Pinkstinks facts for kids
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| Formation | 2008 |
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| Type | Campaign |
| Headquarters | London |
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Founders
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Emma Moore and Abi Moore |
Pinkstinks is a group that started in London in May 2008. It was founded by twin sisters Emma and Abi Moore. Their main goal is to show how gender stereotyping can be harmful to children. Pinkstinks believes that when companies sell toys or clothes just for "boys" or "girls," it can make children think they can only do certain things. They argue this might limit what girls believe they can achieve later in life.
What Pinkstinks Does
Pinkstinks has created a list of "Pinkstinks Approved" companies. These companies offer toys and learning products that are not made just for one gender. In 2009, the group encouraged parents to avoid shops that sold only pink toys and gifts.
In 2010, Pinkstinks spoke out against Marks and Spencer. This store was labeling underwear for six-year-old girls as "bra tops." Big stores like John Lewis, Marks and Spencer, and Sainsbury's listened to Pinkstinks. They quickly removed "girls" labels from pink Playmobil sets. They also took "boys" labels off science kits. Plus, they started using labels that were not gender-specific for children's nurse and doctor outfits.
Awards and Support
The founders of Pinkstinks, Abi and Emma Moore, received an award in 2009. They won in the Women Creating Change category at the Sheila McKechnie Foundation awards. In 2012, Pinkstinks also won the Mumsnet Award. This award was for promoting body confidence in children.
In 2009, Bridget Prentice MP, a government minister at the time, supported Pinkstinks. She backed their idea to boycott shops selling Christmas gifts aimed only at girls or boys. She said it was important "not funnelling girls into pretty, pretty jobs." Instead, she wanted to give them big goals and help them reach their full potential.
Lady Morgan, another minister, spoke in the UK Parliament. She said it was "extremely important that we ensure girls have a chance to play with trucks and trains." She also added that girls should be able to "wear blue if they look pretty in blue." She believed that the color of toys should not decide how young people are cared for.
Ed Mayo, an author and former government adviser, also supported the campaign. He said that this "colour apartheid" (meaning separating things by color) puts children on "two separate railway tracks." One track, he explained, leads to higher pay and status, and the other does not. Mayo also pointed out that before World War II, pink was often linked with boys. Blue, which was traditionally the color of the Virgin Mary, was linked with girls. He felt that when you walk into a toy store today, "it is as if feminism had never happened."
Global Reach
Pinkstinks has gained attention in other countries too. It inspired a similar campaign to start in Germany. This German group began in 2012 and is based in Hamburg-Eimsbüttel.
See also
- Feminism in the United Kingdom
- Gendered associations of pink and blue
- Gender neutrality
- Gender polarization
- Gender stereotypes
- Lego Friends § Controversy
- Let Books Be Books
- Let Girls Be Girls
- Let Toys Be Toys
