Kids sections at stores in California may be getting a gender neutral makeover. The state legislature has introduced a new bill that would force major retailers to ditch the “boy” and “girl” labels when displaying kids and baby items.
Assembly Bill 1084 (AB1084), previously introduced in February 2020 as AB2826, applies to retailers with more than 500 employees, as well as major online retailers that have a physical location in the state. The bill prohibits signage that indicates if children’s items are for girls or boys, and it requires retailers to “maintain undivided areas of its sales floor where the majority of those items being offered are displayed, regardless of whether an item has traditionally been marketed for either girls or for boys.”
If passed, the bill would not go into effect until January 2024. After that, retailers in violation of the bill could be subject to a $1,000 civil penalty. Evan Low, one of the bill’s co-authors, tells the Sacramento Bee that the legislation is inspired by retailers who’ve already acted to remove gendered kids sections from their stores as well as by a staffer’s 9-year-old daughter who was upset at having to go to the “boy” aisle in stores to find science-related toys.
“Let kids be kids,” Low tweeted regarding the legislation.
Let🧸Kids🪀Be🪁Kids
Thank you, @andrewsheeler, for this report.https://t.co/wBtwU9lT60
— Evan Low (@Evan_Low) March 6, 2021
The proposed California legislation would not change the types of clothes or other items retailers are allowed to sell. Girls who like dresses can still find them, and boys who refuse to wear anything but Spiderman T-shirts won’t be out of luck. Instead, these items would all be found in one general children’s area as opposed to being displayed in separate departments.
Many parents are excited about the proposed bill because it would simplify the shopping process and allow kids more opportunity to pick out whatever they like without worrying if it’s intended for boys and girls.
“Stores should be doing that, anyway,” one parent writes on Twitter. ”Just stop putting trucks and stuff on so many ‘boy’ clothes and flowers etc. on so many ‘girl’ clothes. My kids all, boys and girls, liked just plain clothes, like what adults can easily find. Those are gender neutral.”
Stores should be doing that, anyway. Just stop putting trucks and stuff on so many "boy" clothes and flowers etc. on so many "girl" clothes. My kids all, boys and girls, liked just plain clothes – like what adults can easily find. Those are gender neutral.
— Camerams4 ~ mindly.social/@hmayer1953 (@Camerams4) March 7, 2021
Others think putting all kids items together is unnecessary and could lead to confusion when shopping. “When kids are real little, it’s not a big deal,” another person adds, “but [I don’t know] if you are aware that they start developing differently and actually start to take on different body shapes when puberty hits. This whole thing is a non-issue though. Having a target audience for your product is OK.”
when kids are real little its not a big deal.
but idk if you are aware but they start developing differently and actually start to take on different body shapes when puberty hits.this whole thing is a non issue tho. having a target audience for your product is ok.
— Strawbærry Narwhal ‽ (@unvarnishedvoid) March 7, 2021
Though boys and girls sections in stores are common these days, Smithsonian Magazine reports that it wasn’t until 1940 that people started thinking of pink as a “girl” color and blue as a “boy” color, and gender neutral children’s clothing was actually the norm until the mid-1980s. While heavily gendered clothing, books, toys and other items became popular for a while, recently, many retailers have started to shift away from gender-based signage and divisions.
In 2015, Target announced that toys and home decor items would no longer be separated into boy and girl categories. Old Navy features a section on its website for gender neutral kids and family clothing. There are also a number of online children’s retailers, such as Primary, built around the idea of offering kids clothes without gender labels.
Parent-led grassroots organizations like Let Toys Be Toys have long been pushing for gender neutral signage, labels and marketing for kids items. The California legislation isn’t breaking new ground in that regard. Instead, it would expand on an already growing movement to allow kids greater freedom to choose what they like to read, play with and wear without the interference of gender stereotypes.
