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).

If you are worried about your children succumbing to subliminal messaging you are spend too much time thinking about shop displays and not enough time thinking about parenting.
Sorry but what bollocks.

Oh fgs, now it's parenting criticism. It's perfectly possible to spend more than enough time parenting whilst also having the brain capacity to think about what kind of environment our children should be exposed to. It's not actually that complex either. The things that could be improved are very simple. It's not even subliminal it's very upfront and obvious messages.

Some people really do have nowt better to do than walk around looking for something to twine about.

It's fine. There are no notices saying boys this way and girls that way. It's just arranging books according to their type. Like thrillers in a section, and romances in another.

THEN WHY ARE THERE TWO PAW PATROL BOOKS IN DIFFERENT COLOURS??!!

Then you must take it up with the publishers and not W H Smith's. I agree that two books the same but in different coloured covers one for boys and one for girls isn't on.

If they were arranged by type then the two paw patrol books would be next to each other, surely?

Seriously? It's not like it says girls shelf and boys shelf they are just on shelves. Just buy the one you want.

Or stop shopping there if their annual display offends you too much.

Why is that so many people just want to shut this conversation down and not engage with any of the points made? No one is offended or suggesting a boycott. Just a simple discussion about whether this is unnecessary sex-based stereotyping/separation.

If they are arranged by type, what is the type that gets Star Wars/Minecraft/Doctor Who/Paw Patrol (blue)/Lego Ninjago on one shelf, and Disney Princesses/Frozen/Paw Patrol (pink)/My Little Pony/Beauty & the Beast/Jacquline Wilson on the other? What are those two types of books?

delete, I agree re:Megabloks. Likewise Lego Friends. My kids now call it boys' Lego and girls' Lego. Great. I vowed I would never buy Lego Friends but relented as I think that part of the whole feminism gig is to allow freedom of choice. However, what assaassinate says is right - the documentary suggested it is the subtle influences.
Take the annuals above - those aimed at girls nearly all have beauty and princessy themes. Those aimed at boys have strength and intelligence and logic and adventure.
Social conditioning starts very young and it is very subtle.
In the documentary described, they dressed boys of 9mths or so as girls and vice versa. Strangers were invited to play with the children, picking from a myriad of toys. The toys they picked were those we associate with the gender of the child concerned. Each was surprised to discover the truth and reflect on their own attitude and behaviour.

There's no way to prove it but i reckon if this had been posted in Chat there'd be a much better discussion and a lot fewer dickhead responses.

Hilarious and ironic parenting criticism. It's precisely because I am trying to be a good parent that I think about these things. I do not ever want to be like the dad I heard in ToysRus steering his young daughter way from a large toy tractor as that was 'for boys'.

Its just a non starter for me. I have 3 boys and 3 girls so our house has always had every type of toy known to toddlers forever.

Jacks fave was the big kitchen, whilst Anna loved the transporter lorry.

I can't believe I was a trendsetter! lol

Actually I think too much thought goes into this now.

You need to get a grip and focus on things that really matter!!!!

It's not a modern trend. Things used to be much less rigidly stereotyped when I was a child in the 70s/80s, there wasn't the sea of blue and pink that there is now. It's odd how we seemed to have moved backwards in recent decades and many people seem to be very defensive of these rigid stereotypes.

@buttercup54321 how do you know we're not?!

Really. Wish this was all there was to worry about.

You need to get a grip and focus on things that really matter!!!!

It is possible to care about more than one thing at a time you know.

I am trying to be a good parent that I think about these things. I do not ever want to be like the dad I heard in ToysRus steering his young daughter way from a large toy tractor as that was 'for boys'.

Exactly. I care about this because it affects my dc.

It is possible to consider more than one thing at a time, and consider how the apparently small things can add up and contribute to a larger effect.

One of the most striking things I found from the recent BBC program about boys and girls was the way that boys struggled to express their anger and how it affected their behaviour in school. That will have long term implications for their future prospects. There was also an issue with boys ability to empathise. Really surprising the differences already by aged 7. A lot of this was reversed by some very simple changes in a matter of weeks.

Small simple changes to society could make a big difference in the long run.

Small simple changes to society could make a big difference in the long run

Agree. Like reforms in school meals, 5p carrier bag charges, free range eggs etc.

Sadly this subliminal psychological priming does have an impact on the way children learn to perceive themselves in society. Worse than this display is the Smyths toys catalogue. All the sports pictures are boys, all the boys are "fierce" and all the girls are meek. The creative pages are all girls. The music pages all boys. The girls dressing up all pink dresses and the boys superheroes. I can tell you that the 100s of teenagers I work with every week certainly are increasingly impacted by the images they are exposed to. It is no surprise that as girls are exposed to increasing amounts of imagery with requirements to look a certain way to be considered pretty and to be an object of attraction that depression in girls has sky rocketed.

So just pick the annual you want for you child and let everyone else do the same. No need to make such a fuss

YANBU - the pink and blue Paw Patrol annuals are enough to get my blood boiling.

That sort of gender profiling isn't even economically intelligent either. Twice as much work for the same end number of units shifted. Heaven forbid Skye and Chase get shared billing. They're just splitting their sales.

Really, if your kid loves Paw Patrol are they going to be put off because there is a character of the opposite gender in the book? They don't segregate the show, why do it with the merchandising?

@buttercup54321 do you want to respond to any of the points made, at all?

Clearly parents can buy what they want, no one has suggested otherwise. Not sure why having a gentle discussion on a discussion forum is "making a fuss".

Where does it say boys and girls, have I missed something?