Editor’s note: Elena Shepherd A culture writer who focuses on books, fashion, theater, and history. Her first book, The Eternal Forest: A Memoir of the Cuban Diaspora, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. Her views expressed here are her own.See more opinion On CNN.
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Last week, a story went viral that an employee at Kite Baby, a popular and expensive children’s clothing company, had lost his job. This employee, Marissa Hughes, wanted to work remotely while her newborn infant was in the NICU. Ms Hughes said that although she had offered to work from the hospital, Kite Baby fired her after she submitted her application. Kite Baby told CNN that Hughes is entitled to two weeks of paid maternity leave and that she must sign a contract stating that after the two weeks, she will return to work for at least six months. She said there is. She felt that Ms. Hughes could not make such a commitment given her son’s situation.
Ying Liu, Kyte Baby’s CEO and founder and a mother herself, publicly apologized to Hughes twice on TikTok. The first apology, which was stilted and clearly read just off-camera, was attacked in the comments (“I love the sincerity of an apology read out from a piece of paper,” read more than 25,000 times. Liked) far). Mr. Liu then issued a second apology later the same day. “The comments were correct and scripted,” she said in a second apology video. “That wasn’t sincere, so we decided to go off script.” In the second video, she looks noticeably less polished (according to commenters) and more panicked, and is seen as a bit more panicky than Hughes and Kyte Baby. He went on to apologize to the community, saying, “We’re in the baby business and we need to set an example.” More than 15,000 comments on her apology indicate that her customers have not yet forgiven. One commenter wrote: “I’m due in May so I removed all your stuff from my baby registry.” She said, “Rest in peace kite baby,” another wrote. That anger is real.
The outrage also reveals how invested many parents are in the brands and fashion they choose for their young children. It’s not just sleeping bags, rompers, and sippy cups; it’s identity and community. Not for children parents. But the bottom line is that while we focus our anger on corporations and CEOs despite their massive failures, the real focus of our anger is on giving parents zero parental leave in the first place, This should be a country that tolerates incidents like this occurring in the workplace.
To some extent, this attachment of individuals and groups to brands makes sense. Becoming a parent requires a lot of thinking. Your identity changes, your responsibilities increase, and the world changes. Alongside these existential changes is the reality that having a child will require a lot of new purchases, including clothes, cribs, car seats, strollers, diaper supplies, and more. For many people, myself included, there is real trust in the brands we choose for our children. These brands don’t just sell items, they also sell promises to add a hint of control to this completely uncontrollable moment in our lives and help take care of our children along the way. That promise includes the assumption that they are pro-parents and pro-baby. Situations like what happened with Kite Baby call that trust into question.
I first learned about the Kite Baby incident in a group chat made up of parents whose children were born in 2022, just like my sons. Many of us have purchased his Kyte Baby items for our children in the past. Everyone was furious. Of course, this situation itself highlights the precarious family leave situation in this country and the lack of protections that parents of young children face regarding the need for parental leave and flexible working conditions. But the broader context of the layoffs and backlash is a troubling question about how early childhood companies can successfully sell sophisticated versions of early childhood, and what that says about the parents who make the purchases. It also reveals the reality.
Items currently on sale on the Kyte Baby site include bamboo sleepers in “Sage” and “Dusty Rose,” and Lovely in “Storm,” which comes with a removable wooden pacifier. they are adorable. Social media has made these brands and their perfection seem ubiquitous, even achievable, as if everyone from toddlers to millennial parents are wearing the same new, expensive pajamas and looking neatly organized. It makes it feel like all of this is happening in a neutral palette, as if you’re playing with the same rich toys pulled from a Montessori bookshelf. nursery school. This act of perfection may feel competitive, but of course it’s nothing new. Competitive parenting has probably existed for as long as parenting has existed, and adorable clothes and cohesive decorations are just a means for many to compete.
If you meet mommy bloggers on Instagram, check out your fashionable friends’ baby registries, or even have kids of your own, chances are you’re inspired by the aforementioned baby aesthetic that’s currently popular: beige (also known as “sad beige”). You’ve probably seen it in action. (Thanks to the term popularized by online influencers), muted jewel tones, organic fabrics, wooden or silicone toys, and delicate prints. A little homesteader, a little Brooklyn cool.
It’s a seductive aesthetic (of which I’ve often fallen prey), and in its simplicity seems to promise the ability to control the chaos of parenting through harmonious visuals. This is an aesthetic that’s especially popular with millennial Instagram influencers and people interested in a gender-neutral vibe. It presents a perfect appearance that is certainly enviable not only to many parents with young children, but also to foreigners. Instagram: Sophisticated kids in ecru bloomers. Reality: Washing poop off onesie.
Like all brands, baby brands offer a promise to their customers. Buy our products and your life may look like our advertising. At Kyte Baby, these ads have louder colors than sad beige, but they have a similar undercurrent of sustainability and sophistication that millennial parents are looking for. Since we are buying these products for the most important people in our lives, the companies behind them are not only walking the walk, they are also talking the talk, and we especially value the lives of our families and our employees. There is an added expectation that you are dealing with a person. to their children. The Kyte Baby debacle exposed the upsetting truth that brands rarely keep their promises. That’s why social media is full of videos of parents throwing Kyte Baby products out their front door.
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The important thing here is that we are all adults. We should know that these promises from brands are empty, and I’m probably speaking for myself when I say I’m feeling a little naive right now for expecting more from Kyte Baby. maybe. As parents, we may feel lost, but that’s because here in America we haven’t been given the time, space, or safety net to figure out who we are in these new roles. It’s from. We search for identity, and that search can lead us to expensive brands and the illusions of perfection and control they bring. We want to give our kids the best, and Kyte Baby pajamas are naturally super comfortable. For this Kyte Baby fiasco of his, discarding perfectly good baby pajamas defeats the whole purpose of this and just gives her one less baby to sleep in those cozy pajamas. While we may feel duped by the brand, the real target of our anger is American parents.
It’s unclear what’s next in the Kyte Baby saga. His GoFundMe to help with baby Hughes’ medical expenses has raised nearly $100,000. I think Kyte Baby is definitely panicking. This story once again brings to light real and systemic problems in this country, and while these “Instagrammable”, delicious, soft baby products may seem perfect, there is nothing wrong with raising a child. We have also revealed the truth that there is no such thing. Parenting is a mess, and so is parental leave. Now, Kyte Baby, like many other companies, has revealed that parental leave is also in turmoil.