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This hour-long PowerPoint presentation makes it easy to present the findings from AAUW's 2010 research report, Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. The presentation includes recent findings that point to environmental and social barriers - including stereotypes, gender bias, and the climate of science and engineering departments in colleges and universities - that continue to block women's participation and progress in STEM fields. Relevant for audiences interested in all levels of girls' STEM education and the workforce beyond, this presentation offers ideas for what each of us can do to more fully open math and science fields to girls and women.

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PowerPoint Presentation: Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (Long)

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This hour-long PowerPoint presentation makes it easy to present the findings from AAUW's 2010 research report, Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics . The presentation includes recent findings that point to environmental and social barriers - including stereotypes, gender bias, and the climate of science and engineering departments in colleges and universities - that continue to block women's participation and progress in STEM fields.

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I created GoldieBlox to be a toy and media company to disrupt the pink aisle and inspire future generations of female engineers.

I grew up in a small Rhode Island town and my parents' dream was for me to grow up and become an actress. My parents never bought me Legos or Lincoln Logs - being an engineer wasn't something I ever considered as a little girl. As a kid, I switched between wanting to be a lawyer or an artist when I grew up. It wasn't until my high school math teacher suggested I give engineering a try that I even considered it as a potential career. During my freshman year at Stanford, I fell in love with engineering.

I created GoldieBlox so that little girls can grow up with the toys and role models I wish I'd had.

"When I first began prototyping Goldie and building the GoldieBlox business, the toy industry wasn't receptive. Everyone I spoke to told me ... it wouldn't sell because boys like building and girls like dolls-and that you can't fight nature."

As a student at Stanford, I was always bothered by how few women were in my mechanical engineering program. After I graduated, I made it my mission to tackle the gender gap in science, technology, math and engineering. I spent a year studying how girls learn best, researching gender differences, talking with neuroscientists and observing children's play patterns. I read books about the female brain, met with science and math elementary school teachers and nonprofit educators who were doing programs to get kids interested in STEM.

From my research, I developed GoldieBlox, a series of interactive books and construction toys to leverage girls' advanced verbal skills to help develop and build self confidence in their spatial skills. The star of the books is Goldie, a curious girl with a love of engineering. As she goes on adventures with her friends, she comes across problems that she must solve by building simple machines. As the story unfolds, the girls get to build what Goldie builds, developing the spatial and problem-solving skills that are fundamental to engineering.

When I first began prototyping Goldie and building the GoldieBlox business, the toy industry wasn't receptive. Everyone I spoke to told me even though it was a noble cause, it would never go mainstream and it wouldn't sell because boys like building and girls like dolls - and that you can't fight nature.

I self-funded GoldieBlox for the first 9 months with my own life savings. Then, I raised a seed round from friends, family and angel investors using the videos I took of kids enjoying my prototypes. After that, I began to approach toy-store owners and industry veterans for advice, but they all rejected the idea, saying "construction toys for girls don't sell."

So, I turned to Kickstarter to crowdfund our first production run. I reached my goal of raising $150,000 in only 4 days. The Kickstarter video went viral and in only 3 months, I had raised almost $1 million in pre-orders for GoldieBlox.

In 2014, we won Intuit's "Small Business Big Game" promotion, which gave us a 30-second ad in the Super Bowl. One hundred million people saw GoldieBlox's message about empowering girls. It was incredible and incredibly validating that America voted for us and wanted us for their daughters. Immediately after the ad aired, the traffic on our website jumped and we've been able to turn that excitement into something greater for the company.

Getting over that conventional wisdom of "construction toys are only for boys" was a huge barrier at first and still continues to be a barrier. Construction toys are notorious for developing the spatial skills needed to excel in engineering and yet they are also notorious for being a part of the "boys club."

With GoldieBlox, we're creating stories with characters that break the stereotypes that toys for girls have to be about beauty, fashion and being a princess. Getting the word out about why it is important that girls get interested in STEM subjects is key.

Commentary by Debbie Sterling, the founder and CEO of GoldieBlox, a company that makes building-block-like toys aimed at girls. After graduating from Stanford with a degree in mechanical engineering and product design, Sterling was bothered by how few women were in her program and became obsessed with "disrupting the pink aisle" with a toy that would introduce girls to the joy of engineering at a young age. Follow her and her company on Twitter @debbieblox and @goldieblox.

For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter.

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I created GoldieBlox to be a toy and media company to disrupt the pink aisle and inspire future generations of female engineers. I grew up in a small Rhode Island town and my parents' dream was for me to grow up and become an actress.

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How do the messages we see and read affect our ideas, and self worth?

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What do little boys and girls dream of? Apparently vastly different things, according to a side-by-side look at the cover of two magazines.

A photo of a Girls' Life magazine next to a copy of Boys' Life has set the internet on fire, fueled by parents angered over suggestions that girls only care about fashion and hair while boys think about more substantial topics.

A business owner and mother of five took to Facebook to slam the Girls' Life editors for perpetuating gender stereotypes.

