海角大神

It鈥檚 a familiar story:听A mom, shopping for clothing for her two-year-old听daughter, sees听nothing but听gender-stereotypical offerings.听To give her little girl some听diverse choices,听she ignores the girls鈥� and boys鈥� signs, and buys a few items from听each听诲别辫补谤迟尘别苍迟.

I remember my mom doing this for me in the 1980s, in order to get me a shirt with my beloved Mickey Mouse on it (which for some reason was听only available in the boys鈥� section).

I remember moms doing this for the little girls I interviewed for听my ""听book around 2005, in order to get their daughters science-themed shirts.

And I have been doing this for my own sons听since 2008, seeking out听non-stereotypical options听in both departments 鈥� with favorite finds including a cute bomber jacket听and an epic black-and-white print Madonna 鈥淲ho鈥檚 That Girl 1987 World Tour鈥� t-shirt, which my son rocked at age three.听Both were in the girls鈥� department,听rather than the boys鈥�, even though they struck me as delightful gender-neutral items.

But Rebecca Melsky,听听听听听听听听听before her, went one step further: After a听fatefully frustrating shopping trip for her two-year-old in 2013, Ms. Melsky听and听her friend Eva St. Clair decided to do something. In the same spirit as听their听entrepreneurial predecessors who created t-shirts, books, and dolls, Melsky and Ms. St. Clair took on a different challenge: girls鈥� dresses.

The听dresses they designed听break the pink frilly dress mold with aplomb, featuring听equal parts style听and cleverness.

In this way, Princess Awesome 鈥� a small, indie, mom-owned business 鈥� was born.听Two years passed, and Melsky and St. Clair could not keep up with demand: People wanted more of their well-designed, colorful dresses听than they could sew. So, on February 3, 2015, Princess Awesome launched a month-long听听to move their brand into factory production,听with a goal of raising $35,000.

Kickstarter tells its campaigners that when they receive one-third of their funding in three days, that鈥檚 a good predictor of success.

Consider the significance, then, of the fact that Princess Awesome was听fully funded听in three days鈥攁nd that now, 14 days later, they鈥檙e surpassed the $125,000 mark.听

In the meantime, their incredible designs have gone viral. They鈥檝e been featured everywhere from the听to听, and when I shared their campaign with听听on the day their Kickstarter launched, my readers听reacted with palpable excitement.

鈥淥MG, my girls would have LOVED this!鈥� one mom said. 鈥淲e did ballet dancers and fairies, but that was about as far as anyone could stand鈥攁nd only in bed sheets.鈥�

鈥淵es!鈥� exclaimed another. 鈥淚 know my LO would love a dinosaur dress.鈥�

鈥淚 like cute pink dresses for little girls but I also like options,鈥� noted another. 鈥淐an鈥檛 wait to buy these one day when I have a daughter too.鈥�

Even Brenda Chapman, director of Disney/Pixar鈥檚 "Brave" weighed in: 鈥淎 kickstarter I think all princesses could get behind! Thanks for sharing, Rebecca Hains!鈥�

Melsky and St. Clair are delighted and perhaps a bit surprised to see that they鈥檝e stuck a chord with so many people. 鈥淲hen we were just starting out and told people our concept for Princess Awesome, almost every single person said, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 a fantastic idea!鈥�,鈥� Melsky reflects. 鈥淲e figured that when we launched the Kickstarter we鈥檇 find out if people were just humoring us or if we鈥檇 really hit a nerve. I鈥檓 pretty sure at this point we can say that people weren鈥檛 just humoring us.

鈥淥ur Kickstarter message inbox is filled with people telling us about their daughters who love all sorts of things鈥攖utus, trucks, Ninja Turtles, math, dinosaurs,鈥� she adds.听鈥淭hey keep saying听how happy they are to have some dress choices that honor that range of interests.鈥�

The public鈥檚听enthusiastic response to the Princess Awesome dresses raises an interesting question: Why are people so excited about this option鈥攁nd why now?

