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California considers bill requiring gender-neutral children's sections at large retailers

McBell

Resident Sourpuss
Retail stores in California may be required to become more gender-neutral under proposed legislation.

State lawmakers are debating a new bill that would prohibit department stores with more than 500 employees from dividing products for children by gender.

The restriction would ban separate areas and signage and mandate online retailers that have a physical location in the state use gender-neutral terms to label children's items in a section of their websites. It would apply to toys and other kids' items but not clothing at this time, the bill's co-author Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia told USA Today.

If passed, the bill will go into effect in Jan. 1, 2024, and comes with a fine of $1,000 for violations.

The proposal, introduced Feb. 18, follows a series of recent moves championed by LGBTQ advocates. Last month, Hasbro made its Potato Head brand gender-neutral and the Congress passed an expansion of the Equality Act with protections for the LGBTQ community.​


 

Debater Slayer

Vipassana
Staff member
Premium Member
It would apply to toys and other kids' items but not clothing at this time, the bill's co-author Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia told USA Today.

This is the most important detail here, in my opinion. Grouping clothing in different sections seems to me a matter of practicality because those looking for specific clothes could be hassled by lack of signage or distinction between boys' and girls' clothing.

For toys and other items, though, this seems pretty reasonable. I've long found the practice of telling children what toys to play with, what colors to pick in their items, etc., based on physical sex to be a form of gendered indoctrination.
 

Samael_Khan

Goosebender
For toys and other items, though, this seems pretty reasonable. I've long found the practice of telling children what toys to play with, what colors to pick in their items, etc., based on physical sex to be a form of gendered indoctrination.

This is also for marketing purposes. The best way to sell to a specific demographic is by grouping all items related to them in the same section. If there are products that specifically target girls and girls are the majority of buyers, then it makes marketing sense to group all toys related to girls together. It is like how book shops work. If nerds like science books then they will group all the science books together in a place that targets them. The comic books will also be placed next to them so that the demographic can find everything they want in one place. Bad marketing would be scattering toys related to a specific demographic all over the place.

The biggest question is whether are told what to play with or the different sexes generally gravitate towards specific items because if their sex or the culture that they are raised in.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
I've long found the practice of telling children what toys to play with, what colors to pick in their items, etc., based on physical sex to be a form of gendered indoctrination.
Is it indoctrination or simply recognizing
general consumer preferences?
 

Debater Slayer

Vipassana
Staff member
Premium Member
Is it indoctrination or simply recognizing
general consumer preferences?

I don't know whether the idea that choice of toys and similarly inconsequential items should be based on gender more often stems from parents' beliefs or from the companies' marketing, but the idea itself is indoctrination either way, in my opinion.

Consumer preferences can be a result of indoctrination; I don't see the two as mutually exclusive.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
I don't know whether the idea that choice of toys and similarly inconsequential items should be based on gender more often stems from parents' beliefs or from the companies' marketing, but the idea itself is indoctrination either way, in my opinion.

Consumer preferences can be a result of indoctrination; I don't see the two as mutually exclusive.
If this experiment shows no change in gender
based preferences, should this law end?
 

Debater Slayer

Vipassana
Staff member
Premium Member
If this experiment shows no change in gender
based preferences, should this law end?

Since determining that it hasn't might take decades given how much time such social changes sometimes need to occur, I think the question is largely moot. There would also be little or no way to establish whether the lack of change was a result of a failure of this law or simply a residual effect of decades of deep-rooted indoctrination.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Since determining that it hasn't might take decades given how much time such social changes sometimes need to occur, I think the question is largely moot. There would also be little or no way to establish whether the lack of change was a result of a failure of this law or simply a residual effect of decades of deep-rooted indoctrination.
I have time.
But if preferences don't change, a good default is to
ditch regulation with no perceived benefit to justify
the cost.
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
hassled by lack of signage or distinction between boys' and girls' clothing.

In this era where girls can wear anything even 'boys' clothes and boys are very very slowly getting the same freedom, that distinction is slowly fading.

There's nothing to stop signage etc based on clothing type such as "dresses over here".

When puberty hits then of course bodies change and what fits changes accordingly.

As far as @Revoltingest 's tradition comment goes, girls now demand access to all boys toys to one degree or another. It's time to give that right to boys and let the kids themselves find what attracts them without gender stereotyping.
 

SkepticThinker

Veteran Member
How many boys want to play with Barbie?

What happened to GI Joe?
As a girl, I had a He-Man action figure, a Mr. T. action figure and a bunch of Transformers. Also, I wore "boys" clothes and wanted nothing to do with She-Ra, the female version of He-Man.

My boy friend down the street had a pretty decent Barbie collection that he was always trying to get me to play with so sometimes I would bring my Transformers to be Barbie's "boyfriends."

People like what they like, and it often doesn't conform to stereotypical gender expectations. Luckily, nobody tried to make me feel weird about my love for Mr. T. action figures.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
As a girl, I had a He-Man action figure, a Mr. T. action figure and a bunch of Transformers. Also, I wore "boys" clothes and wanted nothing to do with She-Ra, the female version of He-Man.

My boy friend down the street had a pretty decent Barbie collection that he was always trying to get me to play with so sometimes I would bring my Transformers to be Barbie's "boyfriends."

People like what they like, and it often doesn't conform to stereotypical gender expectations. Luckily, nobody tried to make me feel weird about my love for Mr. T. action figures.
I pity the fool who'd give you grief over your toys!
 

Kooky

Freedom from Sanity
The biggest question is whether are told what to play with or the different sexes generally gravitate towards specific items because if their sex or the culture that they are raised in.
In order to be able to answer that particular question, however, we need to first remind ourselves that it is typically not children who buy children's toys, but their parents.

(edit: phrasing)
 

Samael_Khan

Goosebender
In order to be able to answer that particular question, however, we need to first remind ourselves that it is typically not children who buy children's toys, but their parents.

(edit: phrasing)

Children are the ones who inform their parents of what they want them to buy though. This means that the way these toys are marketed in the shops are best.

BUT.... are you talking about toys at a time when a child cannot communicate? At that point the parents would probably be influencing them.
 

Kooky

Freedom from Sanity
Children are the ones who inform their parents of what they want them to buy though. This means that the way these toys are marketed in the shops are best.

BUT.... are you talking about toys at a time when a child cannot communicate? At that point the parents would probably be influencing them.
How do children know what toys are out there? They would ultimately get that information from a parent or relative in person, or from advertisement directed at them, be it virtual or in person at the store.

So we know that there are at least some outside factors at play, however influential they may be.
 

SomeRandom

Still learning to be wise
Staff member
Premium Member
More useless nonsense. :rolleyes: Society just seems fit to erase the reality that there are actual differences between males and females, and these are based on biology. Good luck with that.
I dunno. I’ve known plenty of boys who played with makeup, barbie dolls and the like.
I’ve known plenty of girls who played with trucks, toy cars and so called “boys toys.” Only people who seemed to care were the adults, really. To us it was just play.

Cooking was once seen as a very feminine thing in society. Going to tell Ramsay he’s a girl?
Construction was seen as masculine. I’d likely be punched out if I was daring enough to question the lack of femininity of my girlfriends currently working construction.
Hell, until I saw the movie Meet The Parents I didn’t even know that Nursing was seen as a feminine career path. I’d always seen male nurses. So it literally never occurred to me until then.
That there are trends just means marketing has worked. But not everyone will care to follow tradition for tradition sake. Trends are just what’s popular, they’re not rules set in stone.
I welcome less gendered stuff in general. It’s often so arbitrary. Like colours. Who decided that colours are masculine and feminine? It’s so odd to me
 
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