Target Reorganizes Their Toy Section - Page 4

suzyQ3 · ‎03-09-2010

@12andcounting wrote:
@suzyQ3 wrote:
@12andcounting wrote:
And the world gets more stupid every single day. This is absolutely ridiculous. As usual, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. And now Target has decided to cater to the minority. I sent them a message (which will fall on deaf ears) letting them know that I will no longer shop with Target. I am SOOO sick of this kind of stuff. Geez.
What is it that you find so offensive about the outcome -- the removal of signs that label a toy as being for a girl or boy?
First of all, I'm not offended -- I'm downright mad about it. I happen to be one that still knows there is a difference in boys and girls. If a person feels the need to buy a Barbie Doll for their son, they have always been able to do that. The "signage" hasn't stopped that from happening.

We all know that males and females are different. But the stigma about playing with toys that were deemed for only one gender has not helped children in the long run.

If more girls felt comfortable with "boy" toys (no pun intended), we just might, as Noel pointed out, have more females in the top tier of science, engineering, technology, etc.

And if boys were not stigmatized for playing with a "girl" toy, we might have more males who felt comfortable being nurturing and communicative. Let's not forget they might end up being chefs.

But if you prefer strict role delineation, then yes, I can see that you would be "mad" enough to contact Target.

~Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

June222 · ‎06-15-2015

When I was a little girl, I loved playing with toy cars, trucks and( now politically incorrect...) toy guns. I liked playing with the boys and rough housing!

I also was a very girly girl to the extreme. Loved dolls, tea parties, wore dresses even when playing outside.

I think it is good to let the child decide what they want to play with and wear. Children are not colors or sections or certain types of toys. I think society has put a wall up saying this is feminine, this is masculine...when it is not that black and white.

I say to do away with separating boy and girl toys.

Sooner · ‎03-10-2010

It IS a very important issue. Girls are steered toward homemaking, boys toward sports and building and things you can make more money at. It is the basis of why a lot of girls don't excel in math and sciences. And I will be so glad when girls aren't steered toward this "girly girly" stuff either. As a few of the QVC hosts exhibit, some people think it is cute for "girls" (even the 40+ year old ones) to play dumb. I HATE that.

kdgn · ‎03-09-2010

I don't know, I just took the sign saying "Girls building sets" as purely informational to the parents. Sorry to admit that if I were looking for the pink Legos the first section I'd be looking at would be where the dolls and such are carried.

The sign helped cut down on the confusion as to where to look for the building sets.

I do wish stores would be less gender specific in the toy sections, even down to the Halloween costumes.

I had boys who loved to play in the kitchen and with the baby dolls just as I had girls who enjoyed the race cars and building sets. There was no talk about "that's for girls" or "that's for boys". I specifically found little boy doll clothes so that the kids had a choice. I didn't care who was playing with what as long as there were no arguments and nothing went flying!

NoelSeven · ‎03-09-2010

@june22 wrote:

When I was a little girl, I loved playing with toy cars, trucks and( now politically incorrect...) toy guns. I liked playing with the boys and rough housing!

I also was a very girly girl to the extreme. Loved dolls, tea parties, wore dresses even when playing outside.

I think it is good to let the child decide what they want to play with and wear. Children are not colors or sections or certain types of toys. I think society has put a wall up saying this is feminine, this is masculine...when it is not that black and white.

I say to do away with separating boy and girl toys.

*************************************

I liked being a cowgirl! I had the hat and a cap gun in a holster. I built my own "horse" out of wooden boxes from the store.

As soon as I was old enough to reach the stirrup and sling one little leg over the saddle, I took horseback riding lessons.

A Thrill Of Hope The Weary World Rejoices

NoelSeven · ‎03-09-2010

@kdgn wrote:
I don't know, I just took the sign saying "Girls building sets" as purely informational to the parents. Sorry to admit that if I were looking for the pink Legos the first section I'd be looking at would be where the dolls and such are carried.

The sign helped cut down on the confusion as to where to look for the building sets.

I do wish stores would be less gender specific in the toy sections, even down to the Halloween costumes.

I had boys who loved to play in the kitchen and with the baby dolls just as I had girls who enjoyed the race cars and building sets. There was no talk about "that's for girls" or "that's for boys". I specifically found little boy doll clothes so that the kids had a choice. I didn't care who was playing with what as long as there were no arguments and nothing went flying!

