The gender-neutral agenda is on everyone’s lips as we try to avoid restricting our children to the strict rules set by gender that still appear to apply today. Apparently, boys should be boys: tough, unemotional and able to achieve anything, while girls should be: domestic, maternal and love the colour pink.
If you start off by not introducing them to strict gender stereotypes from a young age they can then go on to make healthy decisions when it comes to their clothing, toys, friends and eventually life choices.
While we haven’t yet reached the revolutionary levels countries such as Sweden have, with its recent addition of a gender-neutral pronoun to its official dictionary, we can still tackle the issue at home by creating a gender neutral baby nursery to ensure our little ones don’t spend their early years restricted to certain gender specific experiences.
However, you don’t need to swap out gender stereotypical colours or characters when shopping on www.lamaloli.com for a new bedspread with ones that are deemed ‘gender fluid’. Instead mix up what you decide to decorate the nursery with; Star Wars and pinks and yellows work great together and there’s nothing wrong with throwing in some Olaf and Elsa from Frozen in a little boy’s nursery.
If you are opting for something that does meet gender fluid standards, you can’t go wrong with greys, yellows, and white for the nursery paired with cuddly bears, soft pillows and throws.
For those who like to embrace the bold and beautiful, a rainbow themed room is as gender neutral as it’s going to get. Pick out a mix of flat pack and DIY furniture pieces to really encourage the eclectic, fun look, teamed up with a bright patterned rug your little one will enjoy playing on, when they can enjoy more time out of their crib.
An animal theme is the easiest way to create a gender-neutral nursery if you don’t want to miss out on the cute animated design. Throw in cute images of giraffes, elephants and bears and pick up animal print blankets and pillows in neutral colours for it to all work together. Soft toys dotted around the room will complete the theme and give your little ones plenty to play with as well.
A gender themed nursery is a great way of ensuring your family is open minded and allows your children to make their own choices. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t choose a gender-neutral name for your child (apparently 2015 is the year for it) or if they go on to love football like boys apparently should or play with Barbie like girls, you know that you have been open to their own views and tastes and that they will be comfortable in their own skin – which is, of course, the most important thing.
Of course, your choices won’t shield them from the stereotypes they will come across when they start school or grow up – but it’s a start.
