AMB_Gender

Let me preface this post by saying I love me some Target. Great fashion finds at bargain prices, groceries, home goods, AND Starbucks in one convenient stop? My idea of bliss. However, in spite of my big time love affair with Target, I have a bone to pick with their toy department.

I have a precocious 15 month old son who loves to play. Blocks, stuffed animals, building toys, drawing toys, puzzles, push toys, cars, tractors, you name it. He’s in this sweet phase where he likes to pretend play. He will hand me a mega block and pretend to eat it making super cute “nom nom” noises as he does it. Slurping from a red block like it’s soup or juice, smacking a blue block like it’s a bunch of berries. Adorable. So, last week I was at Target having a little me time when I decided I would look for some play food for him to play kitchen with.

I searched aisle after aisle and came up empty handed. Even when I went to the “Pretend Play” aisle, I found it jam-packed with Marvel Comic toys complete with a huge Incredible Hulk display that shouts “HULK…SMASH!!!” when you walk by.

Boys Pretend Play 2
This is pretend play?

I went up the next aisle, noticeably pink and obviously shouting “YOU MUST HAVE A VULVA TO SHOP HERE!” and finally found some play food. It was in a pink basket and found alongside a pink broom and dust pan and a plethora of other pink household play items. To summarize, the aisles obviously designated for little boys were blue, full of building toys, cars, action figures, and tanks while the aisles designated for little girls were pink, and full of dolls, domestic toys, and dress up items.

Girls Pretend Play Aisle

 

Girls Pretend Play Toys
Ladies, your pretend play options…

This got me to thinking. Do we really need such blatant consumer-driven gender definitions for our kids? I know a day is coming when my son will come home from school and say “dolls are for girls” or “blue stuff is for boys.” Sadly it’s inevitable, but I’m doing my best to let him just play with what he wants to play with. No judgements, no assumptions, just play. Why should the kitchen play items be marketed towards girls in all their pink glory? Why should the building tools be bedecked in blue packaging? In our house, daddy does 90% of the cooking (thank you, lord) and mommy worked in a hardware store during college and can use tools. Traditional gender roles in families have shifted, why are our toy departments still reflecting these age-old archetypes?

In 2012, UK retailer Harrod’s launched a store where the toys were grouped in themes rather than gender. It’s beautiful, exciting, colorful, and encourages children to explore what interests them with no boundaries. What perplexes me is that Target is almost there. Follow me on a tour for a moment:

Infant toys are gender neutral, bright primary colors and not separated in any method other than age appropriateness. Notice the background pegboard on the aisle is gray/white and really lets the toys stand out.

Infant Toys

Toddler toys are also gender neutral, set against a yellow pegboard and again, set apart only by which toys are safe for a certain age.

Toddler Toys w_sign

What happens when your child graduates from the toys geared towards 18 month – 3 year olds? BOOM…pick a color, pink or blue. If only the sorting of toys by age and interests could continue past the toddler aisle. I think it stands to reason that manufacturers could broaden a given toys’ consumer base if it weren’t pigeon-holed into a gender specific aisle. I mean, do girls really need their own “toy blasters” let alone a separate aisle for them? Remember when Nerf toys all came in yellow or orange and everyone could play with them? Now we need a pink camo “Rebelle” version of a Nerf blaster?! Oy!


Girls Nerf

And I’ll be honest, even as I consider myself to be an educated, post-modern woman, I have found myself gravitating first to the “blue” aisles because I have a son without even realizing it. Damn you, manipulative marketing!  I know this isn’t solely a Target problem. It’s a toy marketing problem and all of the big box retailers are suffering from a case of gender stereotyping in the toy aisles.  As it turns out, I’m not the only mom to be frustrated and raise a flag. Wendy Kent from Madison, Wisconsin has launched a petition at Change.org calling on Target to remove gender coding from their toy aisles. The petition has over 3,000 signatures and is growing daily.

If this ruffles your feathers too, pull out your soapbox, sign the petition, and share this post! In the meantime, you can find me traipsing down the pink aisle with my little man in tow to pick out a broom and dustpan set.

 

 

 

14 COMMENTS

  1. Enough already. Get a grip people. Nothing wrong with the isles. Just another thing that offends people. Well I’m offended that this is even an issue. Get over it!!!!

  2. Thankfully most comments above are from people who favor common sense. I am about to lose my mind. Why make Target or any retailer change their displays because you are uncomfortable buying something with pink signage or pink background? This is all pandering to parents insecurities and fears of their child being different. My three year old son got a purple play vacuum for Christmas last year and still “helps me vacuum” every day. After that he plays with matchbox cars and then a little later he will make a picnic lunch with his sisters in their pink play kitchen. Please let kids be kids!

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