We went to Target recently and sure enough there were no signs indicating which toys were for boys and girls. Lemme tell you what happened because it was traumatic. Plus, I think I may be on the cusp of uncovering a major conspiracy.
First, my 5-year-old daughter got all confused about which aisle was her section because the Great Wall O’ Pink was so subtle she failed to notice it. You know how kids are. I had to steer her in the right direction but she still went to the science kits.
Lo and behold, next to those science kits was a DOLL.
As in, a baby doll.
Well, Target, this is some disturbing left-wing propaganda! Next thing you know she’ll start thinking she can be a mother AND a doctor. Thanks a lot. That will take a decent amount of work to undo.
No worries though. I gave her a stern talking to: “Honey, princesses don’t do science. Princesses study the humanities because they’re better equipped for sensitive artsy things like Jane Austen and feelings.”
Anywho, my son looked right at me and asked “WHERE ARE THE TOUGH TOYS?”
Growing obviously confused by the subpar signage, he too started wandering over to the doll area. Of courses I rapidly explained that he may not play with dolls because nobody likes nurturing males.
The whole point is to block boys from such things so they grow up with a clear idea of gendered work expectations. It bothers me that Target is now placing the reinforcement of heteronormativity and traditional masculinity more squarely on MY shoulders and I resent it.
As if I don’t have enough to do.
After he was safely set up with things that make loud sounds and kill things, my daughter started crying because she couldn’t find the fairy-themed-pastel Legos.
As you know, girls are unable to play with Legos made of primary colors. They try, but their minds are not built for that sort of thing. They end up confused. My girl got so upset I had to get down to her level and remind her of every Disney princess saved by a man. Nothing soothes a confused female brain like remembering she too may someday marry a wealthy white male with a large home and horse.
So my daughter is tearfully staring at red blue green and yellow, lost and afraid, demanding to know where the soft hues of pink and purple went, and I had no explanation for her because THE SIGN WASN’T THERE SO IT WAS HARD FOR ME TO TELL WHICH AISLE WE WERE IN.
Luckily I remember just in time to look for The Wall of Pink. Always look for the pink!
Safely back in the pastels, I realized my son had once again followed us. Normally I would point to the sign above my head that said “Girls’ Toys” but THERE WASN’T ONE so I had very little evidence to prove this aisle was off limits to him. Then I had a terrifying thought that stopped me in my tracks: what if my SON picks out the fairy themed Legos for himself?
Wait. Target. ARE YOU TRYING TO TURN OUR KIDS GAY?
That’s it, isn’t it? You are on a mission, probably funded by those fluffy-headed supporters of gay marriage, to turn all kids gay by forcing girls to play with Hulk (that buzz cut, remind anyone of butch lesbians? Coincidence? I THINK NOT.) and boys to play with FAIRIES.
Ahem, fairies?
I’m onto you. I know what’s happening here. You’re trying to get my girls to play with primary colors and my boys to strap on fairy wings in attempt to make them forget Jesus.
Jesus HATES FAIRY WINGS.
Was this Obama’s idea?
It was, wasn’t it?
Thanks, Obama.
I STAND WITH KIM DAVIS!
I also heard you let women breastfeed anywhere they want in your stores. Exhibitionist trashy weirdo slut store!
Off Target, Target.
Wait, what were we talking about? Oh yeah. Right. The degradation of America’s youth through left-wing propaganda involving toy aisles.
Maybe you think you’re being sly but I’m a damn sharp tool. I’m the sharpest tool in the shed. Nothing gets past me.
And let me make something clear: You won’t be ruining my kids any time soon. I’m going back to Walmart, a place with nice traditional values like gendered signs and worker exploitation.
I’m an AMERICAN. I have RIGHTS. Kim Davis! Jesus! Straight people!
Gendered toy aisles!
Target, you almost really messed us up.
But we’ll never surrender. The fight is real.
Eye of the tiger, America.
ALL GIRLS HATE CONSTRUCTION STUFF TARGET duh
Christine
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 11:06I could not possibly love this post more. You’re the greatest, as usual.
Ruth Thompson
Wednesday, 16 September, 2015 at 11:24Fabulous! Only one caveat: Princesses don’t do humanities, either. Literature? Art? Philosophy? Music? All those ideas things? Please.
