AIBU about gender segregation of annuals in WH Smith?

[Catsize]

I think that MN is getting to my inner core.

Photo was taken today in a lovely market town branch of WH Smith. Went in with my partner and 3yr old daughter to see weird subliminal messaging in the display of annuals.

If you are a girl, you'll be interested in the 'Disney Princess, Frozen, pink Paw Patrol(!!), MLP, Beauty and the Beast' shelf.
If you're a boy, you'll be interested in 'Star Wars, Minecraft, Doctor Who, blue Paw Patrol(!!) and Lego Ninjago'.

I've a 5yr old boy and 3yr old girl who like a mixture of these things but the subliminal messaging won't be lost on them.
Tempted to send them an email but want to know if I would be unreasonable in doing so.

My partner stopped me from rearranging the shelves there and then (I felt slightly entitled as I worked there as a teenager).

I just don't get the point. What's the big deal? People are able to make choices as they always have.

It's much much more than clothes and annuals. The clothes and the annuals are a symptom a much bigger, more harmful problem in society which affects both boys and girls in negative ways.

@DeleteOrDecay well the. FFS focus on the big things first.

I don't think a look after the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves approach to gender, capacity, capability and quality of life choice / opportunity will work here, hence mine and others' irritation at this annuals, clothes, colours nonsense.

The sorts of dilemmas and frustrations you and others rightfully ,ament need to be tackled in a more dynamic and far reaching manner then a bunch of people wittering on about this sort of claptrap.

I respectfully suggest it belittles the noble cause.
It also actually demeans the convention of choice that for many has thus far not been harmful at all.

assasinatedbeauty that's sad but it's more down to bad parenting than how books are displayed in a shop.

Why can't there be a bloody pink book?
Im so fed up of all the moaning about pink things?
What about all the kids that actually like pink?

Oh for fucks sake

Picky your battles OP , pick your battles

Of course it has to be tackled from the ground up. The environment that children grow up in influences them, and we can either choose to encourage an environment that harms boys and girls, or one that doesn't. I know what I'd prefer. And it would be very simple to achieve if people didn't dismiss the little things as unimportant or trivial. Small changes would have a cumulative positive effect. I really can't understand the churlishness and deep hostility to simple easy changes.

But how does a shop suggesting girls like pink and boys blue, affect a girls confidence?

My own experience is that girls are massively under confident of their own abilities. But why is this? For example at dds class the top table is entirely girls, the bottom table entirely boys. The boys are working at a level about 2 years behind the girls. And yet, I've heard one of said boys call one of said girls stupid, and the girl believes this. Why?!?

If I want to buy something for a child and I know what they like I would not be pleased if all the stuff was mixed up and difficult to find. I think this gender fluid issue is getting out of hand.

Just stop labelling the shelves boy or girl and put them out on display so that people can FIND them.

Clothes, put them on racks, dresses on one, trousers on another. No need to put boys or girls on them, people can make a choice for themselves.

Too much is being made of this.

(watch the BBC program and find out...it's really good at explaining the connection)

This one is annoying though - but it's from italy the land that hasn't yet developed its feminist muscle

Oh please

lollipop, I agree with you. But I also think that changing the small stuff first can lead to better progress with changing the bigger stuff. I know that this annuals issue is not on a par with the global oppression of women, but discussions like this are healthy and raise awareness.

Assassinated - what's the name of the documentary please?

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09202jz

It's got an unfortunate title that doesn't really represent what it is investigating - "No more boys and girls: can our kids go gender free?". It isn't about not having boys and girls, it's about how current rigid stereotypes harm both girls and boys. It looks at how breaking down the sharp divide in stereotypes helps all the children.

Surely if ease of locating the right annual was their aim, they'd be in alphabetical order?

Thank you assassinatedbeauty.

Jesus wept

IT isn't just locating daffydil, more the 'if you like this, you might like this' ilk.

a bunch of people wittering on about this sort of claptrap.

Nice surely discussion is how people become aware of these issues and learn about why it is a problem.

Im so fed up of all the moaning about pink things?

No one is moaning about pink things, I have nothing against the colour pink. What I do have a problem with is how pink is marketed towards girls and the same with blue for boys.

The amount of dismissive replies on this thread just shows how ingrained gender stereotypes are. Unfortunately there's still a long, long way to go.

Sorry, I looked at the pic, felt no reaction, don't see the issue, I'd have bought my daughter Spider-Man or whatever and though no more of it. Life's too short.

I love how only one person answered my question upthread regarding pink and blue PP books and that answer just so happened to be "well some girls only like pink".

Speaks volumes imo.

But it's not marketed at girls and boys. It's just marketed as "some people like these" and "some people like these". There's nothing stopping boys and girls wanting either. The only people saying that the pink are for girls are the people who are complaining about the gender segregation - everyone else can see that you can buy whatever you want.

WH Smiths have done well in producing a display that isn't gender segregated. A few years ago there would have been a sign saying "for girls" - but now there isn't. If you don't like the fact that pink books are available aim that at the people who make the books. WH Smiths have just displayed what they have.

Delete don't misquote me, I also said some boys might prefer pink and equally some boys might prefer blue.

The only point I was making is that I don't see the problem with children having choices.

You are losing your argument for me by misquoting my meaning to support your view.

"Some people like these" that just happen to be pink, princess-y and glittery...definitely not aimed at girls! No one involved in producing the books or choosing how to display them thought in any way that they were aimed at girls, no sirree!

Literally no one thinks that these stereotypes stop parents choosing what they want to buy. They do however affect what children think, which is the relevant part.