Kudos to companies like Target for being market leaders in the fight for gender equality. Recently, Target announced it would remove gender-based signage. This has some consumers up in arms, but I think this is long overdue in a modern society.
I sincerely hope that Target will hold true to its beliefs and stand firm on this issue. The days of pink for girls and blue for boys is passé, and girls enjoy building things just like boys may want a kitchen set for their birthdays and there is absolutely nothing wrong with either. However, there is something very wrong with a society that makes young people feel as though there is something amiss when they naturally gravitate in one direction or the other.
Whether the impetus for this change is due to recent issues surrounding gender identity or if it is simply a business-motivated decision, my interest in this is, now and always, will be that it pushes forward the issue of gender equality by leaps and bounds. I have always said the place to begin is with young people and, over time, it will become second nature. Equality amongst the sexes will become so commonplace that it will be as though there was never a discrepancy. Being raised where that is the norm, that generation will not know that kind of inequality and, hopefully, that will spread across other barriers as well.
Right now, we are the only things standing in our own way and in the way of our children's future. By objecting to Target's bold move, we are keeping women from making the same wage as men and keeping our children from reaching their full potential. Before you are so quick to object, make sure you think about the implications. How important is it to you that you shop for your little boy or girl in the boy/girl section as opposed to the "kids" section? Is it worth having to explain to your child 20 years from now why there is such a double standard in the world?
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