow and grey are very popular amongst our customers. 

 

'In fact, we have found that when parents were given a choice of 12 colours, pink comes up as one of the least popular, only followed by brown. 

 

'The most popular colour is white, with 95 per cent of parents selecting this as one of the their favourite colours of choice. The survey has also shown that red, yellow and grey are big hits with parents.'

点击收听单词发音