A mom from New Zealand has rebuked Kmart after the retailer put ‘gendered’ labels on kids’ clothing range.
India Springle took to Facebook, asking the retailer to ditch the labels. The disgruntled mother shared an adorable photo of her daughter Lola, 2, as she beamed in her new dinosaur shirt purchased from Kmart.
Springle said she was furious when she found that the label on her girl’s top was for boys aged below seven.
She asked the retailer to remove the gender labels so as to allow the kids to freely choose their outfits. ‘Hey Kmart… Get with the program already would you?!’ Springle wrote.
‘Even my nearly three year old thinks your gender labels are bull. Why the h*ll are all the cool T-shirts labeled “boys” – what makes this T-shirt a boy’s T-shirt anyway?
‘Girls can only wear a dinosaur T-shirt if it’s pink and full of sequins?!
‘Honestly it is beyond ridiculous get in the modern world you archaic bunch of fossils… down with gendered kids clothes and down with lame girls clothes.
‘Sure there are heaps of bigger things going on in the world right now but I happen to think that it is pretty important to allow our children to wear whichever clothes they choose and not feel shame or stigma because that piece of clothing has been assigned a specific gender.’
She even started a petition which calls the store to roll out all such labels from its outlets.
‘Children’s clothing doesn’t need to have gendered labels. Children should be free to pick what they want to wear without their gender being called into question,’ Springle said.
‘If a little girl wants to wear a dinosaur t-shirt or a little boy wants to wear a pink t-shirt, why shouldn’t they? Stop this gender madness! No more “girls” or “boys” on labels.’
A number of internet users supported Springle, revealing their own anger on the discrimination.
‘Ridiculous, I cannot understand in this day and age why I have to go to the boys section to get even just a plain black t-shirt and black jeans for my two-and-a-half-year old girl. Labelled boys – WTF. It’s mental,’ another disgruntled mom said.
However, some people didn’t agree with Springle.
One person said: ‘Why does it matter so much about the words written in the label? Your daughter looks delightfully happy in her dinosaur top so why make an issue out of nothing.’
Another wrote: ‘I feel sorry for Lola having a mom that can get so upset over a label. Why didn’t you name her GREG or even better, why can’t you take the label off?’
Yet another said: ‘Just buy the shirt, cut the tag off they’re annoying anyway and keep on with your day.’
In a statement released to Daily Mail Australia, a Kmart spokesperson said: ‘At Kmart our store design is set up to assist customers with a convenient shopping experience based on their shopping behavior.
‘At Kmart we are constantly listening to our customers and incorporating their feedback to both future product ranges and store design.’
Replaced!