By John Mack Freeman
The retailer Target has announced plans to move away from using gendered signs in their Toy, Entertainment, and Home areas. The move came as a result of customer requests to stop the arbitrary demarcation of items based on their color or intended audience. Via their announcement:
But we never want guests or their families to feel frustrated or limited by the way things are presented. Over the past year, guests have raised important questions about a handful of signs in our stores that offer product suggestions based on gender. In some cases, like apparel, where there are fit and sizing differences, it makes sense. In others, it may not. Historically, guests have told us that sometimes—for example, when shopping for someone they don’t know well—signs that sort by brand, age or gender help them get ideas and find things faster. But we know that shopping preferences and needs change and, as guests have pointed out, in some departments like Toys, Home or Entertainment, suggesting products by gender is unnecessary.
We heard you, and we agree. Right now, our teams are working across the store to identify areas where we can phase out gender-based signage to help strike a better balance. For example, in the kids’ Bedding area, signs will no longer feature suggestions for boys or girls, just kids. In the Toys aisles, we’ll also remove reference to gender, including the use of pink, blue, yellow or green paper on the back walls of our shelves. You’ll see these changes start to happen over the next few months.
Predictably, many right wing individuals have taken the news badly, and have reacted with anger towards Target’s social media accounts. While Target has been responding to the majority of complaints, a few parody accounts have also been swooping in to help Target out (warning: some NSFW language).
