Complaint filed against pink toys for girls, blue for boys

A civic group filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, taking issue with baby products that come in pink for girls and in blue for boys, a civic group said Thursday.

From clothing to stationery and toys, retailers have traditionally assigned blue to boys and pink to girls when they design products, which the civic group Political Mamas says deprives infants and their parents of rights to choose.

They also took issue with playhouse toys, such as pretend kitchen ranges, which they say have reinforced a gender stereotype that housework and child care are women’s job.

“Children cannot help but be influenced by such a girl-boy classification while using such products. It is clearly a violation of human rights,” the civic group said.

Once the NHRCK receives complaints over human rights violations, it launches a probe and sets out recommendations, though they are not legally binding.

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)