Mum Points Out Gender Double Standard At Big W, Internet Erupts

Last weekend, a mum shopping at Big W, uncovered something that made her very uncomfortable.

In shopping for a pair of shorts for her young daughter, she realised that girls shorts were, almost unequivocally, considerably shorter than boys shorts. When she realised just how much shorter they were, she decided to tell Big W that it just wasn’t on:

photo via Facebook – Big W page

“Little girls shorts in a size 1 next to little boys shorts in a size 1. Why on earth does my 1 year old need to have shorts so short that her nappy is hanging out??? Little girls are not sex objects. Gender bias is disgusting.”

Viral Response

In the hours that followed, the post ended up receiving a lot of attention. For thousands of parents all over Australia she had struck one hell of a chord. These were parents sick of hunting for clothing for their young daughters that didn’t feature ‘cheeky bum’ shorts, midriff-showing tops and skin-tight clothing. These were parents sick of big retailers making little girls think that to be beautiful, you had to show skin.

“How much longer & how many more complaints before these big companies realise. Thank you Nikita for taking a stand!!”

“I’m very glad this was brought up. I feel like there is hardly any age appropriate modest clothing out there for little girls.”

“I had the same issue this summer with my 3 yr old girl! I could not find her any shorts that were if decent length! All I wanted was mid length shorts! I hope Big W listens to their customers!”

Both mums and dads admitted that they were shopping in the boys section, altering clothes, or making clothes themselves at home because there simply wasn’t anything that they considered appropriate for their young children.

“Regularly have to shop in boys section for my girls clothing or buy then alter. Our 7 year old daughter is a child and we don’t dress her like she’s 7 going-on 30! Go to the boys section for your girls jeans – the girls ones are so tight they look like they’ve been sprayed on! Good luck”

Of course not everyone had the same opinions, and there were a few voices in the debate who drew concern over the fact that parents saw gender bias or sexualisation in the clothing.

“Disagree, if you’re concerned about your baby being sexualised or discriminated against due to a visible nappy then I feel very concerned for the welfare of that child as it grows up.”

A Majority

But the majority of those who spoke up shared Nikita’s opinion, and it seemed that there was a wave of parents wanting Big W, and other large retailers, to take some responsibility in providing modest and age-appropriate clothing for kids. In responding to the comments, both good and bad, Nikita might have said it best herself:

“I couldn’t find a single pair of shorts in the girl’s section today with an inseam of more than a couple of cm. Where is the variety and choice for parents looking to teach their children about sun safety and self respect? Not at Big W this month, that’s for sure!”

What about Big W? Well they had a pretty standard response to the kerfuffle, noting that they take customer comments very seriously, and that Nikita’s message would get to the right people within the organisation.

What Do You Think?

With all the mud-slinging going on in the debate, it’s easy to lose sight of what we’re really talking about. So we wanted to know your opinion. Do you think that there’s a gender double standard here, that girls shorts really aren’t age appropriate for the girls they’re marketed at? Is it really the social responsibility of the store to set a standard for modest dress instead of focusing on profit? Or is it the customer’s responsibility to find clothes that they like at another store, instead of targeting stores that do not offer them.