So, as you all know by now, a month ago I gave birth to my daughter (Girlygeek2.0/GG2.0) who has since taken over every aspect of my life in the most wonderful of ways. With that in mind, is it any surprise that this post is using her as the primary focus?
Anywho, as parents (geek parents to be precise), hubby and I are constantly keeping our eyes open for anything remotely geek oriented and designed for children any time we go shopping. Don’t misunderstand me, we’re not planning on forcing GG2.0 to be a geek; rather, we’re trying to show her (yes, even at this young age) that it’s okay to be one. It’s okay to like comic books and video games as well as fantasy and scifi. Knick-knacks, DVDs and toys aren’t a problem to find, but clothing…
That’s where we see a distinctive lack of encouragement for girls to pursue the geeky and nerdy wonders that life has to offer.
Case in point, a couple weeks ago, hubby went to Walmart to pick up a few things that we needed. But while he was there, he ambled over to the children’s section (as we both do now regardless of whether we’re shopping for GG2.0 on that particular trip or not), and proceeded to look through the girls clothing in the hopes of finding something comic book or otherwise superhero-related to bring home to his little girl.
I don’t need to tell you that he was rewarded with not one single thing.
However, as he passed the boys section, he came across quite the plethora of superhero-themed clothing and he thereby grabbed a Batman-themed tank top and shorts set. Naturally, because it is in point of fact a boy’s outfit, it looks like a boy’s outfit. When you look at it, there’s no mistaking that it was designed with boys in mind.
Now, don’t misunderstand me…
I don’t have a problem with GG2.0 wearing a boy’s outfit. Seriously, I was a tomboy as a child and even now as an adult, I’m what hubby affectionately calls ‘fella-girly’. Basically, I LOVE shoes and all things cute and fluffy…but I throw like a boy and love movies like The Godfather and The Terminator. But aside from that, with the exception of one shirt I got at SDCC, all of my geeky shirts are from the boys/men’s section of stores because unless I’m shopping online, there are no geeky girl shirts to be found. Not even my comic book shop carries them, I’m very sad to say, and it’s through no fault of their own because it’s simply the way of things…boys get clothing emblazoned with beloved super heroes while girls are forced to wear clothing with Disney princesses.
Keep in mind that I have no quarrel with the Disney princesses (Belle is my favorite because as a fellow bookworm, I can relate to her), but I am however annoyed at the fact that little girls are told from a young age through fashion that comic book heroes are only for boys.
I’m sorry…are clothing companies unaware of Wonder Woman, Batgirl and Supergirl?! How about Storm, Rogue or Black Widow? And those are just to name a few…there’s PLENTY more where that came from.
Clothing companies should take into account that there are in fact female comic book heroes and emblazon a few of them across the clothing they design for girls…and not just of the child variety, but of the adult variety as well.
The clothes don’t even have to be comic book related…
Seriously how adorable would it be to have little girl shirts with chibi Chewbaccas, chibi Ninja Turtles, or Adiposes on the front? What’s an Adipose? Just look below…
Adorable, right???
Seriously…what’s it going to take before clothing companies realize that girls can and often do like the same thing as boys?
About Aida Jacobs
Aida Jacobs – Girly Geek, recently dubbed ‘a rage-filled hobbit’ by her loving husband, spends her time drooling over Doctor Who and playing any RPG she can get her hands on. She is a die hard Phantom of the Opera fanatic, and when she’s not reading comics or playing games, she is hard at work trying to get her novel published.
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