It was a hot summer day, I was going into kindergarten and my mom had taken my sister and me to Saskatoon for the day for a dentist appointment. I was always so excited to go to the city because we didn’t go that often and it was so much more fast-paced and exciting compared to little old Melfort, Saskatchewan. We went to the mall and started at Children’s Place. The anticipation of walking there had me so excited because my mom had always told me about how fun it was. This store happened to be my mom’s favourite for buying my sister and I’s clothing, which I had never been to before. I walked in and was greeted with all things girly. I was in awe that there could be so much sparkle in one place. I was so excited was an understatement. I sifted through the store and picked out many items but I ended up spotting a hot pink sparkly dress. And I needed it! It was everything I had ever wanted. And luckily my mother had bought it for me and I ended up wearing it for school pictures. I loved that dress for years. I wore it until it didn’t zip up. The sparkly pink dress was what made me realize my gender.
I realize how much before that my mom could have put me in black shorts and a white t-shirt, and I still think I would have run to that pink dress. I also think this was when I realized that there were different genders as the store was split. One side was gendered towards males and the other towards females. Before seeing this in the store, I don’t think I realized we had different genders or what that meant. However, the sparkly pink dress helped me realize my gender that I am today.
One Comment
Megan Sharp
Hi Halle!
I really enjoyed your story as it made me think of almost the EXACT same experience I had as a kid! You writing that you wore that pink dress for years until it didn’t zip up reminded me of an outfit I wore until I grew out of it. It was also hot pink and it was a two piece set, a tank top and a skirt, and I remember the top had a flamingo on it. To put it in your words, to say I was obsessed was an understatement! So I really enjoyed your story as it brought back a memory I haven’t thought about in ages. I think it’s interesting that you say your mom could’ve put you in black shorts and a white t-shirt and you still would’ve ran to the dress. It makes me wonder, would you have wanted that dress because it is something you actually loved, or is it because of society forcing the norm that girls must wear pink and sparkly clothing? It does sound like you thoroughly loved it so maybe that doesn’t apply to your case, but it does make me consider how this sort of situation would play out with other young girls. I also think it’s great you brought up that the store was divided by gender. Since you were so young, I feel like this might not have been something you considered at the time, but looking back at it now, how does that make you feel? For me, it’s upsetting that clothes are still being advertised to children like this as they are only clothes, and putting genders on certain clothing easily restricts children from discovering what they really enjoy and feel most comfortable in. I firmly believe gender shouldn’t play a role in that. Unfortunately that’s just the societal norm I guess.
Again thank you for such a cute story! I really enjoyed recalling my own memory 🙂