‘Spread happiness, peace and calm.’ That’s the slogan on a T-shirt you can buy at M&S. It’s pink, has frilly sleeves and is decorated with flowers and a unicorn. It is, of course, listed under ‘girls’ clothing’.
There’s nothing unusual about that T-shirt. You can buy similar items for girls in most fashion retailers. ‘Be kind’ is practically society’s mantra for a generation of girls.
Another staple of childhood for those girls is Harry Potter. On the same page of the M&S site you can find a Hogwarts T-shirt, for girls between six and 16.
That children born in the late 2010s wear Potter-branded kit is testament to the cultural power of the Harry Potter stories, the first of which was published in 1997. It’s stating the obvious to say that J.K.
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