Stephanie Osman: Starting with the toy shop, put the age of sexist dinosaurs to bed

I wasn’t sure I would write anything to coincide with International Women’s Day as I am of the view that success should be earned, not given as part of a quota.

I feel I must explain that statement a little; while I wholly support the driving force 
behind International Women’s Day, the #pledgeforparity and women achieving equality in 
all areas of life across the globe, I do sometimes feel that women are expecting the same treatment as men but for less work.

Our gender shouldn’t be a ticket to use whenever we see fit.

It should just be part of who we are and be celebrated – not traded against.

If we, as women, want equality, we can’t demand it be given to us without being willing to put in the effort required to achieve it.

Being given something without earning it isn’t equality and being given something, even if it doesn’t suit our skills, is counter-productive.

However, I was confronted with something this weekend that compelled me to comment; dinosaur bedding.

Stick with me, there really is a connection here.

My daughter has recently had a new bedroom.

It is purple, at her choosing, with white and pink furniture and Matilda wallpaper, again all of her choosing.

On Saturday, I bought her some new bedding for her room and gave her the option of three different designs – hearts, fairies and dinosaurs.

I knew immediately which she would prefer and I was right, the green orange and white dinosaur bedding came home with us and everyone was happy.

Later that evening when throwing away the packaging, I spotted the receipt which stated “boys’ single bedding”.

When did dinosaurs become exclusive to boys?

I am certain there are some very knowledgeable female paleontologists out there, in fact an internet search soon finds many of note.

I am not going to list any names here as I would be entirely reliant on Google – I will leave that to my compatriots more learned in that area.

The point remains though, why do supermarkets and shops in general, online or otherwise, feel the need to pigeonhole our children from such a young age? Isn’t that where this issue stems from?

My daughter is a huge Star Wars fan (who isn’t, if you ask me) and was bought a t-shirt from the range for her recent birthday.

However the purchaser had to venture into the boys’ section of the shop to find it though.

Why?

In August last year, Walmart moved to address this issue by moving away from gender-based signs as a result of feedback from customers.

It said at the time: “Over the past year, guests have raised important questions about a handful of signs in our stores that offer product suggestions based on gender.

“In some cases, like apparel, where there are fit and sizing differences, it makes sense. In others, it may not…

“But we know that shopping preferences and needs change and, as guests have pointed out, in some departments like Toys, Home or Entertainment, suggesting products by gender is unnecessary.”

I applaud this method from the American behemoth and am keen to see if this approach is adopted in their UK Asda stores.

What this indicated to me though is that the issue with gender segregation starts far before the boardroom and should be addresses at a much earlier stage.

It seems crazy to me that 
we are imprinting an idea of gender barriers with such 
things as toy selection and bedding from birth and then wondering why, 20 to 30 years later, we are experiencing such a void in female representation in the boardroom.

I appreciate that female equality has a much wider 
reach than my small world 
of toys and bedding, but this is where it impacts me and 
will, in the future, impact my daughter.

I want my daughter to have every opportunity I can give to her and will try my best to avoid imposing any sort of gender stereotypes on her.

I hope this will stand her in good stead for the challenges 
she will face in the future although maybe, just maybe, by the time she is older International Women’s Day 
will no longer need to ask supporters to #pledgeforparity and will instead be what 
it truly should be – a real celebration of what makes women great.

Stephanie Osman is director of marketing for Wakefield-based fds Director Services Limited.