"Your cover has a lovely young lady with a full face of makeup and you invite your readers to 'steal her secrets,'" writes Shoshanna Keats-Jaskoll, the mother of two girls and three boys. "The Boys' Life cover has in bold letters: EXPLORE YOUR FUTURE surrounded by all kinds of awesome gear for different professions- doctor, explorer, pilot, chemist, engineer, etc. subheading - HERE'S HOW TO BE WHAT YOU WANT TO BE."

The image, which Keats-Jaskoll says originally came from a father who snapped the picture on a magazine rack at the local library, has since gone viral, with thousands of people reacting to the post, including one who commented, "It's like we're back in 1950." It also got a boost after the image was shared Tuesday by comedian Amy Schumer, who simply wrote "No" in her caption of the photo.

The post prompted one graphic artist to come up her own version of a Girls' Life cover, featuring topics she thought the magazine should cover, such as tips on healthy food, finding a dream career and preparing for AP exams.

"When I saw the below post I was just in frickin' shock. Can this be real? Is this photo fake? After googling current issues of these two magazines I found them to be real. I was just appalled," Katherine Young wrote on her blog.

The two magazines are not affiliated with each other. Boys' Life is not a usual newsstand magazine. Instead, it is the official trade magazine of the Boy Scouts of America and, while available to anyone by subscription, is provided to all Scouts as part of their annual dues.

Girls' Life, meanwhile, promises in its "about" page to provide "the stuff girls crave - real information and advice - from academic success to peer pressure to time-management and stress-relieving tips." It also promises its readers will "get real, honest advice. Parents can trust GL to guide their girls through the growing-up years - without making them grow up too fast."

But Keats-Jaskoll, in her Facebook post, reminds the magazine's editors of their power to change widespread perceptions of girls.

"You are women. Working, professional women. Is this the message you are proud of? Is this why you became publishers, writers, graphic designers?" she writes. "To tell girls they are the sum of their fashion, makeup and hair? You CAN fight the tide of objectification of girls. You CAN create covers and stories that treat girls as more than hair, lips, and kisses."

Karen Bokram, publisher and founding editor of Girls' Life, defended the magazine and said she felt no need to apologize for anything on its cover or on its pages inside.

"And it's probably beside the point that all of the haters who have contacted me admit they have never actually read ANY issue of Girls' Life, no less the one being slammed (as one snarkily said 'let me guess, you have all sorts of empowering articles on the inside.' Well, m'am, yes)," Bokram said on her Facebook page. "The only thing that mattered to them was the fact they could shame us for talking about hair, clothes, beauty and boys (and ignore whatever our actual magazine might contain)."

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Girls' Life vs. Boys' Life cover comparison leaves us shaking our heads

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What do little boys and girls dream of? Apparently vastly different things, according to a side-by-side look at the cover of two magazines. A photo of a Girls' Life magazine next to a copy of Boys' Life has set the internet on fire, fueled by parents angered over suggestions that girls only care about fashion and hair while boys think about more substantial topics.

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The Price of Blue and Pink - Gender Pricing Under Scrutiny | tutor2u Economics

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There has been a lot of coverage in the media in recent days about a cluster of surveys which appear to show evidence of gender-pricing for more or less identical products - in other words price discrimination.

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Radio Flyer sells a red scooter for boys and a pink scooter for girls. Both feature plastic handlebars, three wheels and a foot brake. Both weigh about five pounds.

The only significant difference is the price, a new report reveals. Target listed one for $24.99 and the other for $49.99.

The scooters' price gap isn't an anomaly. The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs compared nearly 800 products with female and male versions - meaning they were practically identical except for the gender-specific packaging - and uncovered a persistent surcharge for one of the sexes. Controlling for quality, items marketed to girls and women cost an average 7 percent more than similar products aimed at boys and men.

DCA Commissioner Julie Menin, who launched the investigation this summer, said the numbers show an insidious form of gender discrimination. Compounding the injustice, she said, is the wage gap. Federal data shows women in the United States earn about 79 cents for every dollar paid to men.

"It's a double whammy," Menin said, "and it's not just happening in New York. You see in the aisles the issue is clearly applicable to consumers across the country."

[What a creepy Bloomingdale's ad tells us about America's understanding of rape]

A Target spokesperson said the company lowered the price of the pink scooter after the report was released Friday, calling the discrepancy a "system error." (The retailer blamed the same kind of glitch last year after catching heat for selling black Barbies at more than double the price of white Barbies.)

When asked about the price differences of other gendered toys - like the Raskullz shark helmet ($14.99) and the Raskullz unicorn helmet ($27.99) or the Playmobil pirate ship ($24.99) and the Playmobil fairy queen ship ($37.99) - the representative pointed to a company statement, declining to elaborate: "Our competitive shop process ensures that we are competitively priced in local markets. A difference in price can be related to production costs or other factors."

Researchers for the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs pored over toys, children's clothing, adult apparel, personal care products and home goods sold in the city. The largest price discrepancy emerged in the hair care category: Women, on average, paid 48 percent more for goods like shampoo, conditioner and gel. Razor cartridges came in second place, costing female shoppers 11 percent more.

[Bye, bye, bananas]

Walgreens, for example, peddled a blue box of Schick Hydro 5 cartridges for $14.99. The Schick Hydro "Silk," its purple sibling, was priced at $18.49.

Across the New York sample, women's products carried higher price tags 42 percent of the time, while men's products cost more 18 percent of the time.