Ellen
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 11:15yes this had to be said. in this exact way that only you can do. thank you janelle, once again!
Heather Kelly
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 11:17I am done following your site. It’s perfectly ok for boys to play with baby dolls. It’s also GREAT for your daughter to play with science kits! That’s all I’m going to say. I am biting my tongue with the rest.
renegademama
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 11:31Dear Heather,
Please do me a quick favor and Google “satire.”
I’m with you, friend.
Janelle
Bernice
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 12:05Oh Heather…
Susan fiori
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 13:40Who reads the signs anyway? I Walk aimlessly through the store throwing shit in my cart from the 30% or more off end caps that I never knew I needed! My kids make a beeline, when I don’t make them stay through the throw pillows and fuzzy rugs sections, to the toy SECTION! Not aisle but SECTION. It is then they proceed to look at every damn toy in the whole frikking section! I think they should just remove ALL signage even the ones hanging from the ceiling. God forbid a man ends up in lamps and occasional tables and I end up in tools. Just let me drink my over priced frappecino while blindly throwing gender-crossed items into my cart when all I REALLY came for was milk. (From girl cows)
andrea
Wednesday, 16 September, 2015 at 20:04exactly
Mary
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 14:52As I was reading this I thought, wouldn’t it be funny if someone out there didn’t understand that this was satirical. Turns out, it’s not funny. It’s sad.
Mary
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 15:51But wait….maybe Heather is being ironic?
Laura
Wednesday, 16 September, 2015 at 7:40Did you say ironic or MOronic?!
Josey
Wednesday, 16 September, 2015 at 12:03LOL, somehow I doubt she was being ironic. Silly people.
SC
Wednesday, 16 September, 2015 at 17:02Poe’s Law, people. Poe’s Law.
Kel
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 12:02Please, please tell me that you’re just joining in the satirical humor here, and not actually as dumb as you sound.
buh
Thursday, 17 September, 2015 at 19:19Yes, that was satire. If you didn’t pick up on that, you may not be so bright either.
AG
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 12:32Oh Heather, I just had to laugh. I’m a subscriber to Janelle’s blog and I get the emails alerting me when she posts something. On my lunch break today I clicked open the new email and read these words:
“I promise to cut to the chase with these emails right away. So here. I wrote a post about Target’s conspiracy to turn our kids gay. It’s real. It’s a thing. Prepare yourself.
Not real. Not a thing. Total fucking satire. (Any guesses how many people will think I’m serious though?)”.
I then clicked the link, read the blog (laughing in my office the whole time) and began scrolling through the inevitably entertaining comments. Lo and behold here you are, the one Janelle prepared us for in her email. So I’m wondering this, did you open the email at all? You claim to have been following this blog so I assume you received it. Even if you hadn’t read the email, I would think anyone that has read even 1 other post would know that this post couldn’t be further from what Janelle (and likely all of her readers) truly believe. I hope you recognized your misinterpretation before you unfollowed her though, because this woman is an amazing writer with bigger cajones than most men I know and it would be a shame to miss out on the creativity and jewels of wisdom of this fantastic lady.
Kayla Logan
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 12:34I think you may be missing the point of what a satire is. The article is about how absurd it is that people are getting so upset at target for their gender neutral toy branding.
Melissa
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 13:00she’s being sarcastic – right? Heather? Right?
Isabel
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 14:07Heather, please read https://renegademothering.com/2015/07/08/people-who-cant-read-sarcasm-are-the-antichrist/. Apparently, she was talking to you. 🙂
Stephanie
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 20:07How can you not know she’s joking? I mean, seriously.
Adeline B
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 21:04That moment you realize you’re not as oblivious as some other unfortunates… All zen, baby.
Anon
Wednesday, 16 September, 2015 at 4:29You do realize what sarcasm and satire is, right?
Jen B
Wednesday, 16 September, 2015 at 7:41Seriously Heather?! Are you kidding??? LOL
Heidi Lynn
Wednesday, 23 September, 2015 at 17:20I wish I could share this with the Santa last year who gave my 6 year old so much shit for liking dragons last year. He kept insisting she needed a baby doll. I was very proud when she told him, “Yeah… I’m not really into that.”
