Recently, Target buckled under pressure from parents over its gender-based signage for toys and announced it will get rid of them.
The decision irritated many who thought the move was made solely to accommodate the few children who may have gender identity issues or associations. Some said it was evidence of Target “giving in to the LGBT community” or to liberal agendas.
Some didn’t seem to realize that the policy only applied to signs in the toy section, and they felt it extended to all departments and to the clothing department as well.
Rather, the decision seemed to have more to do with responding to many parents who don’t want their girls to be told by a corporate entity that trucks or building blocks (which simulate logic and analytical skills which are crucial for math and science reasoning in school) are just for boys. And they aren’t keen on a toy store stifling a boy’s interest in cooking and playing with a toy oven.
It isn’t about transsexual kids, per se, (though some of them may benefit from the move) yet the company’s social media accounts were flooded with comments from those who are confused about the impetus of the change and/or simply oppose Target’s move for various reasons, some political and some religious-based.
Dad and Facebook user Mike Melgaard used the opportunity to to create a fake Target customer service profile and troll Target’s social media accounts leaving hilarious replies and retorts to complainers of the new policy.
He managed to get in about 50 posts in for 16 hours of trolling before Facebook shut down the satirical account!
I don’t want to offend anyone who dislike the gender-neutral signage but these are my fave:
