Mom Calls Out Kmart for Shirts 'Telling Girls How to Act' in Viral TikTok

An Australian mom is calling out Kmart for what she believes are unfair designs in the girls' clothing section.

As reported by News.com.au, Barbara Bryan's now-viral TikTok highlights the vast differences between children's clothing gendered for girls versus boys.

"What are we doing to our girls?" reads the video's on-screen text.

Bryan, known on TikTok as @letsgoaussie, films the store's stacks of girls' shirts, featuring phrases like "A Whole Lotta Love," "Bright as Can Be," and "Take it Easy."

"Why are we telling girls how to feel via their clothing?" she asks. "They see...shirts telling them how to act—be happy, love, be perfect."

Bryan then takes her camera into the boys' section, revealing a stark contrast. The boys' shirts have more minimal designs and say things like "Adventure" and "Alpine Trail."

"These shirts encourage boldness, adventure, fun," she says. She says sees "no shirts telling them how they should feel or behave."

The TikTok has been viewed over 750,000 times since it was first posted two days ago, and the responses to Bryan's claim have been mixed, to say the least.

Countless commenters have expressed disagreement with Bryan's point, instead arguing that the issue simply isn't that "deep."

"I think you should take a chill pill," wrote one TikTok user.

Another commenter argued that it was simply an issue of "supply and demand."

"They design what people want to buy for their kids," they said.

Echoing that point, others said that Bryan was "reaching" or that her claim was a "stretch." Several more tell Bryan that, if she has an issue with the girls' offerings, she should simply shop for her child "from the boys' section" instead.

However, many backed Bryan up, citing a mix of personal experiences and sociology and marketing knowledge.

One user, for example, called the situation "a lesson on social conditioning."

"To the people saying that this is a 'stretch' or 'over dramatic'—this type of marketing is actually heavily studied and contributes to socialization," wrote another.

One TikToker added that they "always hated girls' clothing for this exact reason."

That being said, some see the issue of so-called girls' versus boys' clothing as requiring a more expansive solution: abolishing gendered clothing items for children entirely. "We should just let kids wear what they want. Not what is expected of them," wrote one commenter.

Another added that they are "waiting for Kmart to just have a 'kids' clothes section instead of separating them."

"This would be great," responded Bryan.

Kmart has yet to address the controversy and it remains to be seen if their children's clothing items will change in the future.