Hint: Check the boys section.
Since my daughter Alice learned to talk she’s had opinions, especially when it comes to clothes. Sign her up if the shirt’s got bugs or Batman. Rainbows, unicorns or princesses? Not on her life.
But recently, Alice and I were online shopping and decided to check the girls’ section at the Gap. We saw lots of pink and flowery; no robots or the color red. So Alice dictated a letter asking the company what it could do for kids like her. Maybe they could ditch the “boys” versus “girls” sections, or add a neutral option in between?
Three days later, Alice’s letter was published in The Washington Post. Next came articles about it in outlets from Huffington Post Parents to Today online. DC Comics sent a letter of thanks to her for speaking up (along with an amazing box of goodies that she and her brother were very excited about).
And then an email arrived. We read it to Alice, explaining that the person writing to her is Jeff Kirwan, Gap’s chief executive, who runs the whole company. When we finished, she breathed a single word: “Whoa.”[…]
It only took a day for Jeff to answer. He told Alice to look out for a Chewy shirt in April. To me, he said, “I admire and thank you for standing up for individuality. . . . We can and will continue to evolve and do better. I remain deeply committed to upholding these values . . . thank you for your voice in doing the same.”
So today my 5-year-old has an impressively open-minded CEO as a pen-pal. People all over the world are talking about girls and clothing, because it’s not really about clothing at all.
And me? I’m pretty lucky. Because I’m a mom who was able to show her daughter that if it seems like no one is listening, speak up.