Boosting prices according to who's buying is nothing new. Hairdressers often charge women more. Nightclubs sometimes demand more cash from men for admission.

Price discrimination on the whole tends to be worse for women, though. A 1994 report from the State of California found they pay an annual "gender tax" of $1,351 for the same services rendered to men.
[VIDEO: Are men better at assembling Ikea furniture?]
Women spend an average of 25 percent more on haircuts (that require the same amount of labor as a men's style) and 27 percent more for the laundering of a white cotton shirt, a 2002 DCA study showed.

Another analysis from the University of Central Florida found women's deodorants typically cost 30 cents more than the same product for men. Wrote the authors,"The only discernible difference was scent."

The pricing differences extend beyond basic services and goods. Until courts knocked the practice down,insurance companies in Europe charged women more because women live longer. Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies in the United States cannot factor gender into cost.

New York City law has banned gender discrimination the pricing of services since 1998. Businesses cannot legally charge more for haircuts or dry cleaning, for example, based on the patron's sex. They must instead offer gender-neutral rates by labor intensity.

That doesn't mean local companies always follow the rules. DCA inspectors issued 129 violations for gender pricing of services this year, compared to 118 in 2014.

California and Florida's Miami-Dade County also prohibit selling the same services to men and women at different prices. No federal law, though, requires businesses to set gender-equal prices on products. New York City's report was released to heighten consumer awareness, Menin said, and to publicly shame companies with glaring disparities.

Of the 24 retailers in the New York City report, the worst gender pricing disparity surfaced at Club Monaco, where women's clothing cost an average of 28.9 percent more than men's clothing, according to an independent analysis by economist Ian Ayres. Urban Outfitters trailed with a 24.6 percent gender premium, followed by Levis with 24.3 percent.

The retailers did not respond to the Post's request for comment.

In 1991, Ayres, a professor at Yale Law School, sent men and women to car dealerships across the Chicago area. He learned female testers were charged significantly more than male testers. A white woman was asked to pay a 40 percent higher markup than the male testers, supporting the stereotype that dealers assume women knew less about car values. A black woman was asked to pay a markup three times higher.

Gender equality has improved considerably since Ayres's paper was published - so why do blatant price disparities persist today? "One contributing factor is profitability," he said. "You're pulling an extra dollar out of a certain group of consumers."

Companies might be exploiting the idea that female shoppers are willing to spend more money than their male counterparts, he said.

Of course, a woman's sweater might be crafted with nicer fabrics. A man's sweater might be stitched with cheaper polyester. But that often isn't the case. Frequently, the only difference between two products is color.

"Those prices aren't being driven by costs," Ayres said, "but just because you take advantage of certain groups but not others."

Ravi Dhar, director of the Center for Customer Insights at the Yale School of Management, said how we perceive "women's" products could help explain why gender markups persist in the marketplace.

"Many men's products are not seen as men's products," he said. "They might just be seen as products in the category."

Which makes the "pink" version a specialty product, he said. "His" and "hers" items likely stemmed from a retailer's embrace of gender stereotypes, but our appetites for personally tailored goods could have kept the distinction alive.

"People see a greater fit between the product and their tastes," Dhar said, "and may be willing to pay more."
More from Wonkblog: Why men get all the credit when they work with women What a creepy Bloomingdale's ad tells us about America's understanding of rape How Social Security penalizes working women *A misread of Ayres' findings has been corrected.

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Why you should always buy the men's version of almost anything

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Radio Flyer sells a red scooter for boys and a pink scooter for girls. Both feature plastic handlebars, three wheels and a foot brake. Both weigh about five pounds. The only significant difference is the price, a new report reveals. Target listed one for $24.99 and the other for $49.99.

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A woman named Sharon Choksi got so fed up with not being able to find clothes for her daughter that would not be short, tight and pastel, she decided to come up with her own clothing line. This is how in 2013 Girls Will Be was born - clothes that empower girls to do whatever the heck they want and celebrate their personality. "There is definitely more than one way to be a girl - and it doesn't have to always involve pink and sparkles," says the company's website.

Sharon Choksi got so fed up with not being able to find middle length shorts for her daughter...

She found out that compared to boy's clothes, girl's shorts are a third of the length

Choksi decided to start her own girl clothing line that allows them to be active and free

She started offering 'no girlie-girl' approach clothes that celebrate girls' personalities

Choksi says she got her inspiration from her daughter and niece, Maya and Grace

They wanted clothes that wouldn't be frilly, "nothing with bows" and absolutely "NO sparkles"

The girls were interested in "climbing trees, building LEGO creations, and playing with cars and trucks"

"There is definitely more than one way to be a girl - and it doesn't have to always involve pink and sparkles"

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This Mom Had Enough Of Seeing Only Short-Shorts For Girls, So She Came Up With A Brilliant Business Idea

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A woman named Sharon Choksi got so fed up with not being able to find clothes for her daughter that would not be short, tight and pastel, she decided to come up with her own clothing line. This is how in 2013 Girls Will Be was born - clothes that empower girls to do whatever the heck they want and celebrate their personality.

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There's nothing wrong with that, but shouldn't there be more options for girls?

