The Sun Sentinel, August 11, 2015, had an article, “Target Stores Tackle Gender Divide Issue,” by Jessica Contrara, which added the “why” to Target’s decision to stop offering product suggestions based on gender. She reports that “two months ago, an Ohio mom’s tweet went viral when she called out Target for separating “building sets” and “girls’ building sets.” As if we needed the pick and blue signs directing us appropriately. The mom failed to call out Lego for having pink boxes for the girls’ building sets. Now Target is over-fixing the “problem” for “building sets and all toys, plus bedding, home decor, entertainment and more.”
Really? One tweet going viral affects a national company! We should not be surprised. This Grandma posted about a website where anyone can start an on line petition. Yes, companies should consider paying attention to heightened awareness of gender issues, but now we have social media dictating how they do so?
This Grandma does not know how I feel about the power of social media. We know that social media is a powerful tool that can destroy people, as well as companies. We know it is a powerful tool for businesses to advertise their wares, even paying bloggers to promote their goods. We know that advertisers want us to be affected by social media. It sells. It makes money.
Radio and television commentators have jumped on the bandwagon. After all, we have twenty four hour a day news coverage. People are asked to weigh in on their sides of this issue. This Grandma listed to a radio call in show about Target’s action and the responses were pretty well split on what Target has decided to do. Some people felt that the color coded signs expedited their shopping experience, especially when looking for gifts.
Aha! We know how much we want to be gender neutral, the grandsons gravitate to the trucks and cars more than the dolls, and vice versa. Should ease of shopping and ease of buying gifts for children win out or should gender neutral shopping win out?
This Grandma does not think one tweet going viral should dictate long term decision-making when our population is fickle and today’s important issue is gone and not news tomorrow. I guess I expected more thought in decision-making from those in charge of a major corporation– or maybe in how they delivered their new message about what Target says is a supposed “handful of signs.”
What is fascinating is what this Grandma found on www.snopes.com, a website that tries to call out falsity, by author Kim LaCapria:
“On 7 August 2015, the Target retail chain published a press release to their corporate blog A Bullseye View titled “What’s in Store: Moving Away from Gender-Based Signs.” The blog post described the store’s signage and explained the company’s move away from providing gender-based signage (and other gender indicators) for items in the toys, home, and entertainment categories:”
“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.”
“Target’s planned removal of gender-based merchandise displays followed a larger national debate about gender identity, and a 1 June 2015 tweet sent by shopper Abi Bechtel has since been referenced as being partly responsible for bringing the matter to the retailer’s attention:”
“In an 8 August 2015 interview, Bechtel said she didn’t expect such a large response to her tweet: I didn’t expect it to become the center of this entire discussion about gender and the way toys are marketed. But Caitlyn Jenner’s pictures had just come out. And the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage came out soon after. So there was a whole lot of discussion about gender and gender roles anyway. The tweet just landed at the right time.”
“Although Target did not post information to their Facebook page about changes to gender-based merchandising, a number of outraged users took to the retailer’s social media pages to express their disapproval of Target’s announcement. The following string of comments (from an unrelated thread on Target’s page) illustrates a sliver of the outpouring:”
“I always shopped at Target, but as today I will not step foot in their stores, I have Grandchildren I always bought for, and I will not be forced to turn them gay. I am so offended with what these store are doing, telling us dress your daughter like a boy, heck better yet dress your son like a girl, sounds stupid right, because it is, leave things the way they were.”
“You’re folding to the p.c. police. I am boycotting.”
“Target, this will cost you. I’m going to make sure of it. I have a plan to retaliate against you for catering to sexual deviants. I intend to seriously damage your financial security by taking customers away from you.”
“Interspersed amid the backlash were some customers lauding the decision and pleading for calm:”
“My son and I did some shopping at Target today, and I promise the experience didn’t leave him scarred or questioning his sexual identity. In fact, he’s pretty thrilled that he scored some new coloring books and a Minion hoodie (which was on sale, so score!). Can everyone calm down already? It’s a matter of taking a couple of signs down, not mixing clothing and hygeine products in an effort to convert anyone. We walked out of Target as the same people we were when we walked in, and I can almost guarantee that everyone else will too.”
“The top comment (proposing a boycott) in one of the most active threads received a response from a Target rep:”
“The only way to stop this is to boycott the store. I’m not even addressing the toy thing. What about the clothes section. Is there one section. I guess there will be a kids section, and an adult section for adults. Bras and jock straps same isle.”
“We understand your concern. The changes only apply to the two areas of the store where we previously had specific references to gender. We are not making any changes to our Mens’, Womens’, Boys’, Girls’, or Baby sections. For more details on our changes please read this.”
“. . . .However, Target has yet to address any tweets critical of the company’s move away from gender-based merchandising.”
Read more at Snopes.com.
“Retailer Target’s decision to create gender neutral toy aisles has caused controversy,” is the news that Kim LaCapria tells us. Any position can and will cause controversy.
Is it that the saying that all news, good and bad, is better than no news? Is Target using this issue to become the focus of the twenty four hour a day news media? Is Target bowing to a
tweet that went viral?
Is social media creating the heightened awareness or is social media controlling heightened awareness? Do we not have more to do than spend our time on social media?
Long years make us question motives more and trust less. Evaluating the issues by hearing all sides is not a bad trait. A decision based on wisdom requires deliberation. Social media seems to discourage deliberation and seems to go for decision making based on the instantaneous tweet. This aspect of our new world order is beyond this Grandma’s comprehension.
But I do like reading my Twitter. I guess I must be younger to actually do a tweet. I must ask my grandson how one tweets.
Joy,
Mema
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