Eleanor Hanson, an eight-year-old girl Marsden, West Yorkshire, wasn't happy to discover the boys' model of shorts had larger pockets that could be used to store shells, sticks, eggs at her family's farm and other useful things a child may want to keep.
The girl's mother Jenny, who home schools Eleanor and her 10-year-old sister Lucy, said:
"It was in March we went to Fat Face and she picked up a nice top in the girl's department. We looked at the girl's shorts that matched the top and they were all really short with no pockets. She rejected those because they weren't any use and had a look in the boy's department and found some that matched the top. She was very excited about the pockets because she's always collecting bits and pieces like shells on the beach or sticks. When she came in from collecting eggs the other day she was disgruntled about the shorts. She said ‘look I can fit seven eggs in my pockets. If we'd bought the other ones to match this top I could only fit one egg in'."
Encouraged by her mother, Eleanor wrote to Fat Face, addressing the issue, following which she has been invited to review the company's new short design.
Some social media users, however, failed to see how the situation had anything to do with sexism. Others suspected it was Eleanor's parents who dragged the issue.
Well they can be racist 😉
— Shakerite (@shakerite66) May 14, 2018
It should read, 'parents if eight year old use daughter to virtue signal to their middle class friends'.
— Vanishing Point (@VanishingPoin_t) May 14, 2018
At that age we didn't have the word 'sexism' in our vocabulary.
— SJ (@sandra_j0) May 14, 2018
Definitely not a seven year old’s ‘anger’ but her mother’s. Children this age should not have these sort of pseudo PC views — get on with being children — go play.
— Mark Christie (@305gulf) May 14, 2018
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