You have probably heard the story about Target ditching its gendered toy sections. But have you read the comments? The backlash comments about Target's gender - neutral labeling generally fall into two categories. Most are "Hell in a handbasket" reactions, composed of hand-wringing and dire predictions. Maybe learning -- or remembering -- a bit of history will assuage those fears, but probably not. They spring from the same revisionist history that claims that "God" has always been in the Pledge of Allegiance . It's the other reactions that are more troubling: the ones that ask mockingly , "Is this your biggest concern", and accuse advocates for more choices for kids of being obsessed with an issue that is ultimately trivial. These "tempest in a teapot " commenters are the more dangerous opposition, because they won't be swayed by historical evidence. They just want us to shut up and go away.
