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dm branch in Giessen (archive photo)
Photo: Jan Huebner / Blatterspiel / IMAGO
One bubble bath in light blue, one in pink: the drugstore chain dm has won the negative award "Golden Fence Post" for gender stereotypes, well, well.
The award, which aims to refer to “absurd gender marketing”, was awarded to the company by a jury on Wednesday.
"At the drugstore chain dm, various products are apparently marketed to a specific gender," criticized jury member Judith Rahner.
The company had a large number of products in its branches "named and sorted according to binary gender segregation and designed the packaging accordingly with clichés," it said in the explanation.
dm refers to the wishes of customers
Already at the time of the nomination it was criticized that the very youngest are divided into two parts: "Tell us what your child has between their legs, we will tell you which pacifiers, burp cloths, drinking bottles and bibs it should use."
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The drugstore replied that some of the products depicted by the price initiators had not been in the range for a long time.
Managing Director Kerstin Erbe also stated: "In dialogue with our customers, we always recommend choosing the product that parents and, above all, the child feel most comfortable with - regardless of colors and motifs."
At the same time, so dm, one orientates oneself on the needs of the customers.
"With regard to baby and children's products, for example, we have found that the majority of our customers want girls and boys to have a familiar color scheme and design." Of course, the range also includes products "in gender-neutral colors".
The "Golden Fence Post" was first awarded in 2017.
Behind the award is an association from Bonn which, according to its own statements, is committed to »promoting freedom of choice beyond limiting stereotypes«.
At that time he went to reading textbooks for girls (ponies and princesses) and boys (pirates and police officers).
In 2021, the jury included the inclusion activist Raul Krauthausen.
Proposals could be submitted online.
mamk / dpa