The answer, according to 10 "mompreneurs" who have banded together, is an emphatic yes. Through their #ClothesWithoutLimits campaign, these mothers from around the country, many starting their businesses through Kickstarter, are hoping to raise awareness about the current limitations when it comes to clothing for girls and how clothing that bashes gender stereotypes can have an impact far beyond the outfits themselves.

"Clothes are such an expression of who we are and ... how we choose to go out into the world is so important," said Michele Yulo, one of the members of #ClothesWithoutLimits, who was inspired by her daughter, Gabi, now 10, to create Princess Free Zone back in 2009. Her company offers empowering T-shirts for girls emblazoned with images such as dinosaurs, hammers and soccer balls.

"I just believe that the more options (girls) have and they can see ... the less limitations they will perceive that they have."

Yulo has now gone a step further. When Gabi, who loves baseball, basketball and playing the violin, needs to dress up for a family occasion, her mom's had to buy suits or tuxedos that are made for boys. Dresses are not an option, said Yulo, and try finding a suit for girls at any major retailer. "Impossible," she says.

Determined to change that, Yulo recently launched a Kickstarter campaign for Suit Her, with the hope of raising $90,000 to begin offering three different lines of suits for girls 5 to 12. (I can barely contain my excitement that my daughter, who dreads wearing dresses, can buy a suit for her cousin's upcoming bat mitzvah.)

Yulo believes options such as suits that are made for and fit girls send a clear message to the girls buying them and the rest of us as well.

"Kids shouldn't have to be brave to wear the things they like," she said. "This goes back to ... why is retail so important because that is how people are looking at you. That's how they're sizing you up. That is where the labels come from."

'Girl clothes without the girly'

Like Yulo, Sharon Choksi has a daughter who couldn't find anything to wear in the girls' sections of stores and for years would buy everything she needed from the boys' department.

"When she was younger, we'd hear kids whisper innocently to their parents, 'Is that a boy or a girl?,' kids at school saying, 'Why are you wearing boys' clothes all the time?' " she said.

Her daughter wasn't really bothered by it, but Choksi, another member of #ClothesWithoutLimits, thought of all the other girls and their parents who eventually would get tired of the comments, lose interest in dinosaurs and spaceships, and wear more gender-accepted clothing.

So she and two of her siblings (Laura and David Burns) started Girls Will Be, which offers a range of T-shirts and shorts for active girls with images ranging from dinosaurs to spaceships to math equations. It's tagline is "Girl clothes without the girly." (Full disclosure: My older daughter will only wear shirts from Girls Will Be.)

"Over and over, the message every season in every store is so consistent that children start to internalize that and say, 'Oh, OK, the rough and tumble sports or the wildlife and creatures or the outer space, that's always over there in the boys' section, and the sparkly penguins and kittens and rainbows are in the girls' section," said Choksi, a mom of two.

"It's on top of the other messages that they see in toys, that they see in the media and movies and books ... and so by the time kids are 4 and 5, they're assimilating all this information and coming up with very strong opinions, specifically on the math and the science side," she said. "To be sending messages to one gender that that's really not for them is doing those kids a disservice."

For girls who love dresses and dinosaurs

Rebecca Melsky's story is markedly different from Choksi's and Yulo's. Her daughter, now 5, loves wearing dresses, but Melsky, also a member of the #ClothesWithoutLimits team, wondered why she could never find one with a dinosaur or a spaceship on it.

"I really wanted to be able to show her and help her understand and feel that she can like all sorts of things, and also like all sorts of traditionally feminine styles and that those things aren't mutually exclusive," she said.

So, back in April 2013, she and a friend, Eva St. Clair, started Princess Awesome, which offers dresses with motifs traditionally found on boys' clothing. At first, they started doing everything by hand, but based on the overwhelming response, earlier this year, they launched a Kickstarter campaign to move operations from their home and into factory production.

In all, they raised $215,000, blowing away the Kickstarter campaigns for previous children's wear.

"So many people have daughters or granddaughters or nieces or friends who are interested in our clothes for so many reasons," said Melsky. Some girls who don't like to wear dresses say these dresses speak to them. Other girls who like them are the ones who have been wondering why all the dinosaur clothes are on the boys' side, she said.

"Parents too ... want to encourage a love of math and science in their daughters and adventure and pirates and other things besides what is available," she said. "It's just wanting to show them all the options they can be."

The message that clothes send makes a difference, said Melsky.

"Kids, boys and girls, are sent a message when they walk through clothing stores or when they see what other kids are wearing and we think that ... by all of us doing our part, we can change that message and give kids more options."

The mothers behind #ClothesWithoutLimits say there are signs major retailers are slowly getting the message, with all the women I talked to pointing to Target's recent decision to move away from gender-based signage in some departments.

But still, there is a long way to go before girls and boys can find clothing that doesn't cater to gender stereotypes in most stores, they conceded.

"Their pink and sparkly for girls has sold well and does well and there are a lot of kids who like that style and it works for them, and that's fantastic, and it is always hard, I think, to be the first one to step out and say, 'Nope, times are changing and we are going to offer kids something different' for fear that it won't sell,' " said Choksi of Girls Will Be.