*********************************

When DD was in kindergarten, they had a wonderful playhouse for the kids with a kitchen and a lot of equipment for cooking and setting the table.

The boys loved playing house as much as the girls. My daughter always teamed up with the same little boy to play house together. They became good friends for the year.

A Thrill Of Hope The Weary World Rejoices

beach-mom · ‎03-09-2010

I see a different side of this. I think the signs helped a lot of people. Many times in the past I was in Target, Walmart, or Toys R Us when a young guy would approach me and say, "I need a toy for my 8-year old nephew," or "My girlfriend's little sister likes Barbie. What's popular with Barbie now?" As a customer myself, I have given advice to shoppers looking for toys. I would point them to the "Lego aisle" or the "Barbie aisle." I think the designation of girl toys and boy toys has always helped.

All that being said, I'm pretty much done with Target. I'm tired of their major promotions and how they apologize when everything is sold out after the "professional shoppers" block everyone else from getting to the racks so they can put 10 dresses in the cart that they will turn around and sell on ebay. Even with all of the complaints and saying it won't happen again, they turn around a few months later and do the same thing. They don't care WHO gets the merchandise. They just care that someone does! What I wish they would do is limit the number of the same item of clothing in the same size shoppers can buy - but that won't happen!

I haven't been in a while. I might go again, but I really don't miss it. Twenty years ago I practically lived there!

NoelSeven · ‎03-09-2010

@beach-mom wrote:
I see a different side of this. I think the signs helped a lot of people. Many times in the past I was in Target, Walmart, or Toys R Us when a young guy would approach me and say, "I need a toy for my 8-year old nephew," or "My girlfriend's little sister likes Barbie. What's popular with Barbie now?" As a customer myself, I have given advice to shoppers looking for toys. I would point them to the "Lego aisle" or the "Barbie aisle." I think the designation of girl toys and boy toys has always helped.

All that being said, I'm pretty much done with Target. I'm tired of their major promotions and how they apologize when everything is sold out after the "professional shoppers" block everyone else from getting to the racks so they can put 10 dresses in the cart that they will turn around and sell on ebay. Even with all of the complaints and saying it won't happen again, they turn around a few months later and do the same thing. They don't care WHO gets the merchandise. They just care that someone does! What I wish they would do is limit the number of the same item of clothing in the same size shoppers can buy - but that won't happen!

I haven't been in a while. I might go again, but I really don't miss it. Twenty years ago I practically lived there!

*****************************

Our Targets have very clearly marked aisles, especially the area selling food. They tell you what's on every aisle.

They also still have signs for dolls, building sets, sci fi, etc. They just don't include the descriptive labels "Boys" or "Girls" in the designation.

A Thrill Of Hope The Weary World Rejoices

surfk · ‎07-12-2010

I think the less labeling we do as a society of everything and everyone, the better and freer we all are.

If someone doesn't know their gender, having a blue water gun is not going to help them much with that. lol

If a boy is forced or even longs to play with a GI Joe "action figure" it has nothing much to do with him growing up to either marry or not marry his best army buddy. Heck, he'll just maybe learn to be a really butch gay guy with a military fetish. lol

In fact, one might want to steer clear from macho toys for boys as much as one might think a Barbie doll is going to be the thing to "turn" him gay.

Same with girls. What are some people fearing really if she prefers the blue hoolahoop over the sparkly pink one? That she'll become a lesbian from it? Or that she will never want to become Little Miss Perky in some fru-fru pageant?

Good taste and good design and good ideas generally don't have this huge gender-thing attached to them.

No one calls a Monet a sissy work of art because it uses pastels to depict the sunset.

No one wants their female architect wobbling around in stilettos as she tries to climb the ladder to show you where the bathroom is going to be.

Gender issues are generally the fear of some parents and that is sadly foisted upon the children. There is no "gay" Tele Tubby. There is no male sexual organ attached to Lincoln Logs (no matter its name).

Its just one more step Target is taking in this world which wishes to become unchained from antiquated stereotypes.

And life will go on. Girls will grow up to like boys. Boys will still like girls.

Unless they don't.

In which case no amount of boy's toys or girl's toys is going to change any of that.