Anonymous
Tuesday, 24 November, 2015 at 16:41You are stupid. I mean, unless this was all sarcastic. Take your dumb site down NOW. Are you trying to tell your daughter she can’t be tough and has to be stuck with princesses, entitlement, ‘rescue me’ syndrome, letting boys randomly kiss her, and the like? You better not be!!!!!!! And as to your son, I see your point as to not wanting him to play with fairies. Not because males shouldn’t be nurturing (parents. Dads. Brothers. Uncles. Other family members to young children), but because your son might be teased. You are a parent of limitation. I will report you to Pigtail Pals, Everyday Feminism, and PFZ. Your son should not be limited to tough toys. Your daughter should not be limited to pinkwashing. If she actually likes it, I’m not attacking her. Just how you seem to view her.
Tracey
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 11:21Killin’me. LOL Wonder if fall out will occur over this one. What a cool book. Wait, Walmart has gendered signs? I’m not ADHD.
Phillipa
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 11:22Fan-bloody-tastic!!!!!
Jean
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 11:26Absolutely love this. “As if I don’t have enough to do.”
Also, please write about the struggle to leave baby in the morning. It’s so mine, too – I know you’d put it into words better than I could 🙂
Daddy Scratches
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 11:31I’m applauding over here. Loudly. And also laughing. Well done.
Heidi
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 11:31I just snorted my pumpkin spiced latte from Target up my nose! Thanks!
Michael
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 11:35Hah! Love it. Also, Target is testing liquor licenses in some stores. Like Target couldn’t get more awesome.
andrea
Wednesday, 16 September, 2015 at 20:07target is not dumb, alcohol loosens the credit card in your pocket.
Miki
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 11:48::enthusiastic applause::
TheProzacQueen
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 11:49I love it!
And your son is adorable.
-the girl who would play with My Little Pony and Brick-Blocks at the same time, who liked Bon Jovi more than Debbie Gibson and still hangs out with guys more than girls
Kel
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 12:04(That’s actually her daughter.) =)
But she IS adorable!
TheProzacQueen
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 18:34Ooops! I apologize…either way, she’s cute.
renegademama
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 19:53No need to apologize. She is actually kind of right down the middle when it comes to gender expression. plus I made a comment indicating she was a boy. Thank you though.
Shelly
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 11:52Love it! Funny enough, the book your son is holding in this pic. was given to my son too but when we read it we change the gender of some of the trucks, because why do trucks all have to be male?
renegademama
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 11:56Hi Shelly,
My child in the picture is actually a girl :), but I fully agree about the gender of the equipment. I changed two of them to female because I’m tired of my little Georgia hearing all male-gendered characters in her favorite books (she loves dinosaurs and construction equipment along with her dolls and tutus).
I’ve been considering writing a children’s series of a little GIRL who does construction and races cars and wrestles dinos.
Best,
Janelle
Cara
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 12:03Janelle, I *love* this post and I would totally buy that children’s book!!
Tara Kerwin
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 12:16I’d buy it!
Rose gilbert
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 13:04Oh please write that book! Not just for the girls but the boys too!
Abs
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 13:47Digger, dozer, dumper is the same vibe as ggcs AND some of the anthropomorphized vehicles are female!!
Pip
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 18:26Do they have eyelashes to let you know they’re a girl?
Jennifer
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 14:04I was almost ready to ask if you fear that someone may not realize satire when they read it, but I can see that it happens. However, you write so convincingly that had I not read you previously, I may have been confused. Do you think you need to point that out? If it were me, I wouldn’t want anyone, under any circumstance to misunderstand my message. Just a thought. Love reading you!
renegademama
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 14:31I did point it out, repeatedly, through hyperbole, exaggeration and utter nonsense such as “Jesus hates fairy wings” and the statement that female brains can’t handle primary colors.
If a person thinks that’s serious, nothing I can say can help them. That ship has sailed. Haha!
Also I filed it under “fucking satire,” which I realize is super subtle, but it’s a start. Seriously though, even when I put a full on footnote, it doesn’t matter. This is the Internet. Half the irate people haven’t even read the damn thing.
Thanks for reading!
