A mom from Ohio is taking Target to task for what she alleges is gender bias, by differentiating “Building Sets" and "Girls' Building Sets” instead of lumping them in the same category.
Abi Bechtel tweeted a sign of the toy section on June 1 and it has since garnered a lot of attention. She wrote as a caption, “Don't do this, @Target.”
That attention includes tons of messages of support as well as some negative backlash, which Bechtel has been documenting on her timeline.
“The Target story must've made it to the MRAsphere - suddenly my mentions are full of
‘fat,’ ‘ugly,’ & ‘hysterical,’” she wrote.
She also cited Fox News’ article disagreeing with her tweet, writing, “so I must be doing something right.”
CNN reports Target has since defended their sign usage in a statement, saying it's what customers want.
“Recently we conducted a test where we removed any reference to gender in the toy aisles in a number our stores," their spokesperson said. "In those stores, our guestresearch showed us that guests preferred having a variety of indicators that can help inform and guide their shopping trip.”
image via Twitter from Abi Bechtel