One frustrated mother revealed how her 8-year-old’s class handed out genders-specific masks at school — where girls were given pink masks and boys, blue.
In a tweet posted by Dr. Catherine Lebel of Alberta, Canada, the masks were supposedly issued by the Canadian provincial government for schools to hand out and designed by Old Navy.
While speaking with HuffPost Canada, the mom recalled how “she noticed girls were given one type and boys were given another.”
On Tuesday, Lebel posted a photo of the masks on her Twitter page. The mom went on to explain in her tweet how her daughter came home “irritated” about the color-specific “girl masks” and “boy masks” that were distributed to her class.
“I think it’s really stupid that this happened. They’re just masks,” the mom told HuffPost Canada.
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The “girl masks” featured hearts and lipstick marks on them while the “boy masks” were blue and gray.
After posting the photo online, she received over 11,000 likes from her tweet and many people agreed kids should not be given the gender-specific masks in 2020.
“Masks distributed in and by schools should absolutely have learning themes on them, in primary colours (or black and white) and let kids choose the ones they want,” one person commented.
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While another said: “The lipsticked mouths on here make me sick! These are for girls? What about putting on chemical elements or prime numbers? Make them all green with trees or grass or the ocean? Systemic racism meet gender stereotypes.”
A representative for the municipal school district then shared a statement with the Mirror, stating:
“The masks came in a wide variety of colours and patterns from Old Navy and IFR Workwear, and our government had absolutely zero input in deciding which colours were sent. If parents do not like the specific provided masks, they are free to take their concerns to their local schools or purchase other masks.”
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