A woman has shared her struggle of trying to buy a gender-neutral birthday card for a child – as she was faced with few options that weren’t stereotypical “male” or “female”.
Author Kate Long said many of the cards were in pairs – one for a girl, one for a boy – and could directly be compared, which what she called as “boys, predator, girls, prey”.
“But I took a swift look at the others, specifically the ones tagged ‘boy’ or ‘girl’,” she continued. “The cards were divided on the stand, though, so even if it wasn’t spelt out, a shopper could easily see which set were for whom.”
And Long noted that even if you’re not sending or receiving these cards, you’re standing in queues in post offices or supermarkets and seeing them – and taking in their message about what kids need to do to be a “boy or girl”.
The mum posted a Twitter thread with many examples of the cards.