Shocked by The Entertainer Toyshop!

[hertfordshiremummy]

I've never been in before but was shocked to see toys clearly lablled as "boys toys" and "girls toys" - is is really 2012?? I'd love to know what people think of this. It just seems so wrong and also scarily influential on little minds.

hertfordshiremummy.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/girls-will-be-boys.html

The owners of The Entertainer are devout Christians and probably have old fashioned views. I noticed that their Meadowhall shop is never open on a Sunday and came across this. Just scroll down to Christian beliefs.

I have never noticed this in the Entertainer shop I go to. I quite like the shop, a good range of toys.

They also don't stock combat/aggressive toys. Actually a lot of websites classify toys by sex .

Liz, they have a massive range of Nerf guns - don't they count as combat?

I remember being told they didn't stock anything to do with Harry Potter as magic and Christianity don't mix. Not sure if it's true. They do honour Sundays.

I think it's a great shop. Cheaper than John Lewis with such friendly staff.

I think they have Harry Potter Lego?

None of their stores are open on a Sunday.

I saw the signs the other day and was a bit .

They had loads of guns - in the boys section of course!

Shocked? Get a life, love.
And dont shop there.

think it is their prerogative - and yes they do not trade on Sunday's - fair play to them I think to keep this alive - and to be able to survive without chasing the £ for their beliefs.

Fair play I say.

We all moan about how fast paced life is and different nationalities impacting on British culture - yet here we have an upstanding British company with good Christian values and we still moan! Do children honestly notice the girls and boys sections - no, but adults do - and whats the big deal anyway - we all have choices - they are only doing it to make the adult shopping experience a little easier www.mumsnet.com/emo/te/4.gif
I fully support the Entertainer and would love all shops to close on Sundays and go back to having one day a week as purely family time www.mumsnet.com/emo/te/1.gif

Umm, quite surprised by reactions on here! I thought Hertfordshiremummy's point was about the stereotyping of genders, which is not exactly a Christian value. Of course the children won't conciously 'notice' but still the message is absorbed. Boys do building, play with cars, wear fireman and doctor outfits while girls play with dolls, do cooking and wear fairy and nurse outfits. So how should the boy who loves cooking, or the girl who loves constructing feel? Like they are odd? Of course they aren't. I can't imagine how it makes the adults shopping experience easier. It may seem like a simple thing but it smacks of the kind of subtle sexism that is still inherent in our society. It is a fair point that it isn't just 'The Entertainer' who sorts their stock in this way, many places do it. Doesn't make it any better.

I think the Entertainer is a great shop, and to be honest it seems to be stocked in much the same way as Toy Master. Toys have to be grouped in some way, and therefore it is probably easier to have 'girls' things in one area and 'boys' in another. I have 2 girls and a boy, my boy plays with all the toys in the house and has not been bothered by typical stereotypes. However he still prefers the cars etc which neither of his sisters do (he's the middle one). You can not change the fact that boys and girls are different and do like different things. I wish that society would worry less about the small things and more about the big things in life.

I'm not a Christian but I respect and admire The Entertainer's stance. They always have a beautiful, huge Christmas crib in their shop window of our local branch which I think is a great way of reminding kids what Christmas is really about. Can't think of any other toyshops who would do that rather than pile their window full of stuff designed to make people buy more toys.
Plus, I'm old enough to have lived through the feminist era in the 70s when everyone was insisting that boys and girls are the same and are only programmed to be different by others. There followed much supposed sexual equality in children's activities - and then it all died down again because they really ARE different. The only thing that would really upset me is if The Entertainer flatly refused to sell a doll to a boy or a Ben 10 product to a girl - and I don't think they will ever do that!