From my perspective, the groundswell of support for听Princess Awesome tells us something important about our current cultural context. Today鈥檚 girls face a strikingly monochromatic girlhood. As I explain in my book "," the dominance of pink frilly dresses and other stereotypically pink products exploits听a developmental stage called 鈥�.鈥�

During this stage, about two-thirds of听little girls 鈥� unsure what makes boys boys or girls girls, and unsure of the permanence of their sex, and therefore a little nervous about whether using 鈥渂oys'鈥� items could听turn them into boys 鈥撎�attach themselves to the most stereotypically girlish items they can find. In so doing, they are announcing to the world that听they are girls听and proud of听it, as听they celebrate听and cement their identities听as girls.听

Marketers know this, and so girls鈥� products in all categories, from apparel to toys to home goods, have become听dominated听by the color pink. After all, the color pink is like low-hanging fruit: It鈥檚 an easy and lazy way for marketers to declare, 鈥淗ey, girls, this is for you!鈥�

Unfortunately, monochromatic girlhood drives a wedge between boys and girls 鈥� separating their spheres during a time when cross-sex play is healthy and desirable, and when their imaginations should run free.

Meanwhile, marketers (and some critics of the girl empowerment movement) blame parents for the听very situation the听marketers themselves听have created. If parents would vote with their dollars听and听stop buying stereotypical items and听boycott the pinkification of previously gender-neutral items (like听听and听听and听), they say, the marketplace would respond.听Then, and only then, girls will听have real听choices once again.

Many indie clothing brands and their supporters听have heeded these听words,听fighting back against monochromatic girlhood and the stereotypical听division of听the sexes by听creating clever unisex items, like t-shirts in colors and designs that are meant for boys and girls alike.

But thanks to the developmental phase I mentioned earlier, many little girls favor dresses over t-shirts听(and many parents do, too). After all, a dress听announces to the world that its wearer is a girl, which means that by wearing a dress, girls can celebrate girlhood. Plus, dresses are undeniably听pretty, and fun to twirl in 鈥� and play dress like those offered by Princess Awesome are easy to move and run in, and look nice with leggings, too. For some families, then, gender-neutral tee-shirts don鈥檛 always听fit the bill,听and they鈥檙e not always that easy to find, either. Parents need to have a bit of cultural capital to locate indie brands in the first place.

Princess Awesome听is arguably the first serious alternative to stereotypically girly-girl dresses to enter the marketplace in recent years.听Given parents鈥櫶齣ncreasing frustration with princess culture and girls鈥� constricted, stereotypical, pink-upon-pink 鈥渙ptions,鈥� Princess Awesome鈥檚听timing is perfect. Perhaps it鈥檚 even the harbinger of a new zeitgeist.

Lori Day, a psychologist and educational consultant who authored "," agrees. 鈥淚 think one of the reasons Princess Awesome is hitting it right now is that in today鈥檚听girl culture, we听have a spectrum with much-needed brands like听听on one end 鈥� featuring clothes for girls who want nothing to do with dresses or girly. On the other end听is听the super girly-girl style 鈥� all pink and Disney gowns,鈥� she explains.

鈥淏ut,鈥� Ms. Day听adds, 鈥渢he middle is a popular place to be right now. Think of how many moms say, 鈥楳y daughter is girly and likes to wear dresses听and听collect bugs,鈥� 听or 鈥楳y girl plays in the mud in her Belle gown.鈥櫶齈rincess Awesome taps right into the 鈥榤y daughter likes princess听补苍诲鈥�鈥樚齝oncept:听girly dresses with neutral or traditionally 鈥榤ale鈥� themes in the fabric.鈥�

In short, the听Princess Awesome Kickstarter听campaign has gone viral听because听there is indeed听an unmet need for clever, non-stereotypical, vibrantly colored听little girls鈥� dresses听in the marketplace. They听juxtapose听stereotypically boyish themes with traditionally听girlish stylings 鈥� which some readers may recall as听the formula听that led听.

Princess Awesome鈥檚听traction may be read as a听cultural referendum on the relentlessly monochromatic girly girl culture we鈥檝e lived with听for more than a听decade 鈥� a signal that we鈥檙e approaching听a cultural tipping point on the subject. And that鈥檚 a good thing.

海角大神 has assembled a diverse group of the best family and parenting bloggers out there. Our contributing and guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor, and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. Rebecca Hains blogs at听.