Taking advantage of the fact that April has already started, a month dedicated to books (Children's Book Day, Book Day, various fairs, ...), for several days we have been giving relevance to topics related to reading, and family-centered, and in the childhood. It was chance that made us discover a new campaign of the initiative #soyquiendecide, promoted by Alba Alonso Feijoo. On this occasion, the initiative focuses on the "rosification" of books aimed at girls, phenomenon that is reported from Realkiddys, a reference blog for an educational project of which Alonso is CEO.
The truth is that It's so obvious that girls don't need pink-tinged stories and poetry, it seems like the children's products industry is pulling our leg, but I continue with my presentation. Alba is a doctor in English philology, a public school teacher and a mother of 2; It is surprising, but he still has time to write children's literature, and has recently published "Martin is the best". Our interviewee manifests herself in love with childhood and a tireless learner; And as if that were not enough, he regularly collaborates with various information media.
Realkiddys is a way of fight gender stereotypes and to seek coeducation. I think you are going to enjoy this interview, but we are satisfied that you are aware of the way they are selling us gender segregation along with the toys, costumes or books that we buy for our daughters and our sons; and that takes away their freedom, but it can also condition the roles they play.
Mothers Today: Behind the project you promote there is an interest that girls and boys can BE freely, and without interference. That means that one and the other have different tastes and characteristics, and not necessarily conditioned by their biology. Do you have any idea when entertainment products that were targeted at girls started to "rosy"?
Alba Alonso: Rosification has had different followers throughout history. Before the XNUMXth century, if we look at the pictures of royal families, we will see that kings and princes appear in red or pink. And that's because red was the most expensive dye, as well as symbolizing power, strength, and energy.
If we go a few decades later in history, at the beginning of the 20th century, we will observe that both boys and girls wore white, not even pink or blue, as the historian Jo Paoletti tells us in her work “Pink and Blue: Telling the Boys from the Girls in America ”. White was used for its practicality to be put in bleach, and thus remove the uncomfortable typical stains of babies. Paoletti tells us how from the XNUMXs there began to be certain differences in the pink / blue world for various reasons, but depending on the state we were in, pink could appear arbitrarily labeled for boys or girls. In Europe something similar happened, because in France orphanages dressed boys in blue and girls in pink, but in Germany, however, it was done the other way around, as Paoletti explains..
While the 60s-70s era was a world full of color and neutrality, the 80s brought the pink / blue world looking for increased sales, and the 90s and Disney world did the rest. The XNUMXst century has meant the great explosion of this bi-color universe, which not only has failed to find a brake, but continues to “in crescendo” today..
At the moment we are working on the tremendous stereotypes that invade children's literature
MH:How did #soyquiendecide come about? I think this is the third "edition" of the campaign, how do you rate the acceptance of the previous ones?
AA: The #soyquiendecide initiative is part of the "Teaching to Be" campaign, a movement for a more tolerant, egalitarian and fair childhood. We are carrying out this campaign in collaboration with Madresfera, and we are frankly delighted by the reception it is having. The first action took place last Christmas denouncing the latent sexism in toys, we continued in carnivals showing the atrocities that some “sexy” children's costumes presented, and right now we are working on the tremendous stereotypes that invade children's literature. It is a very clear and simple way to raise awareness in society, especially parents, about what the pink / blue world really implies and its future consequences.
MH: Manufacturers want to "cash in" as you say, consumers get carried away; sometimes I don't know if advertising creates needs or responds to them. How do brands tend to react to pressure to adopt an egalitarian policy?
AA: Today there are already different brands that are beginning to get involved in this journey of respect for the tastes of childhood regardless of their gender. But unfortunately, we are verifying that in many of these cases it is nothing more than a commercial strategy, because they do it well at Christmas and then they do not apply the same theory in carnivals, for example. Whether strategy or not, a big change is needed by brands. The public begins to demand it and we hope that many more will "jump on the bandwagon" and abandon certain absurd practices.
MH: Now you are talking about the "rosification" of stories "for girls", it goes without saying that I agree with you that girls do not need to be told what to read, and that they can open adventure or action books. I know of a project similar to the one you are developing (Let Toys be Toys in the UK), do you know if they exist in other countries?
AA: Lettoysbetoys is a fantastic movement, and they are accomplishing great things through their reporting. From Australia there is also PlayUnlimited which has so far two Christmas campaigns with “NoGenderDecember”. In Spain these past Christmas holidays were several municipalities that were encouraged to carry out campaigns against sexism in toys. But this is something that must be worked on all year round, and not only from the world of toys, because there are many areas to improve in this regard..
There are books that directly segregate by sex by being labeled on their covers as "for girls" or "for boys"
MH: Now is a good month for us to "get down to it" and let the kids go free in their reading choices (Children's Book Day and Book Day). That is why I need your help: tell us how it can affect the development of a boy or a girl that we tell them that their readings have been previously differentiated.
AA: The stories are a very attractive tool for the little ones in the house. In addition to written messages, in most of these children's works we also have illustrations, and the power of the text / image duality is incredible. If you always see the mother in the story doing housework, and the boy doing sports, while the girl is sitting quietly playing dolls, the messages that this boy or girl is receiving are many and very clear. As if that were not enough, there are books that directly segregate by sex as they are labeled on their covers as "for girls" or "for boys.".
In those of girls we will find a pink world of princesses, cakes, butterflies and flowers, and in that of children there will be much more action, sports, science, dangerous animals, superheroes ... It is difficult for a girl to whom we are teaching that You must be passive and sweet, you end up becoming a leading entrepreneur. And to a child who could be a teacher, we are saying that this world is not enough for him..
MH:What is needed for this type of initiative to impact society? And please tell us: what can we mothers and fathers do (apart from not buying in pink or blue) in the face of this industry meddling in the lives of our boys and our girls?
AA: There are many things we can do. Not acquiring products that segregate by sex is the one that can have the greatest impact, but sharing this message among our relatives can also achieve great advances. If it is your girl's birthday and you organize a party, let it be known that you do not want all pink or all "feminine". If you go to your daughter's friend's birthday, don't add another superhero to his collection, and try to find something more neutral. And if they are older, of course their tastes are respected, but above all there is variety. If you have never given a doll to your son, or a car to your daughter, how do you know they will not like it?
And of course! I invite mothers and mothers to join #soyquiendecide and share messages, tweets, and posts denouncing this world of stereotypes on all kinds of social networks that only limit our childhood.
From the schools we also demand more and better training for teachers in this regard, and by request, Ideally, the government would be involved with laws that do not allow certain actions, advertisements or television programs where segregation by sex, and continued sexism are more than evident.
So far the interview with Alba Alonso, a conscientious professional and tireless disseminator; I have to thank you for your collaboration. Your contributions have been tremendously useful to me, and I hope it helps you to understand a little more how stereotypes affect our sons and daughters.
More information - realkiddys