Like many people in their teens, I work in a retail store. I am one of the people that stands in front of the fitting rooms and counts how many pieces of clothing you take in to try on and gives you a little plastic card with the number of items you have. I like my job but there are some things that working in retail has opened my eyes to, like how uncomfortable gender labeling in stores make me feel.

Being in the fitting room is a fairly simple job, I count clothing for people, give them a plastic card, then they try on their clothes and bring out what they don't want to buy. The part that makes me uncomfortable is that even though there are signs in the store on both sides of me that say "Men's Fitting Room" and "Ladies' Fitting Room" I am still expected to direct the customers on which side they go to. I know that more goes into gender then a sign on wall in a department store. Someone reading this might think there is an easy fix for that, I should just not tell the customer "Ladies'/ Men's Fitting Room is that way" when they come up to me, I have tried not directing them. When I don't say which way the Ladies' Fitting Room is women will get offended and mad that I didn't tell them they were headed into the Men's Fitting Room. I hate the feeling I get when a customer walks up to me and they look around (apparently not seeing any of the big bold signs to the right and left of me that say "Men's Fitting Room" and "Ladies' Fitting Room") not sure where the fitting room for them is so I have to assume their gender to direct them. I don't like assuming someone's gender just so they can try on a shirt, we live in a world where there is a variety of people with different gender identities and I don't want to offend anyone by assuming.

Maybe I worry about offending people by assuming there gender more than I should because I would hate if someone assumed what I identify as, it has happened to me where people assume I identify as female and straight. I don't like it when such big parts of who I am are assumed when I am still trying to figure it out myself. I know transgender people personally and I wouldn't want to be the person that assumed who they are and offend them when they already have so much to go through in life in this country. It may seem like a small thing to some people, "a simple mistake," but I don't see it that way.

Another gender labeling system in the store I work in has been a huge topic in the past at other big name retail stores, with the kids, and toy section of the store being separated into boys and girls. The infant clothes are even separated into boys and girls, from the moment a child is born the idea of what their gender is "supposed" to be is based on their sex at birth. The Infant section of the store separated by the racks filled with pink and purple dresses across from the blue and orange onesies. One side has hearts and talks about being a princess, the other has trains and talks about being a lady killer. At birth, most parents dress their child in the "boy colors" or the "girl colors" based on their sex.

Now the toy section, that isn't doing so great either. One shelf is all, plastic guns, army camouflage, cars, trucks, superheros, and across from that is a shelf with princesses, baby dolls, plastic kitchen sets, journals, crafts, and the list goes on. The worst part about all of this is a two part problem in a way. The first problem with the gender based everything for children is something that I have seen happen and I got so angry; a father and son are walking through the "girls" toy section and the little boy wants play with a toy he see there and tells his father. His father then tells him " You can't play with that; it is a girl's toy." I got so angry with the father even though I know it wasn't said to be hateful, because that child is now learning it isn't OK to like toys labeled for "girls." Parents are still teaching their children that they can only like things that are associated with their sex, that is a real shame because that new thing that the child enjoyed could have been their new favorite thing. The second part of the toy section being labeled into "boys" and "girls" is something I saw happen today while I was working actually; a little boy no more than four years old was in the toy section on the "girls" side and he then shouted " This is all stuff or girls! Where are the boys toy?" This problem is that children learn so young what is okay and what isn't okay from those who raise them, and when the child has grown up knowing only that one section of the toy aisle is okay for them to get toys from. Learning so young to limited yourself to a section might not work out for all children, limiting them could make them feel shame and guilt for wanting something that might be "boyish" or "girlish" in the future.

I just hope that at some point more parents won't teach their children they can't do something based on their sex, and that those children can grow up and be comfortable with who they are. Everyone deserves to feel like they have an accepting place whether it be in a toy section, fitting room, or a bath room in this country. Don't make others feel bad for who they are inside, we are all human in the end.