one hopes that something comes into their lives to wake them the hell up.....
The nearest I’ve come to gender-neutral is in snow ski equipment and apparel. I was a “ski dad” sponsor for the ski club in elementary school. Jeans were what everybody wore on their legs; ski equipment, including boots are available in gender-neutral colors. That leaves ski jackets. Some of them were acceptable to both my boy and his two sisters. Some were not. Still that was enough.
Every year I had to buy only one pair of boots, bindings, and poles. We did this at ski-swaps in the fall. Ski swap day was a social event as well as a time to save money. I even got a couple of dates out of the time spent trying on boots and measuring ski pole lengths!
Ski club was also a way to get quality time with the children without having to “spend time with Dad.” My girls lived with their mom, “Ace” lived with me. The girls gladly trooped to the ski bus for a school night or weekend with Dad and Little Brother. Little brother became “King of the Hill” pretty fast so even that eliminated some sibling rivalry. Julie became a “snow bunny” sitting around the fire at the lodge, entrancing boys, of course. Janie became a ski racer, starting me on a long slide to grey hair! All that is gone now, but the memories linger on. Good Times!
Please don’t respond with knee jerk here. I completely agree with this demand. While the actual culture is accepting of all sorts of choices for what is female, what is male, for the past 15 years the boy versus girl clothing is extremely gendered. It wasn’t like this 25 years ago. When I had my first child, he and my friends’ daughters could wear each other’s clothes if necessary. In the early 90s there was a trend toward bright cotton separates for both genders. Boys and girls could even wear the same jeans. There were more plain tops with form fitting sleeves for both gender kids.
Now, there is not one piece of clothing in the store than can be worn by both genders. It’s ridiculous. And I love feminine clothes for my daughter but how ridiculous that clothing is so strict when society isn’t.
bmfl