What the Science Says About Kids and Gender-Labeled ToysMelissa Dahl
NY Mag- Science of Us
August 20, 2015, 12:08 p.m.
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/08/science-of-kids-and-gender-labeled-toys.html"Recently, Target announced that it would soon "phase out gender-based signage" in several areas of their stores, including, most notably, the toy aisle. "[W]e 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," goes the statement goes on the retailer's website. One of those guests, no doubt, is Abi Bechtel, who in June tweeted a photo of a sign at Target that differentiated between "Building Sets" and "Girls Building Sets." Useful!
Predictably, in the week or so since Target made this announcement, a backlash has erupted, fueled in part by a post on the Facebook page of Franklin Graham — son of the famous evangelist Billy Graham, and president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association — which has been shared more than 50,000 times and "liked" more than 100,000 times. "I think Target may be forgetting who has made their stores strong," Graham wrote. "It's not gender-neutral people out there — it's working American families, fathers and mothers with boys and girls they love." Others — like psychotherapist Tom Kersting — expressed concern that the lack of boy-girl labeling would lead kids to "question what their gender is.""
