Target, I love you. But I’m disappointed in you. Eh, who am I kidding – many of us will still search for good deals on your shelves regardless of what you tout. Nonetheless…
Your recent decision to do away with gender specific labeling of predominately kid items is the symptom of a much greater problem.
When it comes to gender roles/masculinity/femininity, our culture is rapidly becoming one not of the majority vote, but of the minority voice. Not to mention, the minority voice who screams the loudest. The problem with our cultural transition is that it does not solve any real problems, it simply shifts them from one pendulum to the next.
Let me be clear. I do not support gender distinction because it’s a majority posture in America. I believe in gender roles and the specific placing of masculine and feminine characteristics for men and women because God lays it out in scripture.
Everything is up for Debate
The focus of hot topics these days centers largely around things pertaining to human dignity. No one is allowed to take a stance on what they believe anymore unless it’s related to some inanimate object like what phone you use or what kind of beer you drink. Oh wait, that’s not true – we can take a stance, but only in a way that doesn’t offend anyone or go against someone else’s tightly grasped view. We are not allowed to wave our flag in a way that “influences” anyone.
Only those who have historically been marginalized get to share opinions without being bigoted. Only women can speak to matters of birth. My body, my choice. Agreeing that All Lives Matter means you are racist or a part of the problem. We can’t find a single middle ground.
I completely agree that being a societal minority should not simultaneously mean you are marginalized, but I also believe that the minority view on gender roles should not be majorit-ized simply because it’s a sensitive subject or a point of mass misunderstanding.
This is ridiculous. This is the voice of the gender crisis now. This is the voice that has created so much confusion regarding gender, that people are refusing to assign themselves to one at all. We’ve created a culture of people who are so confused about who they are, they can’t point to anything that firmly defines them.
I believe God made them in His image, male and female, He created them. And I believe that is a beautiful gift.
The Bible and Gender Roles
It is clear from Genesis 1 (prior to sin entering the world) that God had specific intentions for men and masculinity and women and femininity. Nowadays culture has rejected scripture as an outdated fable whose view of humanity is akin to the devil. A mind that does not see eye-to-eye with culture is bigoted.
Why should my son be made to feel “wrong” for being masculine and my daughter be made to feel out of place if she naturally enjoys “girly” things? What is so wrong about a girl who loves hot pink nails and barbies? Or a boy who wants to crash his Tonka trucks? Since when is this an obscene thing?
On the flip-side, let me be extremely clear. My daughter is more than welcome to play with “boy toys” and my son has himself a baby doll. The thing is, we just call them toys in our house.
As for our family. We believe in gender roles. We believe there are things our daughter was intrinsically and specifically designed to do that are gender specific. The miracle of birthing a child, for instance, is an excellent example of a gift God has given only to women. We believe our son has been given very distinct calls from the Lord to guide and protect his family, and one day be held accountable to our Maker for how he leads that family. He is to love as deeply as Christ has loved the world – I can think of no more a daunting yet honorable task.
We don’t need you defining gender for our children, Target. In fact, we don’t want society defining much of anything for our children. A woman isn’t a woman because culture has told her so. A man is a man because God has designed him to be exactly that. And each gender should look to Him for how to rightly align their character to His will.
We desire for our children (and ourselves) to embrace their God-given gender and look to no one else but Him to define it.
I totally agree with you about biblical gender roles being important. I also am totally cool with Target removing gender specific labeling from kids’ toys and bedding. I think we need to be careful not to confuse biblical gender roles with cultural gender norms.
Biblical masculinity has nothing to do with the color blue, baseball, or monster trucks. I really think Satan uses these cultural gender structures to make boys and men who do not fit into them question their manhood and sexuality, contributing to the sexual and gender confusion that is so prevalent. The same goes for girls.
My two-year-old son loves animals. I seriously think he will be a vet or some sort of zoologist one day. Most of the animal toys in stores are in the girl section. So hypothetically, if he is still into them as he gets older, what message does it send to him when the animal toys he likes are labeled as girl toys? He might be confused about why he likes them and if that makes him less of a boy, or he might deny that God-given passion in order to be manly in a more culturally acceptable way. I don’t want either of those things for him. So if Target takes the “girl” label off, that seems like a good thing to me.
That was hypothetical and possibly over-dramatic, but my point is that Christians need to be careful not to confuse western American cultural norms with biblical principals. This is a huge problem I see in conservative American Christianity. Cultural norms change. Blue used to be a feminine color and pink and purple were masculine until maybe the 20th century. Biblical values do not change and are not dependant on what society decides. So I really don’t see how Target taking gender titles off their store signs is an attack on biblical gender roles at all. ?
I don’t see it as an attack either. That’s certainly not what I meant to communicate.
I agree – and I think your point is my point as well. Biblical gender roles remain constant, despite cultural shifts. We can always count on that!
Although I understand that there are people who don’t mind in getting rid of the gender title, say over some toys, the problem is that too many things are clumped together as a gender problem. What if I want a really girly toy for my daughter. Am I going to be shamed for wanting that girly toy over a “gender free” toy? I foresee that this could very well happen in the near future.
What WILL happen (thanks to Target and others) is that they will lead the way for many other companies to do the same. For example – next step is making gender neutral bathrooms. Some owners are allowing opposite genders in the locker rooms and bathrooms because they are not comfortable with who they are. This is happening in schools across the country as well as some companies. One door just leads to another.
Facebook now has 56 gender identities that you can choose from when you start your facebook. http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2014/02/21/gender_facebook_now_has_56_categories_to_choose_from_including_cisgender.html?wpsrc=sh_all_dt_tw_top
Here’s another example. Gay marriage became official. Gays want rights (like anyone else which they already have and add some privileges) and part of the right they were fighting for was to have their sexual orientation be re-identified as “born that way”. Guess who is in the wings wanting that same sexual orientation identification? It is pedophiles. Psychiatrists are already working with pedophiles to give them the same rights as everyone else. http://allenbwest.com/2015/06/that-was-fast-yesterday-it-was-gay-marriage-now-look-who-wants-equal-rights/
So, in the end, I do not agree with Target. I believe they have an agenda behind what they are doing and they have supporters who are most likely funding them in some way that goes against the Word of God.
Will I let my child play with Barbies if he’s a boy or play boy games if she is a girl? Absolutely! It is part of growing up and figuring out who you are. But we can do that with our own children, not companies interfering with our children’s gender.