Designers of kids' swimwear: my boy doesn't need to be 'masculine' in water

COMMENT: " I don’t need to send signals that’s my toddler's an ocean beast, I need to keep my eyes on the bugger! This is an alarming safety issue." 

I don’t know who the designers are that need to hear this but if you make boys swimwear more colourful, nothing bad will happen.

You won’t magically turn the boys of gen alpha soft if you include some colours on their swimmers.

In fact, a little pink or orange might just save their life!

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Give a boy mum a break!

It’s no secret that the big brands are still wildly stereotyping children with the gendered clothing they offer on the racks in the boys and girls sections.

It’s hard enough to shop for regular boys' play clothes among the racks of boring colours and competitive slogans.

It’s especially annoying when you compare them with the brightly coloured clothes in the girls section with their shiny fabrics and uplifting sentiments. (Although I’m not sure what ‘cutie’ is meant to inspire in anyone.)

But the differences in little boys and girls swimwear are a bigger problem than just boys being encouraged to get ‘ready, steady race!’ while girls are simply given limp affirmations like ‘happy vibes’.

This is actually a safety issue. 

Image: TikTok/ angusthelabel

It’s the strangest thing to walk through the shops and compare the colour tone of the swimwear in the boys' section to the bathers for girls. 

Upon looking you’ll notice the girls get ice creams and cute multicoloured mermaid patterns with lots of bright colours like pink, orange and yellow.

But in the boys section it’s just a sea of blue.

Aka the same colour as water.

Sure there’s the occasional burst of red but is that enough to spot a drowning child in water?

Because the advice is warning against blue swimmers for everyone.

Image: TikTok/ angusthelabel

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Who says blue is masculine anyway? 

Are we really so worried about boys looking ‘girly’ we’re going to send them to the beach and pool blending in with the colour of the tide?

I love that there’s long sleeves and long shorts for sun protection but there’s not much use to identify a child if they’re invisible in the water.

And no I’m not placated with the open mouthed shark you’ve placed over the crotch area of their boardshorts.

I don’t need to send signals that’s my toddler's a beast of the ocean, I need to keep my eyes on the bugger!

Because if you’ve ever seen a chart of colour visibility in water you’ll know that blue is the most difficult colour to see in any body of water.

Yellow, orange, pink, purple and red are the best colours for pool swimming while lake swimmers should opt for orange and yellow for optimal visibility.

Blue and green are plain difficult to see in pool water and almost impossible in a lake.

What parent would rather their son appear masculine than be safe swimming?!

Who says blue is masculine anyway?!  

"We only saw his bright orange shorts"

After taking my swimwear beef to my TikTok in a series of rants, many parents agreed with me. 

"Ugh I have been looking everywhere for more colourful togs!" said one viewer.

"My son was knocked over by a wave recently and the only thing that we could see was his bright orange shorts," shared another.

"Thank goodness for them because if it were just his blue rash vest we wouldn’t have been able to spot him as fast to pull him up."

"I’d be tempted to buy multicoloured swimmers from the girls section if it weren’t for the high cut bottoms, my kid doesn’t need his bum cheeks on display," added one another frustrated mum.

Which brings up a good point because with the high cut bottoms and spaghetti straps on the girls bathers are a safety issue too.

One sun safe Mum has lamented "I can’t with the spaghetti straps anymore! My daughters are on the beach playing for hours in the summer- they need sleeves!"

“It’s the shirts that really get me," said another Mum "why are the girls shorts so short?"

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All in all, I think we're just are over it.

Sun safety and water safety are massive issues for adventuring parents this summer, and when it comes to keeping our family safe we need all the help we can get!

In 2025 I would really think that we could prioritise safety ahead of gender norms.

For more information on swimming safety see: raisingchildren.net.au

Originally published as Designers of kids' swimwear: my boy doesn't need to be 'masculine' in water