California mandates gender-neutral toy aisles for large retailers – Axios

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Saturday a bill requiring large retailers to provide gender-neutral toy sections, per the Los Angeles Times.

Why it matters: California is the first state to adopt such a law. LGBTQ advocates have pointed out that marketing methods using pink and blue hues “pressure children to conform to gender stereotypes,” AP notes.

• The Consumer Federation of California supported the law, saying: “Keeping similar items that are traditionally marketed either for girls or for boys separated makes it more difficult for the consumer to compare the products and incorrectly implies that their use by one gender is inappropriate,” the Sacramento Bee reports.

via www.axios.com

Years ago, when our boys were young, a relative gave one for Christmas a little play baking set, complete with a small pink plastic rolling pin. My son opened the set up, puzzled, and holding up the rolling pin, said “What’s this, Daddy?” I looked at it and said “It’s a Phaser!” “Cool!” he replied, and ran off, making ray gun noises.