News

New campaign hits back at portrayal of girls as pink princesses

Fundraising | Tania Mason | 4 Mar 2009

A new campaign that rails against the sexualisation of young girls and their stereotyping as ‘pink princesses’ has secured its first grant, from UnLtd.

PinkStinks – ‘the campaign for real role models’ has been set up by London twins Emma and Abi Moore, in a bid to start a backlash against Western society’s growing predilection to cast little girls as pretty, pink-clad, miniature adults.

Both are mothers of a six-year-old and a two-year-old; Emma has girls and Abi boys. They had the idea for the campaign when they were shopping for clothes and equipment for their babies and realised how difficult it was to find anything for the girls that wasn’t pink or purple and ultra-girly.

PinkStinks is also a backlash against the media’s obsession with celebrity, which they claim is prompting children to aspire to the wrong sorts of role models.

Body obsession

“You look at old photos of kids in the 70s,” said Emma, who works full-time as head of information and publications at the NCVO. “They’re all wearing different colours – stripes and checks and whatever – and you can’t tell who’s a boy and who’s a girl.

“Body image obsession is starting younger and younger, and the seeds are sown during the ‘pink’ stage, as young girls are taught the boundaries within which they will grow up, as well as narrow and damaging messages about what it is to be a girl.”

The campaign’s website for parents, www.pinkstinks.co.uk, aims to gather support, promote discussion and ultimately to influence the media about the importance of promoting positive gender roles to girls.

Positive role models

It also seeks to “redress the balance” by providing girls with positive female role models – “chosen because of their achievements, skills, accomplishments and successes”, said Moore.

Thanks to the first grant from UnLtd for £5,000, a sister website for girls www.cooltobe.me will be launched soon which will showcase films and other content that promotes positive stereotypes, and encourage girls to vote for their own role models.

PinkStinks also sells T-shirts for girls featuring the slogan ‘I’m no princess’ (pictured) and ‘Future role model’.

Tweet

Who's Who: Tania Mason