These women aren't doing this for the money, Yulo of the Suit Her line said. In fact, Yulo said she hasn't made a cent from her first endeavor, Princess Free Zone, and even had to sell her wedding ring to start the business six years ago.

"I don't think anybody's making a fortune off of this. I think that we're all authentically in it," she said.

They are driven by a passion to make life better for girls and boys, and a belief that their small companies can do more by working together than by competing.

"We all believe that the message that clothes send to kids matters and that we're all doing something about it and our voices could be louder together than they are just on their own," said Melsky of Princess Awesome.

What do you think of clothing that seeks to bash gender stereotypes for girls? Share your thoughts with Kelly Wallace on Twitter @kellywallacetv or CNN Parents on Facebook.

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fed up moms create their own clothing for girls  - cnn.com

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Fed up moms create their own clothing for girls

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There's nothing wrong with that, but shouldn't there be more options for girls? The answer, according to 10 "mompreneurs" who have banded together, is an emphatic yes.

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Gap Kids is being accused of spreading "sexist" messages over a U.K. ad that refers to boys as "scholars" and girls as "social butterflies."

The clothing retailer's ad features a girl wearing kitten ears and a logo sweater that will be "the talk of the playground." The boy is wearing a t-shirt featuring Albert Einstein's face and an image that calls graphic tees a "genius idea."

Critics slammed the ad for promoting gender stereotypes - and for spelling Einstein's last name incorrectly.

RELATED: 'Girls who love baseball are rare' shirt causes a stir

"Because all little girls want to do is be 'the talk of the playground.' Let's stop limiting children #girlsinSTEM," one person wrote on Twitter.

"Gap brand has always stood for individuality, optimism and creativity," said Liz Nunan, a Gap spokeswoman. "Our intentions have always been to celebrate every child and we did not intend to offend anyone."

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Critics slam Gap Kids over 'sexist' ad for shirts

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Gap Kids is being accused of spreading "sexist" messages over a U.K. ad that refers to boys as "scholars" and girls as "social butterflies." The clothing retailer's ad features a girl wearing kitten ears and a logo sweater that will be "the talk of the playground."

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Daisy Edmonds loves an adventure. So when the 8-year-old spotted the "desert adventure awaits" T-shirt with her mom at a British big-box store, she looked for one in a color she liked.

And that's when she started getting annoyed.

Courtesy of Becky Edmonds

She realized she had been going through racks of boys clothing that encouraged imagination and heroism. But the T-shirts for girls right next to them bore entirely different messages, ones about feeling "beautiful" and "fabulous."

"It's unfair, because everyone thinks that girls should just be pretty and boys should just be adventurous," Daisy tells her mother in a video she originally posted on Facebook that has since gone viral. "I think that is wrong. Why should boys and girls clothes even be separated, because we're just as good as each other."

RELATED: Critics slam Gap Kids for 'sexist' ad that calls boys 'scholars,' girls 'social butterflies'

Daisy points out one of the girls' shirts that simply says, "Hey," in pink-and-black block lettering.

"'Hey?' What is that even supposed to mean? I don't find that inspiring. What part of 'hey,' is great? I don't get it," she says, while wearing a martial arts uniform from the class she had just finished.

Courtesy of Becky Edmonds

Beck Edmonds said she recorded her daughter's observations on a recent Saturday morning as the two ducked inside a café at a Tesco superstore to kill time as one of Daisy's little sisters attended a birthday party.

RELATED: Girls' Life vs. Boys' Life cover comparison leaves us shaking our heads

The family lives far from relatives in Cotswold, a south central region of England, so Edmonds said she recorded Daisy's mild rant with the intent to post it on a Facebook page she created to help keep in touch with relatives.

"I put it online for my mum to watch because I thought it was funny, and I was proud of her for having an opinion, and the next thing we know, our local paper saw it," Edmonds told TODAY.

Courtesy of Becky Edmonds

Within a week, the video went viral. It now has more than 1.7 million views and nearly 19,000 shares.

RELATED: Target removing 'gender-based signage' for kids after complaints from parents

Edmonds, who has two other daughters, ages 6 and 2, said the family frequently talks about subjects that affect young girls, both domestically and around the world in more repressive nations.

"I certainly didn't tell her (Daisy) what to say, but we often do talk about subjects like body image and Photoshop and makeup and affection," she said.

All of her girls enjoy having their hair done and pretending with makeup, but they also understand "all that stuff is just really good fun, almost like costumes and dress up," said Edmonds, who noted that having daughters "made me notice casual sexism in a way that I've never ever noticed before I had kids."

Courtesy of Becky Edmonds

Edmonds said she reached out three times through Twitter to Tesco, the superstore she and her daughter were in, to get company feedback on Daisy's observations. She said the store failed to respond until after a local British reporter reached out to the company.

In a statement, the company said, "We stock a wide variety of clothes suitable for girls and boys and listen to the views of our customers when reviewing our range."

Edmonds said a representative also reached out to her family offering to send Daisy sample clothing to "assure her that new styles will be arriving stores shortly."

Responding to some social media critics, Edmonds acknowledged that potentially sexist or gender-specific marketing may not be as a significant problem such as war or world hunger.

"But I don't want my 8-year daughter going to bed at night crying about world poverty and human trafficking," she said. Instead, she's sticking with age-appropriate issues her daughter can understand.

