Baby sprinkles may get a different color, and the internet is going crazy
Rusks with pink sprinkles for a girl, blue for a boy. Isn’t that a little old-fashioned? De Ruijter, the aniseed-sprinkle king, is investigating whether sprinkles can also be made in other colors to break down stereotypes. In the reactions to that news, Facebook is not showing its best side.
The tradition of celebrating a birth with rusks topped with aniseed sprinkles began in 1938, when De Ruijter congratulated the royal family on the birth of Princess Beatrix with a tin of aniseed sprinkles. Since then, every royal birth has been celebrated with sprinkles, and orange sprinkles were also made as an exception around the abdication in 2013. If you don’t have blue blood, you can simply buy pink and blue sprinkles at the supermarket. On the sprinkles manufacturer’s website, you can have sleeves made with the baby’s name on them, which you can slide around the packet of sprinkles. Fun!
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Stereotypical sprinkles
So De Ruijter does not currently offer colors other than blue, white and pink. Still, the company is considering the possibility of making more colors. Standard pink for girls and blue for boys would reinforce gender stereotyping. Girls are always cute, boys are always tough—that sort of thing. For that reason, Hema adapted its children’s clothing department: jeans and T-shirts are no longer for boys or for girls, but for all children. While Lego was simply children’s toys in the seventies, there are now pink blocks for girls and tough StarWars Lego for boys. A little strange, right?
Rainbow colors
The news that De Ruijter is looking into whether other-colored sprinkles can also make it to stores has prompted fierce reactions on Facebook. “The Netherlands has gone completely crazy,” grumbles Pascal. And Sylvia writes, “I wouldn’t rule out that in 18 years there will be people walking around who haven’t got a clue who or what they are because their parents were those space-cadet bitches.” But among the five thousand reactions are also people who can appreciate the cheerfulness of a colorful sprinkle: “Rainbow colors. Everyone can use them. No more distinction. Births, children and adults coming out and wanting to celebrate this. Just all of humanity, whatever you are,” writes Corrie. And Sam trumps everyone with: “Everyone is completely upset as if this personally affects you. Gender-neutral parenting is nothing new.”
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