Janet Dittman
Wednesday, 16 September, 2015 at 10:03Does no one see that her daughter is wearing a dress???
Josey
Wednesday, 16 September, 2015 at 12:06That ship has sailed indeed. *ROFL*
Fantastic post, as always!
sarah
Wednesday, 16 September, 2015 at 13:10Dear GOD…PLEASE DO THIS!! I’m sick of changing all the damn pronouns in my kid’s books so he hears about fierce or just normal ol’women doing perfectly normal things like construction, etc. I regularly fuck it up and don’t get the pronouns right (or wrong in this case) and confuse the shit out of the poor kid…anywho the storybook pictures never go along with the pronoun…so maybe it’s a big waste of my brain power.
Joanne
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 12:02Shelly, that’s her daughter… But good point re: construction trucks.
EbyKat
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 12:10There is a great book about a lady snow plow. I think her name is Katy. I got it for my nephews.
Jessica
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 14:18Yes! Katy and the Big Snow! I remember that book from when I was a kid. My mom still has it and my son loves to read it when we go to grandma’s house
Emily
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 11:54Tears of laughter streaming down my cheeks. Thank you!! So well put 🙂
Jenna
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 12:05You’re like a female Jon Stewart and my second favourite hero – Georgia being the first. I want to be her when I grow up. You also need your own show or something cause shit like this needs visual aids to further drive home the ridiculousness you already describe so well. I snorted milk out of my nose reading this.
Carissa
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 12:071) Fucking Target.
2) Write the book. Please. I bet Target will sell it.
3) I love you (in a non-cyberstalker-creepy-kind of way).
That is all.
Amber
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 12:08I call BS. Everyone knows green isn’t a primary color…
Joking aside, great post.
Kel
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 12:10Jeez, woman, don’t you know your place? Barefoot, pregnant, or in WalMart. You ain’t supposed to be raisin’ none of them freaky weirdo kids.
Now go edumacate them youngins right. Boys play with trucks and tools. Girls play with dollies and knitting.
Elaine
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 12:35Wow. I guess I have to turn in my statistics degrees and my booming practice. I’ve always heard I was pretty smart and accomplished for a girl, but never knew how much I had jumped the rails. Thanks for setting me straight Janelle.
renegademama
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 13:01Oh my. Do people really say in your field that you’re accomplished “for a girl?” UGHHHHHH.
Rozanne Silva
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 12:59Janelle have you considered running for president? Cause I sure as hell would vote for you!! You and your children are amazing!
Mel
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 13:00Ugh. Nurturing males are the worst.
renegademama
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 13:02Buahahahahahaha! I don’t know Mel but this cracked me up.
Mel
Wednesday, 16 September, 2015 at 1:00It’s Mel Shorter Janelle. We Australians like our beer cold and our stereotypes, gender and otherwise, rigid.
TheUnintentionalMother
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 13:42I know! Having a nurturing male around is like having a third breast! And who needs three of those?
Jackie
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 13:00Shhh…do you hear that in the wind? It’s my joyful applause!
Rose gilbert
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 13:02OMG. Too funny! Almost as good is reading the comments. Maybe we need and a ‘wall of .. say.. green ‘ for all future satirical blogs to help the satirically challenged understand what the hell is going on!!!
On a side note; I have 4 girls, and the huge piles of Legos that dominated my house when they were young was mind boggling ( and illicited many a explitive filled rant when stepped on!) I was actually kinda amused when they started having ‘girls sets’ in pink and purple. Had some. That shit never got played with cause they couldn’t make anything “cool”
SC
Thursday, 17 September, 2015 at 12:37Back in the 80’s, girls and boys played with the same Lego sets. And the ads were remarkably non-gender-specific, especially considering the time period.
Here’s a link to some of those ads: http://hellcat-vintage.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/lego-equality.jpg
Do little girls really want pink and purple Legos, or is it just a marketing ploy? Because now, instead of buying one set of Legos for brothers and sisters to share, parents have to buy two sets – one for each kid.
Sort of like when the body-care companies realized there was a whole untapped market for men’s shower products beyond Irish Spring bar soap; all they had to do was make the bottles black and give the scent a masculine name, like “Axe Muscle Sport.”
Amy
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 13:16OMG, laugh out loud hilarious and exactly what I was thinking when I heard the signage at Target was changing. I mean, my kids read the signs to know what they want to play with, right? And to think some of these people actually think you are serious!!! Thanks for my dose of humor for today.
Amy
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 13:30On point, as usual.
From another parent of a Georgia that loves trucks and Ninja Turtles and toys that are for everyone!
Angela
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 13:33My boy loves him some sparkly pink shit. Fortunately for me he switches gender at will so he doesn’t care about targets labels but I was happy to see this http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/08/09/target-remove-gender-based-labeling/31375863/
Wendy
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 13:45Love it!! Wonder if they will follow with the clothes next?? … I am from Australia and no signs of them following suit here yet 🙁 I guess we are always behind you guys so maybe in a few years…
Kayla
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 13:51Well you totally lost all the non-sarcasm reading people with this one! Damnit Janelle why didnt you put it in italicized font or something? LOL. Georgia is so damn cute!
Jessica
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 13:54Brilliant.
Jennifer
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 13:59I was almost ready to ask if you fear that someone may not realize satire when they read it, but I can see that it happens. However, you write so convincingly that had I not read you previously, I may have been confused. Do you think you need to point that out? If it were me, I wouldn’t want anyone, under any circumstance to misunderstand my message. Just a thought. Love reading you!
Chloe D
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 14:17This is hilarious! Really really funny!!!!
Please right a blog post on anti-choice people!
Patti
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 14:20Clearly, people leaving most of these comments don’t read your blog on the regular. I love it. Not trolling here, but just thought you might be interested in my husband’s TEDx Talk he did last December. It’s topical to your post. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5iEDpr13Lw
Jenny
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 14:51Janelle, you rock. As usual.
Keri Wyatt Kent
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 16:03Totally love this. Hilarious. And the comments from folks who were confused by satire (or were they? It’s hard to say) were priceless. Well done.
Ellen
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 16:20Janelle you’re a woman why would you possibly have anything to do with a tool shed? Said with tongue firmly in cheek.
Amanda
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 16:27I bet you wish you had smarter kids!!! If you had taught them well and not focused on ignorance a sign wouldn’t matter!!!!
renegademama
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 17:00True. Perhaps if they had a mother who wrote satirical blog posts attempting to deconstruct archaic gender expectations they would be less ignorant.
Sad, really.
Sarah
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 17:16WRONG!!!!!
Smart kids are nothing but trouble.
DUH!!!!!!
Adeline B
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 20:58The exclamation point isn’t a go-to, free for all punctuation mark, Amanda. Must have missed that mensa memo.
SC
Wednesday, 16 September, 2015 at 17:18Amanda, could you please explain how one might “focus on ignorance,” as you say? The act of focusing on something seems to preclude being ignorant of it, including being ignorant of one’s ignorance.
Sarah
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 16:34You’re the fucking best!!! And by the way, both of my kids (1 boy, 1 girl) LOVE that book! “Hey, pipe down!”
Lei
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 17:39I’m going to share the fuck out of this!
mbwest
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 18:29Every time I say something really obvious in my class, some smart kid in the front row points it out and I quietly say, “Just watch.” Someone ALWAYS totally misses it…the classroom equivalent to folks who don’t get satire…feeling your pain…over the noise of my fruity family and their rowdy Obama chants…
sara
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 19:55I have to agree, the lack of gender terms on target aisles have been bothering me too. It denies the God given differences between boys and girls. It fits in the face of the Lord to try and make them “equal”. But do you really need to swear so much in your posts? It’s not ladylike and a bad example towards your daughter and three son. They need to look to you as the example of womanliness.
renegademama
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 20:45Hahahahahaha! Sara until I saw the email address and learned it was you I was a little terrified. Now I can’t stop laughing.
Sara
Wednesday, 16 September, 2015 at 2:32???????? bwhahahaha!!!
Adeline B
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 20:56I really wanna be a jerk and post this to fb along with tags of my uber conservative cousins… ‘Because every good parent is afraid of a smart daughter!’ but instead I’ll gloat, knowing that for all my craziness my kid can be whomever and whatever she wants. So much love for this.
