Target faces backlash for gendered toy descriptions

Twitter users are criticizing Target for the company's "insulting" gendered toy descriptions.

On June 1, Ohio native Abi Bechtel was shopping in the toys section at Target when she came across the following aisle listing "Building Sets" and "Girls' Building Sets." Bechtel shared an image of the aisle description to Twitter, where it was retweeted over 2,000 times.

Many Twitter users shared Bechtel's opinion that the toy description was offensive.

Others disagreed with Bechtel.

The AskTarget Twitter account posted the following.

A Target spokesperson provided the following statement to ABC.

At Target, our goal is to provide our guests with choices. In our toy department, we offer a wide assortment of unique, differentiated, must-have merchandise, that children of all ages, stages and interests will love. We know families are tight on time and looking for inspiration. Therefore, we continually explore how to organize our stores and website in ways that will be convenient, appealing and helpful to our guests.

For instance, recently we conducted a test where we removed any reference to gender in the toy aisles in a number our stores. In those stores, our guest research showed us that guests preferred having a variety of indicators that can help inform and guide their shopping trip. Additionally, on Target.com, when guests shop for toys, they most often begin their search by sorting toys by brand, age and gender.

We understand that this is a topic of great interest and will continue to listen to our guests and the conversation.