If This 'Gap Kids' Advertisement Is Sexist Then I Support Sexism

Metro- Gap has been accused of everyday sexism after sharing the promotional shots for its new toddler range online.

In one image, a little boy is seen modelling grey tracksuit bottoms and a navy Einstein T-shirt under the strapline: ‘The Little Scholar: Your future starts here’.

Contrast this with the picture of a little girl in a cream jumper and black bottoms, with the headline: ‘The Social Butterfly: Chambray shirts + logo sweaters are the talk of the playground’.

The new ad campaign, which currently appears on the Gap UK website, was spotted by PsychScientists Andrew and Sabrina, who called them out for ‘everyday sexism’.



Girls are outgoing? Boys are intelligent (except when they wear shirts that have 'Einstein' spelled incorrectly)?  Nooooo, the humanity! How could we do this to our youth? Why would 'Gap Kids' make it impossible for children to shed gender specific generalizations by slapping them with strict, detrimental labels like "scholar" and "social butterfly"? They'll probably never grow up to be free thinking individuals when their parents were brainwashed into buying them clothes from a company that views them as nothing more than a highly favorable stereotype.

In all seriousness, if this is sexism then you can count me in on sexism. I thought that sexism was promoting the superiority of one gender while continuing to marginalize the other, but if sexism is really just the frivolous attachment of complimentary, possibly inaccurate adjectives to random children then I think sexism is a good thing. Who hasn't said something nice about a kid without having any idea whether or not it's true? If that's sexism than being sexist is basically just a synonym for being respectful. I don't care if a little girl looks like she got beat with the ugly stick. I'm still telling her mom she's adorable. I don't care if a little boy strikes out in tee-ball. I'm still telling his dad he's got a great swing. If people stopped pandering to parents by using a bunch of overly positive cliches then the human race would probably seize to exist, because no one would want to reproduce anymore. Who cares if this depicts boys as smart and girls as friendly? It's all empty lip service anyway. If these advertisements were factual they would probably read "mildly mediocre" and "lost in the shuffle". Not only is that a terribly ineffective ad campaign, but it's wildly offensive to people who can't possibly be convinced that their little ones aren't perfect. 

P.S. Leave it to the couple that shares a Twitter account. I'm sure they are a real hoot on double dates...

@jeg623 @LetToysBeToys @EverydaySexism boys are scholars, girls just like hanging out. Classic sexist nonsense

— Andrew & Sabrina (@PsychScientists) July 31, 2016