"It just prepares them to be able to take on issues that actually matter when they're older and when they're capable of coping emotionally with them," she said. "The T-shirts may not really matter, but the question is, can you get little kids to look at something and say, 'Is it fair, or is it not fair? Is it just, or unjust? Because then, when it matters, they will know that their voice counts and that they are equipped to have an opinion."

Follow Eun Kyung Kim on Twitter or Facebook.

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Watch this 8-year-old explain what's wrong with most kids' clothing

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Daisy Edmonds loves an adventure. So when the 8-year-old spotted the "desert adventure awaits" T-shirt with her mom at a British big-box store, she looked for one in a color she liked. And that's when she started getting annoyed. She realized she had been going through racks of boys clothing that encouraged imagination and heroism.

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Pay attention, 2014 Mad Men: This little girl is holding a LEGO set. The LEGOs are not pink or "made for girls." She isn't even wearing pink. The copy is about "younger children" who "build for fun." Not just "girls" who build. ALL KIDS.

In an age when little girls and boys are treated as though they are two entirely different species by toy marketers, this 1981 ad for LEGO -- one of our favorite images ever -- issues an important reminder.

To contrast, here's an image of a LEGO Friends set -- a line made specifically for girls that has been scrutinized since its launch in 2011:

The advertisements for LEGO Friends, too, are noticeably more feminized than their 1981 counterpart.

Unfortunately, LEGO is not the only brand that has become increasingly girly over the years. My Little Pony, Cabbage Patch Kids, and even Trolls have undergone extreme makeovers. Take a look for yourself, courtesy of Sociological Images...

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Everyone Should Be Required To Look At This Toy Ad

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Pay attention, 2014 Mad Men: This little girl is holding a LEGO set. The LEGOs are not pink or "made for girls." She isn't even wearing pink. The copy is about "younger children" who "build for fun." Not just "girls" who build. ALL KIDS.

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https://www.admongo.gov/_pdf/curriculum/FTC-Classroom-Poster.pdf

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The psychology of color as it relates to persuasion is one of the most interesting - and most controversial - aspects of marketing.

At Help Scout we believe the problem has always been depth of analysis. Color theory is a topic of complexity and nuance, but splashy infographics rarely go beyond See 'n Say levels of coverage.

Green Lantern can't turn lemons into lemonade and I'm left equally unequipped to make smart decisions about the spectrum which shades our world. But why is such a potentially colorful conversation so unwaveringly shallow?

Misconceptions around the psychology of color

As research shows, it's likely because personal preference, experiences, upbringing, cultural differences, and context often muddy the effect individual colors have on us. So the idea that colors such as yellow or purple are able to evoke some sort of hyper-specific emotion is about as accurate as your standard palm reading.

But there's still plenty to learn and consider if we humbly accept that concrete answers aren't a guarantee. The key is to look for practical ways to make decisions about color.

The importance of colors in branding

First let's address branding, which is one of the more important issues relating to color perception and the area where many articles on this subject run into problems.

As mentioned, there have been myriad attempts to classify consumer responses to different individual colors:

But the truth is that color is too dependent on personal experiences to be universally translated to specific feelings. There are, however, broader messaging patterns to be found in color perceptions.

In a study titled " Impact of color on marketing," researchers found that up to 90% of snap judgments made about products can be based on color alone, depending on the product. Regarding the role that color plays in branding, results from another study show that the relationship between brands and color hinges on the perceived appropriateness of the color being used for the particular brand (does the color "fit" what is being sold?).

A study titled " Exciting red and competent blue " also confirms that purchasing intent is greatly affected by colors due to their effect on how a brand is perceived; colors influence how customers view the "personality" of the brand in question. Who, for example, would want to buy a Harley Davidson motorcycle if they didn't get the feeling that Harleys were rugged and cool?

Additional studies have revealed our brains prefer immediately recognizable brands, which makes color an important element when creating a brand identity. One journal article even suggests it's important for new brands to pick colors that ensure differentiation from entrenched competitors - personally, I think we're getting into minutiae without additional context, such as how and why you're positioning against a direct competitor, and how you're using color to achieve that goal.

When it comes to picking the "right" color, research has found that predicting consumer reaction to color appropriateness is far more important than the individual color itself. If Harley owners buy the product in order to feel rugged, colors that work best will play to that emotion.

Psychologist and Stanford professor Jennifer Aaker has conducted studies on this very topic, and her paper titled " Dimensions of Brand Personality " points out five core dimensions that play a role in a brand's personality.

Brands can sometimes cross between two traits, but they are mostly dominated by one. While certain colors do broadly align with specific traits (e.g., brown with ruggedness, purple with sophistication, and red with excitement), nearly every academic study on colors and branding will tell you that it's far more important for colors to support the personality you want to portray instead of trying to align with stereotypical color associations.

Consider the inaccuracy of making broad statements such as "green means calm." The context is absent: sometimes green is used to brand environmental issues, like Seventh Generation, but other times it's meant to brand financial spaces, such as Mint.

And while brown may be useful for a rugged appeal - see how it's used by Saddleback Leather - when positioned in another context, brown can be used to create a warm, inviting feeling (Thanksgiving) or to stir your appetite (every chocolate commercial you've ever seen).

