#Unstereotype please….please,  is what our girls have been screaming for centuries. But only few seem to be listening. Looking around, we can clearly see the divide in our homes and outside, in our advertising, apparel stores, toy shops, movies , books …..sadly everywhere is where we can see this very dumb notion of Pink & Blue Brains. Given below are some images that prove the above point. These aren’t primitive days images but 21st century pictures of our baby girls and boys stereotypes keeping the societal idea of Pink & Blue Brains alive.

When did the clothes become pink or blue for our babies? Don’t know for sure but these are the images we see when we google clothes for baby boys and baby girls. Stereotypes run deep because our world and media is constantly urging us to be gender correct. And if you don’t agree, take a pink romper and a pink pacifier as a gift for a friend’s new born baby boy . The looks you’ll get will make you feel really stupid…gender stupid!

Girls magazines v/s Boys magazines  show a sad contrast too, adventures and exploring the future seem to be just for boys and looking pretty and glamorous is primarily a girls thing. We need to stop googling boys and girls toys if we want our girls to be strong career women , girl bosses, take more interest in Maths & Science and boys to become a more empathetic, sensitive and interested in equal responsibility sharing gender. Because when we google toys there are pink and purple dressing tables, castles, kitchen sets, dolls and doll houses all over the screen for girls toys. All search engines are the same, they very efficiently show stem toys, super heroes, robots and hot wheels for boys toys.

A lot is changing with companies like Barbie and Lego which are taking out new inspiring toys for both genders ….but let’s keep praying they can somehow stray away from girl toys and boy toys altogether. What we need to change is also our parenting mindset and look for gender neutral clothes, toys and books for our children. The change will come with the change in the collective consciousness of parents all over the world. Because when we parents start refusing to buy gender limiting toys , clothes and books , the kids merchandise industry will be forced to become gender neutral. And it’s then when the world will stop believing in Blue & Pink Brains making our girls strong who can take equal pay for granted and our boys more nurturing, not afraid of showing their emotions and feeling less pressure to be the sole bread winners.

Let’s Stop just buying dressing tables and kitchen sets toys for our young  girls !

Let’s Make our boys play with cooking sets and dolls too and our girls with hot wheels and action heroes!

Let’s Ban the pink merchandise, ask for more colours and inspiring toys for our girls.

Let’s make them pick the t-shirts that say “Legendary” & “Warrior” instead of “Pretty ” &  ‘Princess”!

Let’s Help Google ..search pages of images that look different & not Blue and Pink ever again!

Let’s Break the stereotypes , Let’s unstereotype!

Lets’s Shun the notion of PINK & BLUE Brains!

Check out : https://barbie.mattel.com/en-us/about/role-models.html

Check out : https://www.lego.com/en-gb/dcsuperherogirls

Check out : https://www.amazon.in/Good-Night-Stories-Rebel-Girls/dp/014198600X

Check out : https://www.amazon.com/Strong-New-Pretty-Celebration-Themselves/dp/0761189130

 

Met another awesome grandmother yesterday and what a delightful conversation we had. A conversation that forced me to introspect. Regretfully I realised I had missed including grandparents stories in a place that’s called AWESOME POWER OF LOVE.  My blog which is my “pouring my heart out space” is guilty for sure as it hasn’t seen even one post dedicated to grand parents.

Grandparent’s expression of love for their grandchildren is the biggest testament of  Pure Love. When my kids grandparents, your kids grandparents ….all the grandparents in the world are talking about their bundles of joy, they light up and the twinkle in their eyes says all that can be said about this amazing power of love.Let’s ask forgiveness from all the grandparents because in this very busy life of ours …where we are forever running, we sometimes take their love for granted.

Blessed are those who have seen and felt this universal grandparental love. I have and my kids have and thank God for that. Isn’t it beautiful to have two more sets of wonderful people loving your kids unconditionally and making them the centre of their universe?

The grandmother I met yesterday warmed my heart and had so many tales to tell about her life…..how she lived through all the ups and downs and how her life was full of miracles. Miracles that guided her well ….to raise a family alone, a family that makes her proud everyday. She said many people have urged her to write about her experiences in a book and I encouraged her too …asking her why not? I told her, “Your kids especially your grand children will love to read them and find strength in your words …why not aunty …do it …do it ….you have to, you should”.

If Aunty ends up writing and if you & I can encourage our parents to write their life stories down for our children. What a wonderful world will it be ….full of chronicles of  grandparents unconditional love and their life stories binding families together. Being a part of something bigger , something more important than you and me , being a part of a whole…. will guide our kids in their difficult times, reminding them forever and ever that they are loved,they are so loved!