So last week, Target announced that they’re getting rid of gender specific signage and displays in different areas of their stores. Why? Because people got offended that the girls toys had their own section in pink decor and boys had their own in blue. The same for bedding options. The signs read “Girls bedding” and “Boys bedding”. According to the offended, the store should be “gender neutral”.
Oh man..I’m going to open up a can of worms here, but….REALLY? Why is this an issue? I’ve raised two very girly-girls. If it’s pink and craps glitter, chances are good that we own it. But that’s not to say that they both didn’t like playing with other things as well, including Hot Wheels and Lego’s and neither one of them could have cared less that it was in the “boy section”. No one ever told my kids that they had to pick something from the “girl section” at Target and no alarms ever went off if one of them stepped over into boys toys.
But here’s the thing…we are girls and we like the girl section. It’s easy to find what we like and want. The displays are pretty and match most of what we already have in their rooms making it easy and fun to add new pieces. I’m not lowering my daughters’ IQ’s or their chances for a successful future by buying a building set from a pink display.
My 12 year old is a smart, head-strong, never accepts the word “can’t” kind of kid who knows very well that there’s no stopping her when she sets her mind to something. This is because of how she is being raised at home, not because of the color of the paper backing on a shelf at Target. Did shopping in Target’s pink aisles hurt her self-esteem? Did it teach her that girls are less, not as good, not as smart, less capable? Of course not. I’d love to see anyone tell her that just so I could make some popcorn, sit back and watch her verbally destroy them.
We live in a world that’s been PC’d to death and people are convinced that little (insert gender neutral name here) is going to be damaged for life because she wanted a Lego set from a pink shelf. There’s really nothing bigger in the world that we’re going to leave to our children that needs fixing? Childhood cancer. Child molestation & victimization. Childhood hunger. Childhood education. Seems to me like priorities are skewed here. Just my two cents.
