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Candace Granberg, M.D. is a Pediatric Urologist in Rochester, Minnesota who works for the prestigious Mayo Clinic and is quite the athlete herself, having appeared a few years ago on the TV show American Ninja Warrior.
Dr. Granberg is also a mother of two daughters and recently while shopping in a sporting goods store with her 10-year-old, the young girl noticed some interesting contrasts in the advertising and marketing of boys and girls workout apparel.
As you’ll see in the eye-opening Twitter thread below, the boy models were typically in the middle of actions on the sporting fields or courts while the girls were primarily posed, bringing up the question the young daughter asked, “Why aren’t the girls doing anything?”
As the father of three daughters and two step-daughters myself, I frankly never noticed the discrepancies of marketing between the two genders but it is stunning the differences in the way the two sexes are presented here.
It raised the issue: is this part of a bigger, more global approach that we haven’t noticed as a community? Are we sending subliminal messages to our daughters–yes, even our softball-playing super-achievers–that boys are the athletes who play good while girls are the ones who should focus more on looking good?
I’d encourage you to click on the Twitter thread below and check out many of the comments which are a equally enlightening.
What do YOU think, softball player, coach, family member or fan… is this a problem in our sport and/or our society? Email me your thoughts, would love to hear what you have to say!
— Brentt Eads, Extra Inning Softball
[email protected]
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Sustainable sexism – a thread…
My 10yo daughter needed shoes. In the sporting goods store, she asked, “Mom, why do they only have pictures of girls stretching or posing, but the boys are doing something athletic?” 🤔
Truthfully, I hadn’t noticed. So I looked around. 1/ pic.twitter.com/viXalAiFBC— Candace Granberg, MD (@candacegranberg) July 31, 2020
…and another – fixing her hair… @brooksrunning 3/ pic.twitter.com/MOsytygw47
— Candace Granberg, MD (@candacegranberg) July 31, 2020
Why is she just adjusting her hand wraps (posing), while he is kicking (active)? @Everlast_ 5/ pic.twitter.com/UWoUF6nxx8
— Candace Granberg, MD (@candacegranberg) July 31, 2020
“Mom, WHY AREN’T THE GIRLS EVER DOING ANYTHING??!” @ChampionUSA 7/ pic.twitter.com/2lJV1dXELf
— Candace Granberg, MD (@candacegranberg) July 31, 2020
So I told her I would speak up. @SCHEELS I’m sure your PR team thinks they know what we want to see (so we spend 💵 – I get it). But please consider what kids (esp GIRLS) want to see, too. My badass daughter can throw a spiral 🏈, serve a 🏐, drill a 🥎, 🏃♀️, 🏌️♀️, swish a 🏀… 9/ pic.twitter.com/YlpGMtzFhg
— Candace Granberg, MD (@candacegranberg) July 31, 2020
So, @scheels @Nike @UnderArmour @Everlast_ @ChampionUSA take note of this thread. We don’t pose in this family. We play. And I’ll role model the crap out of my life to show my daughter that girls can do anything. 💪
Consider changing your store ads. Effect change. Stop sexism. pic.twitter.com/NbXF2Ca41o— Candace Granberg, MD (@candacegranberg) July 31, 2020