August 10, 2015
Target announced Friday that it is moving away from gender-based signs in the entertainment, toys and home sections of its stores.
"We never want guests or their families to feel frustrated or limited by the way things are presented,” Target said on its website. “Over the past year, guests have raised important questions about a handful of signs in our stores that offer product suggestions based on gender.”
It said that it would continue to have gender-based signs in the clothing aisle, but "in some departments like Toys, Home or Entertainment, suggesting products by gender is unnecessary."
Target will stop using pink, blue, yellow and green paper in the toy section of the store as a way to reference gender and it will remove signs in the kids' bedding area that imply certain sheets or blankets are limited to just boys or girls.
As NBC 10 reported, Target drew anger after a Tweet, that went viral, showed a store with signs that said "building sets" and "girls' building sets."
Responses to Target’s decision on Twitter have mostly been positive.
Congratulations @Target for taking a step towards gender equality! http://t.co/ADejG4z4VH
— Girl Scouts (@girlscouts) August 10, 2015
please target don't remove the gender signs, it will take hours for me to distinguish between toys for dogs or humans pic.twitter.com/lucJBSHxzZ
— thomas violence (@thomas_violence) August 10, 2015
Kudos to @target for removing gender distinctions in toy aisles. Huge kudos to the weirdos loudly bemoaning the change. You people are fun.
— Cameron Suey (@josefkstories) August 9, 2015
However, some people complained that the decision was political correctness run amok.
@thehill so now being PC is more important than helping customers. No more Target shopping for me
— Bill Bill (@VA_Mob_Member) August 8, 2015
@foxandfriends GOODBYE @Target the PC is killing our country! We won't support your 'gender neutral' position. #bringBackAmerica
— Jody Brazelton (@flpeach22) August 10, 2015
But what about Abi Bechtel, the woman whose tweet went viral and helped to prompt the change in the first place? She said there’s much more important news to talk about.
One year ago today Mike Brown was killed by police. I don't want to talk about Target signage today. I just want to say, #BlackLivesMatter.
— Abi Bechtel (@abianne) August 9, 2015
