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Asda has been slammed by parents and campaigners for selling a t-shirt which suggests boys are mischief makers and ‘diggers of dirt’.
Campaigners say enforcing such stereotypes can cause children’s mental health to suffer.
The top, costing from £2.50, is printed with the slogan: ‘’Boy, noun: 1. Digger of dirt, noise maker, lots of mischief. See also: ‘handsome’, ‘cool’.”
Liann Weir took to Twitter to criticise the top, posting a photo with the comment: “Really asda … this is pretty poor. What message are we giving our boys?”
She later said she she did not think the nation was losing its sense of humour, “but we are raising a generation of boys (and girls) who think they should be/think or feel a certain way because of the messages they receive in ways like this.
“When they don’t/can’t conform to stereotypes like this their mental health can suffer.”
Campaigners from Let Toys Be Toys, a group dedicated to making toys and publishing suitable for both genders, also commented on Twitter, saying: “This is really disappointing and sends an unhelpful message to both boys and girls about how they should behave.”
This is really disappointing and sends an unhelpful message to both boys and girls about how they should behave cc @letclothesbe https://t.co/gOIQ2XsKjg
— Let Toys Be Toys (@LetToysBeToys) February 3, 2018
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An Asda spokesperson said: “Our aim is to make clothes people love, never to offend.”
