How to Confront Retailers on Gender-Neutrality Stance
Gender Should Be Celebrated, Not Despised
Franklin Graham isn't shy about reminding retailers whose patronage made them the giants they are today—us. The Family. The families that back-to-school shop, Christmas shop, birthday shop, grocery shop. The families who equip our children with team sports gear, swim gear, camping gear, baby gear, roller skates, and scooters. The families who make the dash in to grab the latest blu-ray, Wii game, board game, and snack run for family fun night.
How are we consumers thanked for being the bedrock of their corporate success and keeping them in the black? By pandering to the identity issues of an infinitesimal sector of society by making their departments gender-neutral out of deference to the minority. Are you offended? You should be. While a few confused individuals can’t come to terms with the way they were made by the Creator and feminists rejoice, the males in our family are being demasculated. Subliminal messages are being whispered into the ears of our girls to feel ashamed of their femininity. This is wrong, and it needs to stop.
Franklin Graham's bold stand against such a current corporate policy should teach us all take a lesson. The trend in American society to throw morals, ideals, and values out the window for a select few is a slap in the face to democracy. Remember democracy? Democracy has taken a beating in recent times, but it’s still about the majority ruling and the power of the people. Regardless of your skin color, your religious affiliation, your political party, or your nationality, there is one thing all of us still have in common: we believe in family. When a retailer puts your family in its sites, you need to react.
Once upon a time, shocking events only happened periodically. With the instantaneous transmission of information in our technological society, combined with the rapid deterioration of sound principles in our culture today, it’s too easy to become complacent. What once drove us into an immediate fervor of reactionary combat of good versus evil has been reduced to only a slightly raised brow. We need to wake up. We need to shake off the blinders. We need to take a new course. We need to allow ourselves to feel “shock” again and then do something about it. The survival of our civilized society and our families depends on it.
What can you do? Everyone knows the most important thing to a business is its bottom line. A company that runs in the red is a company that won’t last. Those of us who love our favorite shops don’t want to see them fail, but store officials need to hear us and stop this gender-neutral nonsense or suffer the loss of our business. Here’s how you can help such retailers get back on track:
Take Action
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Call local stores that are making such sweeping changes and voice your concern, or send a letter to the store managers of such companies in your area. Visit their company websites, enter your zip code, and you will find the addresses and phone numbers of the stores in your city in question.
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Call the corporate offices or write them as well. If you can't find the proper addresses online, the local branches will be able to furnish you with this information.
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Contact other businesses in your community who DO affirm the distinct gender roles with the proper signage and gender-specific colored displays to encourage them not to take the same path as other retailers so they can retain your business. Then, patronize the stores who hold firm to your family-centered ideals on gender issues.
Sample Correspondence
Many people say, But, I’m not a good writer or I’m not an effective speaker. To make this easier for you, here’s a sample letter you can tweak to your own specifications and send to stores with such nonsensical policies::
To Whom It May Concern:
As long-time patrons of [insert store name here], our family is saddened and dismayed at the recent changes your corporation has implemented to make your stores more gender-neutral. We support the stand Franklin Graham has taken, citing that God created male and female (Matthew 19:4). Why are you PANDERING to .3% of the population--such an insignificant segment of society--while throwing the rest of us under the bus?
We have both a daughter and a son, and we celebrate their differences. Why would we want to make them feel ashamed of their inherent femininity and masculinity? We don’t live in an androgynous society. What an insult for your company to attempt to force families into the mold of faceless, genderless, colorless consumers! It’s an insult to us as individuals, and it’s an assault on the institution of the family.
Consider when Chick-Fil-A took a moral stand for the family when the CEO defined marriage as between one man and one woman and suffered a severe backlash from left-wing liberals. The conservatives peacefully and respectfully demonstrated their support by flooding Chick-Fil-A with their patronage. According to the Annual Restaurant Report 2015, Chick-Fil-A has surpassed all fast food chain competition and continues to retain a strong hold on the number one spot. The MAJORITY of Americans appreciate and support businesses that do not attempt to undermine our families, and our love of God and country. The majority of people blessed Chick-Fil-A, and God blessed Chick-Fil-A for standing up for what was right.
It is tragic that your corporation has chosen to flagrantly disregard the preferences of the majority to help lead our culture into further depravity and moral decay. We sincerely hope that Americans will not sit on the sidelines, shaking their heads, yet becoming so accustomed to this national trend towards moral bankruptcy and attack on conservatism that they fail to act.
As for our family, we will take our business elsewhere and no longer shop at your store. We will support companies that celebrate and affirm the differences between males and females because that is the type of business that honors God and family. If your company changes its position in the future by admitting it made a mistake and returns signage and displays to pinks and blues, boys and girls, men and women, etc.……..we will be happy to shop there again. We urge you to reconsider your position on this issue.
Sincerely,
Your Family Name (Your City, Your State)
Next, find other retailers in your area you would like to continue to patronize. Consider contacting the manager with a letter such as this:
Dear Store Manager:
I’m sure you’re aware of the news regarding [insert store's name here] move to make their stores more gender-neutral. We love [insert store name], but as a result of this change, we will no longer be patronizing their store (please see enclosed letter we have sent to their Corporate Headquarters and all said local stores).
We do a significant amount of shopping in your store as well, and we hope to continue doing so. We would like to encourage your store not to follow the poor example of some retailers, but rather continue to provide families with toy and other departments that recognize and affirm males and females with distinctive signage and gender-specific colored displays. We would appreciate the opportunity to shop locally and hope the business we have previously directed to [insert store name here] may be re-routed to your store.
Again, if there are any corporate plans in the works to mute or smudge the lines between males and females, we would encourage you to pursue the more family-friendly approach that has served you well in the past so our patronage may continue.
Sincerely,
Your Family Name
There's Still Hope
Don’t think your call won’t matter. Don’t think your letter will make no difference. If the squeaky wheel of .3% of society could create such an overhaul of a beloved retailer, how much more will our collective voices be heard? It IS possible for such retailers to re-think their marketing strategies and respond positively in favor of our majority. What you have to say is important. Let it out. Don’t complain about the downfall of national morality without doing something to change it. Throw political correctness out the window. Political correctness, after all, is just a man-made scheme to silence the voice of the majority (especially the conservative sector) while pandering to the minority (typically the anti-American, anti-Family, anti-God members). Stop this attack on American family values and take your stand now. With your help, maybe we can all shop at these favorite retailers again soon.