Lalotus
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 22:40I’ve been telling my girl: “toys do not have a penis or vagina, so they are not boy or girl toys. Everyone gets to play with them.” She seems to at least stop and ponder…
Tracey
Tuesday, 15 September, 2015 at 23:26Love this post, Janelle! My 6 year old girl loves dresses and pink and purple. And blue and green and white and black. She also loves playing with her younger brother in the dirt, and with her dad doing science experiments. My 3 year old son loves everything transport related, especially cars, trucks, trains and diggers. He’s in heaven if he sees any of these. And when he plays dress up’s with his sister, he’s usually wearing a princess dress, tiara or fairy skirt just like she is. And loves it! Bring on the green aisle 🙂
Mary-Katherine
Wednesday, 16 September, 2015 at 3:00You have fun with these don’t you? Well thank you crazy mama for making my morning, and sorry the satire was lost on some people.
P.S. My favorite presents when I was a kid were a drill, a wrench, and a microscope.
Lisa
Wednesday, 16 September, 2015 at 6:11Not sure I could love this more. You made my morning!
Annie Jadin
Wednesday, 16 September, 2015 at 11:17AMAZING. Too funny, had me cracking up at work.
Doni
Wednesday, 16 September, 2015 at 11:48I really *heart* you.
Joanne
Wednesday, 16 September, 2015 at 13:05Fantastic! Laughing out loud at work when I ought to be…well…working.
annamarie
Wednesday, 16 September, 2015 at 14:36YES to this! so so good
Marca
Wednesday, 16 September, 2015 at 15:20I went to Walmart recently and noticed that they have removed all the gendered signs in the toy as well. Interesting.
Amy
Thursday, 17 September, 2015 at 5:33Absolutely in stitches! As the mother of one boy and one girl, who (GASP!) have always been allowed to shop across genders, often to the dismay of their grandparents, I am dying! I’m sharing this on Facebook (as I usually do with your amazing posts), but this one has me thinking I may weed out the uneducated, unfunny, sexist “friends”. Excellent work – brilliant tool! Wait…I’m a girl…am I allowed to use tools?
SC
Thursday, 17 September, 2015 at 12:53Although a huge amount of gendered toy preference is clearly due to socialization and cultural expectations, biology appears to play a not-insignificant role as well. Some part of gender expression is simply innate, as demonstrated by studies that tracked toy preferences among male and female monkeys.
Gender differences exist. Should we celebrate them? Exaggerate them? Downplay them? Different cultures have different answers.
Here’s the article from Psychology Today that discusses the monkey study and others.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/homo-consumericus/201212/sex-specific-toy-preferences-learned-or-innate
Jason Valentine
Thursday, 17 September, 2015 at 16:24I’m going to sue you.
You did not post any warnings regarding
1)Not having food or drink in your mouth while reading.
2) Emptying one’s bladder prior reading.
3) Make sure you are sitting on a traditional chair prior reading.
As a result, I began laughing snorted oatmeal not only up my sinuses, but sprayed it all over my flat screen and keyboard when I widdled in my boxers, thereby wetting the yoga ball I sit on instead of a chair causing me to slip off and land smack on my arse, and clunking my chin on the desk ledge.
Law…suit to cover my bruised butt, whiplash, ruined keyboard (have you ever tried chipping dried oatmeal out from between keys?? Have you??) and injured pride.
Loved this..love your writing…keep on keepin on
Jack
Saturday, 19 September, 2015 at 12:09Meh, people make too big a deal of it all. Be a parent and teach your children what’s right and stop worrying about the damn stores. It’s ridiculous to be upset with Target and ridiculous to push to change the labels.
A
Tuesday, 22 September, 2015 at 12:47Hey Jack. Your last name isn’t Ass by chance is it? Just wondering.
Geochick
Monday, 28 September, 2015 at 11:16Hahahaha. I love this post! And the comments are priceless. 🙂
leslee
Thursday, 1 October, 2015 at 18:56I don’t know what was better, the blog post or the comments! I’m definitely hooked!
Misty
Friday, 16 September, 2016 at 10:01Thanks for bringing this old post back in my FB feed somehow. Enjoyed it thoroughly.I love love love how you have to label satire as satire even though it is so freaking obvious that it is satire…and people still don’t get it.