Bottom line: There are no clear-cut guidelines for choosing your brand's colors. "It depends" is a frustrating answer, but it's the truth. However, the context you're working within is an essential consideration. It's the feeling, mood, and image that your brand or product creates that matters.

Color trends for men and women

One of the more interesting examinations of this topic is Joe Hallock's work on " Colour Assignment." Hallock's data showcases some clear preferences in certain colors across gender (most of his respondents were from Western societies). The most notable points in his images are the supremacy of blue across both genders and the disparity between groups on purple.

It's important to note that one's environment-and especially cultural perception-plays a strong role in dictating color appropriateness for gender, which in turn can influence individual choices. Consider, for instance, this coverage by Smithsonian magazine, detailing how blue and pink became associated with boys and girls respectively, and how it used to be the reverse.

Here were Hallock's findings:

Men's and women's favorite colors

Men's and women's least favorite colors

Additional research in studies on color perception and color preferences show that when it comes to shades, tints, and hues, men generally prefer bold colors while women prefer softer colors. Also, men were more likely to select shades of colors as their favorites (colors with black added), whereas women are more receptive to tints of colors (colors with white added).

Although this is a hotly debated issue in color theory, I've never understood why. Brands can easily work outside of gender stereotypes - in fact, I'd argue many have been rewarded for doing because they break expectations. "Perceived appropriateness" shouldn't be so rigid as to assume a brand or product can't succeed because the colors don't match surveyed tastes.

Color coordination and conversions

The psychological principle known as the Isolation Effect states that an item that "stands out like a sore thumb" is more likely to be remembered. Research clearly shows that participants are able to recognize and recall an item far better - be it text or an image - when it blatantly sticks out from its surroundings.

Two studies on color combinations, one measuring aesthetic response and the other looking at consumer preferences, also find that while a large majority of consumers prefer color patterns with similar hues, they favor palettes with a highly contrasting accent color.

In terms of color coordination, this means creating a visual structure consisting of base analogous colors and contrasting them with accent complementary (or tertiary) colors:

Another way to think of this is to utilize background, base, and accent colors, as designer Josh Byers showcases below, to create a hierarchy on your site that "coaches" customers on which color encourages action.

Why does this matter? Although you may start to feel like an interior decorator after reading this section, understanding these principles will help keep you from drinking the conversion rate optimization Kool-Aid that misleads so many people.

Consider, for instance, this oft-cited example of a boost in conversions due to a change in button color.

The button change to red boosted conversions by 21 percent. However, we can't make hasty assumptions about "the power of red" in isolation. It's obvious that the rest of the page is geared toward a green palette, which means a green call to action simply blends in with the surroundings. Red, meanwhile, provides a stark visual contrast, and is a complementary color to green.

We find additional evidence of the isolation effect in multivariate tests, including one conducted by Paras Chopra published in Smashing Magazine. Chopra was testing to see how he could get more downloads for his PDFProducer program, and included the following variations in his test:

Can you guess which combination performed the best? Here were the results:

Example #10 outperformed the others by a large margin. It's probably not a coincidence that it creates the most contrast out of all of the examples. You'll notice that the PDFProducer text is small and light gray in color, but the action text ("Download for Free") is large and red, creating the contrast needed for high conversions.

A final but critical consideration is how we define "success" for such tests. More sign-ups or more clicks is just a single measurement; often a misleading one that marketers try to game simply because it can be so easily measured.

Why we prefer "sky blue" over "light blue"

Although different colors can be perceived in different ways, the descriptive names of those colors matters as well.

According to a study titled " A rose by any other name..., " when subjects were asked to evaluate products with different color names, such as makeup, fancy names were preferred far more often. For example, "mocha" was found to be significantly more likeable than "brown," despite the fact that the subjects were shown the same color.

Additional research finds the same effect applies to a wide variety of products; consumers rated elaborately named paint colors as more pleasing to the eye than their simply named counterparts. It has also been shown that more unusual and unique color names are preferable for everything from jelly beans to sweatshirts. For instance, crayon colors with names such as "razzmatazz" were more likely to be chosen than names such as "lemon yellow."

Finding your own palette

We're at the end of this post and there's still no cheat sheet for choosing the perfect color in sight. In fact, we may have raised more questions than answers. What a ripoff.

Truth is, the kaleidoscopic nature of color theory means we may never have definitive answers.

However, just because a topic is peppered with plenty of "maybes" and "sort ofs" doesn't mean we should stop thinking critically about it. Use the research available to challenge preconceived notions and to raise better questions; it's the one consistent way to reach better answers.

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The Psychology of Color in Marketing and Branding

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The psychology of color as it relates to persuasion is one of the most interesting - and most controversial - aspects of marketing. At Help Scout we believe the problem has always been depth of analysis. Color theory is a topic of complexity and nuance, but splashy infographics rarely go beyond See 'n Say levels of coverage.

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Since the beginning colors have stirred our emotions. White chalk was a precious tool in the hands of paleolithic artists. Gold from the very first civilisations reminded us of the sun. A desire for the mysterious and exotic blue changed the course of history.

