T-shirts labelling girls 'little and loved' and boys 'brave and strong' slammed as sexist on Twitter

Buying clothes for your child should be a fun (and hopefully stress-free) process, but it seems like more and more often we're seeing an unfair difference between boys' and girls' clothes.

Sainsbury's are the latest store to come under fire from parents, after a picture comparing what they've labelled sexist messages on boys' and girls' t-shirts was shared on Twitter.

Henry Mace spotted the two offending t-shirts during a trip to Sainsbury's. While the boys' top said 'Brave and Strong', the girls' top had the words 'Little and Loved' written across the front.

After posting the image to Twitter, many users were also outraged, with many pointing out that clothing shouldn't tell children they have to have certain characteristics based on their gender. Girls can be brave and strong, while boys can be little and loved.

One user said: 'Roll on the day when you can be strong and loved. Stereotypes hurt boys and girls, tho in different ways'.

Some even suggested children's clothing doesn't really need to be split up based on gender at all, especially for young children. One user added: 'at young age clothing really could be interchangeable between sexes, removing need for 'boys' + 'girls' sections'.

Some argued that if parents were upset with the slogans, they should just let their child wear either t-shirt, regardless of whether they're a girl or a boy. Others agreed that parents shouldn't feel forced to buy a t-shirt promoting stereotypes based on their child's gender.

However, one Twitter user made the point that it's the fact clothes telling children to be 'loved' or 'brave' are specifically targeted to children depending on their gender.

They said: 'Nothing. The problem is their separate marketing by @sainsburys for boys or girls exclusively, not their existence'.

Sainsbury's has since responded to the complaint. A spokesperson for the supermarket told Mashable: 'These T-shirts are very popular with our customers and we always welcome their feedback.

'We offer a wide range of clothing and it certainly wasn't our intention to cause any offence'.