Dear Target,
Ever since I first discovered you in college, when I went away to school to a Land That Had a Target when my hometown did not, I have loved you. I was very happy when, by the time I graduated and moved back home, we had Targets galore in my city. And now, if I think, as I often do, “I need to go to Target!” or more likely, “I need to find an excuse to go to Target because I LOVE TARGET!” I can rest assured knowing there are not one, not two, but three Target stores equidistant from my home and two more a little further out if need be. Whew!
All that to say, Target: I love you long time.
I love your bright lights, clean aisles, and your printable, mobile, and Cartwheel coupons. I love your clearance. I love your Red Card that is linked to my checking account and saves me 5% every time I shop.
What I DON’T love? Your girls department. To be honest, most of my 7-year-old daughter’s clothes are very nice hand-me-downs, and I’ve never really taken a good, hard look at your girls’ department until last night, when I was trying to find her something appropriate for “super hero dress up day” at school. And then, I took a very good, L-O-N-G look.
You know what I found in the girls’ department? Minnie Mouse, My Little Pony, Ever After High, and Hello Kitty. You know what I found in the boys’ department? Batman, Superman, SpiderMan, the Avengers, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Forgive me if I’m just a little frustrated.
There should be hero options in the girls’ department. There should be options beyond pink and sparkle. Does my daughter LIKE pink and sparkle? Yep. Does she LIKE Hello Kitty? Yep. Does she LIKE superheroes? Yep. Should she have OPTIONS available for both types of clothing? Absolutely. I wasn’t even looking for a GIRL superhero necessarily (although a little Wonder Woman never killed nobody. Right?) but some of those lady Avengers would’ve been cool. But I’d also have been cool with SpiderMAN, BatMAN, and SuperMAN t-shirts in the girls’ department. Because you can be a fan of a superhero regardless of said hero’s gender.
In the end, after a l-o-n-g tour around every part of the store I thought could POSSIBLY offer a solution to this problem, I bought my daughter a Batman t-shirt from the boys’ department, a Batman hat from the boys department, a yellow mask attached to a set of underoos from the boys department, and a pair of black leggings from the girls’ department. It turned out pretty cute:
But my shopping experience left me jaded. Target, my friend, our girls deserve better options. So why don’t you go back to the drawing board and make more and better t-shirt options for them? My daughter loves Super Mario Bros., Sonic, LEGO, and pretty much everything else that’s available in the boys’ department. And while we’re at it, why not make KIDS some t-shirts with real heroes on them, too? Like Amelia Earhart or Neil Armstrong, for instance. I’d buy those t-shirts.
I love you, Target. But I know you can do better. So DO better.
Love,
Jenny
