男孩也能穿洋裝！英百貨推中性童裝引發熱議
John Lewis, one of Britain’s legendary high-end department stores, is caught in the middle of a gender war after it became the first UK retailer to remove gender-specific labels from its children’s clothing.
英國老牌高級百貨公司約翰路易斯最近因為成為英國第一家移除童裝性別標籤的零售商，而陷入一場性別的戰爭。
be caught in the middle夾在中間;左右為難gender-specific(adj.)有特定性別的
The department store chain has scrapped “girls” and “boys” labels from its brand of children’s clothing and introduced non-gender specific tags that say “boys & girls” or “girls & boys” for all items.
約翰路易斯已將「女孩」和「男孩」的標示從自家品牌的童裝上移除，改用沒有標註特定性別的標籤代替，上面寫著「男童與女童」或「女童與男童」字樣。
scrap(v.)放棄;取消=abandon
In line with the change, the retailer has done away with separate sections for boys and girls and launched a unisex clothing line for children.
順應這個改變，約翰路易斯停止劃分男女童裝區，同時推出中性童裝系列。
in line with~與...一致do away with~廢除;拋棄=get rid of~=eliminateunisex(adj)不分性別的、中性的=gender-neutral
Caroline Bettis, the head of children’s wear at John Lewis, said the move toward gender neutrality at its stores is aimed at overcoming gender stereotypes.
約翰路易斯童裝部主管凱若琳貝蒂斯表示，約翰路易斯朝中性化邁進是為了克服性別刻板印象。
neutrality(n.)中立狀態be aimed at~以…為目標;旨在=be targeted at…stereotype(n.)刻板印象、成見
“We do not want to reinforce gender stereotypes within our John Lewis collections and instead we want to provide greater choice and variety to our customers, so that parents or children can choose what they would like to wear,” she said.
「我們不想要用約翰路易斯的服裝來強化性別刻板印象，而是希望為顧客提供更多選擇和多樣性，讓家長或孩子可以選擇他們想要穿的衣服。」
reinforce(v.)強化=enhance=strengthen
Let Clothes be Clothes, a national parents group calling for gender-neutral clothing, praised the change and said it was “fantastic news”.
宣揚中性服飾的英國家長團體「讓衣服只是衣服」肯定約翰路易斯的改變，表示這是個「很棒的消息」。
call for~呼籲=campaign for~gender-neutral(adj.)中性的
“Higher-end, independent clothing retailers have been more proactive at creating gender-neutral collections, but we hope unisex ranges will filter down to all price points. We still see many of the supermarkets, for example, using stereotypical slogans on their clothing,” it added.
該團體表示：「較高檔的獨立服裝零售商比較積極創造中性的服裝系列，但我們希望各種價位的廠商都能夠陸續推出中性系列。比如說我們還是可以見到許多超市在販售上面寫有刻板印象標語的衣服。」
high-end(adj.)高檔的proactive(adj.)積極主動的filter down慢慢擴散;蔓延stereotypical(adj.)刻板印象的
Many retailers have been criticized for selling sexist children’s clothes.
有許多零售商曾因為販賣性別歧視的童裝而遭到批評。
sexist(adj.)性別歧視的
Gap, for example, came under fire last year for referring to girls as “social butterflies” and boys as “little scholars” in an advertisement.
例如Gap去年曾在廣告中稱女孩為「交際花」，卻把小男孩稱為「小小學者」。
refer to A as B把…稱為…
However, not everyone supports the idea of gender-neutral clothing for children.
然而，並非每個人都支持中性童裝的概念。
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said that the move could be very confusing for parents. “I wonder how many parents going to John Lewis will be looking to buy a dress for their 6-year-old boy?”
英國保守黨國會議員布里禎表示，這個作法可能會讓家長們感到非常困惑。「我好奇有多少父母會去約翰路易斯買洋裝給他們6歲的兒子？」