I appreciate pretty things. I don’t mind getting dresses for myself. I do have a problem with girls’ clothes being more about looks than function and comfort.
Take a stroll through the mall on an average day and observe girls’ clothing (without being rude or creepy). With rare exceptions, the clothes are about being pretty and “girly”. Even jeans are distinctly stuff most people would be afraid to put on boys. I’m not even going into color selection on this one (hint: over 90% of girls clothing in an average store have one color in common).
There is a public compulsion to have our girls be show-off items. I’m not saying girls don’t like playing dress-up. Even little boys like playing dress-up, but this isn’t about the fun things kids do. Why must a girl’s wardrobe consist mostly of stuff that is only suitable for a small amount of situations the parents put her in? And why do parents think that every outing requires the girl(s) be more dressed up than anybody else?
Now, I’m not grinding on other parents because I have some insane notion I know what’s best for their kids. I’m displeased with other parents because they encourage the fashion industry to limit what our girls can choose from. I want my daughter to have a nice clothes for going to special social events, but I also want my daughter to have clothes she can be a kid in and hey, get dirty.
My daughter can be quite sweet, but she is not a doll. I don’t want her growing up to think that her first purpose is to be pretty.
