Gender-neutral children’s bedrooms are one of the hottest decorating trends of the year, Pinterest said. Are unicorns, princesses and superheroes still welcome in the lair of the new generation?
“To use the terms“ non-gender ”,“ neutral ”or“ mixed ”to describe decorative themes or colors, it is already to assume that they belong to a defined genre, affirms Lucie Dominguez, who welcomed her two babies. – a boy and a girl now aged 6 and 3 – with white walls. It was when they were old enough to choose what they liked that it became clear. ”
His son, Timothy, then wanted a floral blanket with fillies, a dinette and construction toys. Violette was more interested in a play mat decorated with cars. “I believe it is our responsibility to provide our children with the freedom to choose. If their room already tells them what they should be as a girl or a boy, they are deprived of an opportunity to evolve towards all the options available to them, ”adds the mother.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Lucie Dominguez with her children Timothée (6 years old) and Violette (3 years old) in Timothée and Violette’s room,
This desire to create non-binary decorations for children has been expressed for some time in trends, but with all the more conviction since the pandemic, according to interior designer Caroline Simon. “After spending a year with the children at home, parents have clear expectations about the furniture, toys and other products they want to put in the lives of their little ones. And one of their considerations is to integrate more inclusive concepts. ”
Pink hasn’t always been feminine
Pink is clearly not attributed to girls until the second half of the 20th century.e century, observes Olivier Vallerand, assistant professor at the School of Design of the University of Montreal. Easy to wash and bleach, white tints baby’s keychains until then. Pastel tones are added to it, the softness of which is deemed appropriate for all infants. The symbolic universe that accompanies the genres is nonetheless split: strength, movement and intensity on the male side; sweetness and reverie for girls. Pink, derived from a strong color, red, falls into one camp or the other, depending on whether it is perceived to be fiery or romantic.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
At 6 and a half, Timothée likes to dress up. He is also interested in fillies, his dinette, geography, dolls and construction games. However, some of these interests are starting to fade away: some toys are for girls, others for boys, he realized as soon as he entered elementary school.
The economic boom that accompanies the post-war period engenders greater consumer power, spurred by a booming advertising industry. The idea of decorating your baby’s room is gaining ground, as is the idea of dissociating the universes according to gender. “If a family has a guy and a girl, it makes you buy twice,” emphasizes Olivier Vallerand, who is interested in the interaction between genres and interior design.
The feminist movement of the 1970s challenged certain stereotypes, but the arrival of ultrasounds in the 1980s meant that we now had time to prepare, decorate and buy according to the sex of the baby, especially since families are now fewer. “Today, the two approaches coexist, estimates the teacher: on the one hand, we do not want the child to be marked by a construction of gender, but in fact, it is something else. Parties to reveal the sex of the baby using blue or powder pink as symbols are more popular than ever. ”
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
“What I liked most about the baby’s room was the neutral,” says Sarah Lambert. She chose pale gray as the base color. There are also decals of forest animals.
Decorate without regard for sex
Amandine Gicquel, Sarah Lambert and Meggie Faust chose not to know the sex of their baby before birth: a way to keep a certain spontaneity in a clinical process in the case of the first two, which used assisted procreation. For Meggie Faust, already a mother of two, it was more about trying something else.
“I had a boy and a girl. I spoiled myself with them by exploring different themes based on gender, Meggie confides. For my third, I didn’t want to worry about it. I got what we had on hand. No frills, but cream walls and animals.
Amandine, she chose an exotic theme declined in shades of beige and yellow. “If I had known about sex before, it would have been the same thing,” said the latter.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY AMANDINE GICQUEL
Rather neutral overall, Amandine’s baby room was dressed in Polynesian fabrics with palm trees and tiare flowers, brought back from travel.
In all cases, the entourage noted practical considerations: “People asked us how we were going to decorate the baby’s room. As if they needed to justify the reason why they had decided to know the sex of theirs, ”notes Sarah Lambert, mother of a 2 month old boy and a 3 year old girl. “We made a similar set for both of them,” she says. When her little brother arrived, the eldest was given a new room that she wanted pink, with unicorns, even if she also appreciates dinosaurs.
The weight of others
PHOTO PROVIDED BY AMANDINE GICQUEL
Rather neutral in the beginning, the room of Amandine Gicquel’s son, now three and a half years old, has turned into a small jungle.
In California, a law signed on October 9 now imposes non-gendered toy shelves on state department stores, which will have to mix genres by 2024. “My son observed that there are demarcated shelves for boys and girls in the shops, ”notes Lucie Dominguez. Little Timothy now knows which way to head so as not to shuffle the cards, even if it is not the direction he would have spontaneously chosen.
Entering school also had an influence on Timothy who, from the very first days, had concluded that certain objects or interests belonged to universes reserved for boys or girls. “In one year of school, he has reviewed his choices and his tastes a lot,” notes his mother. Like any gregarious animal, it is very keen to conform to the dictates of the playground. The influence of the bedroom ultimately weighs very little in the society in which children live, she notes.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Although the pressure to conform to gender dictates is great in the schoolyard, friends who come to visit Timothy don’t seem embarrassed by his choice of toy or decoration at home, observes his mother.
“It’s hard for us to see him change his identity to conform to something artificial and superficial,” says Lucie. It is certain that there will be an influence on our part, because we are his models, but his choices belong to him. A child should not be a standard bearer of the convictions of the parents. And even his if he doesn’t want to. “