All too often, girls interested in space, science, and dinosaurs have a tough time finding clothing that matches their interests. Most clothes for little girls are pink and glittery, and more often than not, space T-shirts and dinosaur sneakers are over on the boys’ side of the store.
Two Kickstarter campaigns, however, are trying to challenge gender stereotypes by offering apparel for girls who are interested in more traditionally male pursuits.
“We tell our girls they can do anything. Be anything,” the project description on the buddingSTEM Kickstarter campaign reads. “So, why is it so hard to find clothes for young girls who want to explore the universe or dig for dinosaurs?”
The buddingSTEM campaign wants to launch a girls’ clothing line featuring space, dinosaurs, and more. It arose from the experiences of two Seattle moms who have daughters that loved dinosaur and spaceship prints, but only saw the clothes they wanted in the boys’ section of clothing stores.
The Kickstarter has already surpassed its original goal of $45,000, which will enable buddingSTEM to start production and open a store on its website.
buddingSTEM isn’t the only children’s clothing line trying to subvert gender stereotypes. Svaha, a clothing line to “empower children,” is also raising money to create T-shirts for girls featuring images that are typically found on boys’ shirts. The clothing line features such colorful themes as space, vehicles, animals, and sports.
Svaha was launched by Jaya Halepete Iver, a mother who says she also had difficulty finding space-themed apparel for her daughter. “She wanted a T-shirt with Saturn on it. I couldn’t find that, either. I ended up buying a boy’s t-shirt for her,” Iver writes on Svaha’s Kickstarter page. “This prompted me to look for other themes that I saw my daughter asking me for…and there was nothing. I figured I’d fill the gap.”
So far, Iver’s campaign has raised more than $7,000 of its $25,000 goal. With the funding, Iyer will be able to develop her designs and manufacture the T-shirts.
Another Kickstarter with a similar goal, Princess Awesome, was successfully funded earlier this month.
Photo via buddingSTEM/Kickstarter
