These girls are breaking out of the pink aisle, and they'd really like more adults to try and keep up.
SheKnows, a women's lifestyle media platform, sat down with a group of teens and tweens to talk about the rise of "femvertising," an increasingly popular form of female-geared marketing that doesn't rely on gender stereotypes to sell products. For the girls who spoke with SheKnows, this change can't come soon enough.
"You don't have to have pink toys if you're a girl... That was the olden days. Now it's 2014. Catch up, people," one of the girls said in her interview.
All the girls seemed to have a clear understanding of the delineation between "boy toys" and "girl toys," and many argued that the divide shouldn't exist at all.
But the kids' concerns weren't limited to gender roles in the toy store. They also tackled a range of topics -- from the effect of Photoshopped models on teens' self-esteem, to how female characters are portrayed in Hollywood movies.
SheKnows released its video of the interviews Sept. 30, ahead of its Oct. 2 Advertising Week panel in New York City. The panel, which focused on femvertising, argued that pro-female advertising is not only the right choice for girls, but also the smart choice for advertisers.
Even with SheKnows trying to nudge advertisers in a different direction, it's clear that the girls interviewed for the company's video aren't going to wait around for adults to get on their level. They might be young, but they're already pretty well-versed in the challenges facing them and are willing to speak up for themselves.
When the girls were shown Always' viral "Like A Girl" femvertising video, they had an immediate response to the idea that doing something "like a girl" means doing it badly.
"You say I run like a girl? Well, I run like a girl because I am amazing. I run like a girl because I run fast," one of the interviewees exclaims with evident pride.
Rock on.
