How short are these shorts?
FORGET the colour of the dress.
Parents are working themselves into a later about whether these shorts are different lengths ... Or if they are even shorts at all.
Twelve months after that image of a dress that may have been white and gold — but turned out to be blue and black — broke the internet, another kind of garment is proving that perception is everything.
Throw in a debate over how to best parent small children, and you’ve got a tinderbox ready to go off.
It all started when Queensland mum Nikita Friedman posted a complaint to the Big W Facebook page about a recent purchase for her toddler.
The post has since been removed or deleted (see below).
“Little girls shorts in a size 1 next to little boys shorts in a size 1. Why on earth does my one-year-old need to have shorts so short that her nappy is hanging out? Little girls are not sex objects. Gender bias is disgusting,” Ms Friendman wrote.
The post quickly went viral, attracting more than 60,000 likes, 8000 shares and 4900 comments.
“Little girls should be dressed like little girls and not dressed with everything hanging out, no wonder we have so many tramps!” wrote Taleen Welsh.
“My hubby and I have had the conversation that shorts this short shall not enter our house,” chimed in Stacey Dever.
“Neither will the little padded bra/croptops that Big W sell, they are ridiculous — since when does a three-year-old need to be catered for with a padded bra?”
But not everyone agreed with Ms Friedman.
And some parents became quite upset at the suggestion they were allowing their children to be “objectified” by dressing them in shorts.
“I have these exact shorts for my three-year-old who is still in nappies,” Ashleigh Robinson wrote.
“They don’t show her nappy nor are they sexual in any sense. She is three years old — nothing about a three-year-old is sexual!”
Others commented that only a pervert would take a sexualised view of a little girl dressed in the shorts.
Big W’s social media manager was forced to hide the most derogatory of comments as the debate heated up, explaining in response to Ms Friedman’s post that this was because “certain words used have been deemed inappropriate”.
Parents of all persuasions contributed to the debate, posting images of vintage children’s wear — aiming to prove that not all that much has changed — and pictures of their own kids wearing shorts.
Mum Lea-Ann Harvey posted an old family photograph with the caption: “So, by the way some of you are talking, you would think badly of my mother for having made these outfits for my sister and I and let us wear them in public around 1970. Wearing a midriff top and short shorts did not turn us into strippers ... Please don’t insult people that choose the fashions available now. It is their choice.”
Modesty advocates have been complaining about midriffs for decades.Source:Facebook
And a firey discussion ensued over whether the garments posted were comparable.
Mum Fiona Burnett argued that while the black pair were indisputably shorts, the green ones were in fact “mid length trousers”.
“Sorry but you are wrong,” Carly Duncan retorted.
“Look at the length between the crouch area to the leg hole.”
Ms Friedman edited her post to respond to the haters, writing: “I honestly expected my post to die a quiet death 10 minutes after posting it, but I guess I struck a chord with Aussie parents and my post has now gone viral. A lot of people agree given the number of likes and supportive comments, but I’ve also had some horrible comments and private messages.
“To those hateful people: If you feel the need to defend yourself by making snide personal comments against me, then you obviously think you’ve done something controversial!
“I am concerned what you’re teaching your kids if you think it’s OK to bully and victimise me for having an opinion different to yours ... I want to teach my child about self respect, modesty and confidence from a young age, and set standards now for what my expectations of her will be in the future.”
Big W, for it’s part, publicly thanked Ms Friedman for having taken the time “to post your views on our page”.
“Big W takes all commentary from our customers very seriously,” the chain’s social media manager wrote.
“We will certainly discuss yours and other views posted to this thread with the relevant team, those responsible for buying kidswear and where appropriate respond back to you directly.”
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