Toys R Us becomes latest company to fight back against gender stereotypes

Toys R Us has stopped telling girls and boys what they should be playing with, in a victory for parents upset by gender-based marketing.

The company, one of the world's best-known toy retailers, has dropped gender filters from its UK website following complaints that such signposting puts off girls from playing with trains and construction sets.

Shoppers are instead invited to browse depending on the child’s age group, brand, or type of toy they are after.

Campaigners and politicians have warned that stereotyping can deter girls from studying science and engineering.

Toys R Us joins a growing group of retailers from Marks & Spencer and Tesco to Boots and Sainsbury’s that are adopting a more unisex approach.

Jess Day, at Let Toys Be Toys, a pressure that has been campaigning for gender neutral toys for the last three years, says the group has a directory of retailers awarded its Toymark “for marketing toys in a way that is inclusive to both boys and girls”.

Earlier this month, i100.co.uk reported on Toy Planet, the Spanish toy maker which is turning gender stereotypes on their head by advertising its entire Christmas range in unisex.

Posters released by the company show boys pushing prams and girls playing with DIY tool sets and the company's general director calling on more retailers to follow their lead.

Read Susie Mesure's full Toys R Us report in the Independent on Sunday here

More: This Spanish toy company is turning gender stereotypes on their head