Color was definitely grabbing world wide attention, but it certainly wasn't easy to get hold of. This is why it became the ultimate symbol of luxury. Those who could afford it, used favourite hues to decorate their surroundings. Today, not so long since the beginning of the Digital Revolution, we have free access to any colour we can possibly think of, and more. But do we really know what the essence of color is? Are we sure there is an exact dictionary definition for it, or is it a bit more abstract than ordinarily defined things?

Fifty Shades of Grey isn't the best starting point. Whatever color we pick, whether it be grey, blue or red, we won't be able to describe it. Unless of course, we decide to refer to grey, blue or red objects as a point of reference. This is because there is no elementary characteristic of red or any other color. Redness is just a term that refers to other concepts - an inception of concepts.

How do we perceive color?

The neuronal structure corresponding to the concept of redness is connected to light-sensitive cells in the eyes that are sensitive to the red range of the spectrum. What we perceive through our eyes, is electromagnetic radiation at specific wavelengths. Our neuronal structure is "learned" by various combinations of integrated signals - for example, a combination of the sky with signals derived from "blue" receptors of the eye. Therefore, blue defines all the blue objects in our neuronal network, and they define blue.

Through the course of our life we experience different sets of events with colorful objects. That makes our associations unique and, as a result, each of us understands the concept of blue slightly differently.

Disagreements in the perception of colors depends on origin, age, gender, and even state of health. Vivid and bright colors are popular amongst the youth, while older people feel more comfortable when surrounded by subdued shades. Black is widely known as the color of mourning in Poland. In India, that would be white.

It is not an exaggeration to say that color is the key factor in building a mood. It can stimulate our imagination to express taste, smell, and emotions. Since technology has changed it all, and never before has there been so many colors available, the ability to shape our mood with color is particularly true for a computer screen.

Color as a tool

Color is powerful because it can change our mood - the mood of potential customers. If a website improves our state of mind, our relationship with a brand will deepen and the probability of a return will increase. Advertisers and designers are well aware of that. We are not guided entirely by logic when making purchases. We tend to be driven by less identifiable factors such as emotions. Successful brands like Harley Davidson don't sell motorcycles, they sell a lifestyle.

Finding the right choice of colors is an art because everyone interprets colors differently. Therefore, the trick is about an entire selection. No color scheme is ideal or universal. There is no best palette for a specific social or cultural group. We have to understand the meaning of colors so that they can support our message. Colorful information affects the decision-making process with a surprising effectiveness.

The different kinds of colors

Through colors we can control reactions of an audience and provoke them to certain behaviours. The following paragraphs present commonly used colors and describe their impact on users.

Warm bright colors

Beige, yellow, orange, pink, red and similar. These are active, eye-catching colors with a friendly nature that may induce a sense of courage and energy.

Warm bright colors visually enlarge objects and make them seem closer. Due to their high visibility I advise limiting their use among subdued colors.

Cold bright colors

Lavender, silver, azure add subtlety, full of aesthetics and freshness, accents.

Such cold but bright tones enhance a sensation of modernity and professionalism if harmoniously combined with gray. It's a nice composition for businesses, commerce, and service websites especially with health, cosmetic and medicine products.

Cold dark colors

Violet, blue, turquoise, green, navy give a feeling of stability and quality. These shades are often placed as accompanying colors. Although they don't attract attention they emphasize the content.

Cold dark colors are widely used on business websites for ambitious and hardworking qualities with a special highlight for government, science, automotive and computer products.

Warm dark colors

Gold, purple, brown express classics, tradition, luxury and relaxation. They blend well in expensive and elegant designs for young and rich.

Mixed with cold colors give an impression of modernity and novelty. Perfect for brands engaged in finance, consulting, architectonics and craft.

Neutral colors

White, grey and black help to create contrasts and bring all the other colors out. They don't convey any particular message on their own. Neutrals are here to support their neighbours by playing the role of complementation on websites.

Their use can be truly universal as they work well in a variety of applications. Black can be combined with bright colors and white with dark colors, making a classic, almost universal combination.

How to apply colors

The correlation of colors is key to their impact. Reddish-brown sepia tones refer to past and tradition, navy-blue combinations are associated with dynamism, while black and white in equal amounts give deeper expression to each other.

The simplest set of colors expresses thoughts without words and influences audiences. The choice of these colors should reflect the brand mission with strength and clarity, so that it can attract prospective customers.

Again, there are no ideal sets of colors. Some are more common, some less so. Warm colors impact users to take action, whilst cold shades have a cooling effect. Red spot on a light background is expressive, while placed on a cold one is almost hot. The stronger the contrast, the more powerful the message. And surprisingly, many successful campaigns have broken colorful rules. Putting together opposing colors influenced their visibility on the market.

The designer's role is to build clear and understandable communication through the impact of color. The fewer hues used in a composition the easier the whole thing is to remember. Select two to three key colors and your message will sustain easier and longer in the minds of your audience.

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The Impact of Color in Advertising, Marketing, and Design

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It turns out that color is one of the most of exciting things in the world. Since the beginning colors have stirred our emotions. White chalk was a precious tool in the hands of paleolithic artists. Gold from the very first civilisations reminded us of the sun.

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https://www.admongo.gov/ad-library.aspx