Early Learning Centre apologises and changes website in response to complaints about sexist language

Finally, here is the follow up post I promised after the brief one I e-mailed earlier.

I am delighted to report that, after Jennie, I and others encouraged our readers to complain to the Early Learning Centre regarding the wording on their website which suggested that girls should dress up in nurses' outfits while the doctors' ones were for boys, the relevant section has changed from this:

"For the little princess in the family we have great feminine outfits like Butterfly Fairy, Sleeping Beauty, Ballerina and Nurse’s uniform. Why not add a medical case for that extra touch of authenticity.

The boys are catered for too, with great Doctor, Policeman & Fireman uniforms, not to mention fantastic Pirate and Knight costumes"

to this:

"The whole world is a stage and we have an incredible line-up of classic children’s dressing up outfits that your little ones will love. ELC stock a great range of activity toys for babies including sensory ball pits, play mats, baby gyms and baby ride on toys to ensure your child can learn to move, play and develop in a safe and happy environment.

Our children’s costumes and outfits are perfect for fancy dress parties or for that all-important performance, be it at home or in the school play. Dressing up encourages your child to express themselves in a fun and educational way, serving to increase their long-term confidence."

This is the text of the e-mail I received earlier:

Dear Caron Lindsay,                                              

                                         

Thank you for your e-mail to our customer service team.

Following our previous response to your original email regarding the content on our website about our dressing up and role play outfits, we would like to add the following,

We apologise for the inappropriate wording that was placed on dressing up product page, it is certainly not our intention to promote stereotyping and we fully appreciate this does not represent our brand values. At Early Learning Centre we pride ourselves on offering a huge range of toys and in an assortment of colours for customers to choose from and our photography throughout our website and catalogue features boys ironing, girls playing with space aliens, boys playing with dolls, boys cooking and pushing buggies, girls building and playing with remote control insects.

As a direct result of your feedback we immediately removed the text concerned from the website regarding the dressing up outfits and would like to thank you for bringing this to our attention.

We are extremely sorry for any disappointment or upset caused. I hope this information is of help and I have gone some way to restoring your faith in the Early Learning Centre.   

This is good news and it just goes to show that it is worth complaining because sometimes these companies will listen. I really appreciate the fact that several people I know of complained to the Early Learning Centre as a result of reading the post here and that will be the same for the other bloggers who brought it up.