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Society has been determining how males and females should be defined from a very young age. In fact, it starts when they are in the womb. A mother will go shopping for the boy or girl she is expecting, or someone will go shopping for her baby shower.
Clothes are probably the most popular gifts. If one knows the sex of the baby, then it should not be too hard to pick an outfit or two. The baby clothes that department stores carry almost make the choice for you. And, subliminally, they make the choice of how that child, whether boy or girl should be seen, should look and should act, if not for the majority of their life, then at least the beginning stages of it. And society adheres to this standard idea without batting an eye.
Take a well-known department store like Macys for instance. Immediately, upon entering their infant/toddler section, one notices a clear division among the clothes for boys and the clothes for girls. Color is a common idea that divides
The thought that a girl should wear pink and a boy should wear blue is very evident. Most of the colors for boys are darker, or there are a lot of stripes, or sport motifs. Meanwhile, girls clothing often comes in pastels, polka-dots or flowers. There is the exception, though- white and yellow. Apparently the two colors can be worn by either a boy or a girl, so perhaps those colors could be called ambiguous, or unisex? But the exceptions are few and far between. Predominantly, the gender of ones child is spelled out loud and clear.
If it is not the color of the garments being sold, then the materials or the styles of clothing spell out the gender of a child. For instance, boys clothing is often of a sturdier material, like nylon or a similar material that can withstand rough play or getting dirtied up. Whereas girls clothing is usually of a daintier material with a great deal of lace and bows and ribbons- very pretty and not something one would want to ruin or dirty. Those lace and bows are usually the trimmings on a very cute little dress. This suggests that boys should be rough and active, while girls should be delicate and more demure.
In wearing certain clothes, one does adhere to a silent set of rules governing a certain