The separation between genders has recently caused customers of Target to publicly post their concerns/issues with its marketing of some in-store products. Specifically speaking, kids toys.
An article from the Washington Post stated that the aisles of Target will no longer have colored backdrops to indicate gender. “We never want guests or their families to feel frustrated or limited by the way things are presented,” Target’s press release stated.
I don’t see an issue with Target wanting to satisfy the complaints of its customers. If any complaint is brought up to a business it isn’t wrong of them to correct the problem.
I have paid more attention to the way gender is displayed ever since I took a Women and Gender Studies class during my first year at Keene State College. Items in most stores are gender-specific. I’m sure it is to make shopping easier when buying for a boy or girl.
The same article from the Washington Post embedded a Youtube video of a young girl named Riley voicing her opinion of boy and girl toys. “Why do all the girls have to buy princesses?” Riley asked.
She continued to talk about how some girls and boys like both princesses and superheroes. It’s interesting to hear an opinion such as this coming from a young girl because most kids play with whatever they’re given as long as they have something to keep them busy. On the other hand, when a child is born either a boy or a girl, they’re given items that represent their gender according to the norm of society; girls get pink and boys get blue. I’ve known people to say that that’s how it’s always been and it shouldn’t be a big deal if a toy or the toy aisle is labeled gender-specific.
I agree with how Target is changing their aisles so that they’re not labeled to a specific gender. I don’t think it is necessary to change the color of the backdrops because children shouldn’t be determined by a particular color. Fortune Magazine posted an article about clothing retail moving towards androgyny and the deconstruction of gender.
The author of the article, Ryan Daly, said that retail stores have a profound effect on the way people construct visions of gender through fashion. When an aisle is geared toward a certain gender it can make the opposite gender feel as though they don’t belong there because that is what society has taught us.
In reference back to the Washington Post article, Abi Bechtel, mother of three boys, had tweeted a picture of an aisle in Target labeled ‘Building Sets’ and underneath on the same sign was written Girls’ Building Sets. Bechtel said that her boys used to have no problem playing with dolls, but now say, “Eww, I’m not going in that aisle, that’s girl stuff.”
I don’t think that there needs to be as much of a focus on the separation of gender. Leave it up to the customers to decide what type of items they want to shop for. There doesn’t need to be a line physically separating girls from boys.
Heather O’Brien can be contacted at hobrien@kscequinox.com