Sunny Side of The Stream: A Moral Outcry Defies Target’s Promotion of Self Hatred

By Aliya Kuykendall Published on May 30, 2023

Good news: some in our society are not sitting idly by as children are made the targets of marketing campaigns to normalize unhealthy sexual behavior and the dangerous belief that you can be born in the wrong body. The campaign to boycott Target for their Pride display has gained steam. Target has moved their perversion-themed merchandise to less conspicuous places in the stores in certain locations. They also pulled off the shelves products from Abprallen, a brand that combines sexual perversity themes with Satanic/occult themes.

Products That Encourage Minors and Adults to Hate and Disfigure Their Bodies

Target got attention for their pride display ahead of PrideMonth, especially the “tuck-friendly construction” on a one-piece swimsuit. “Tucking” is how males who hate their God-given masculinity attempt to force their genitals to appear more feminine under their clothing. Thankfully, Americans are becoming increasingly willing to vocalize opposition to this destructive self-hatred, rather than embrace marketing attempts to normalize and promote it.

Other swimwear options had labels saying the designs had a “light binding effect.” Binding is used to flatten breasts. The rejection and hatred of one’s own female body is heartbreaking. Another label indicated the clothing had a gender-neutral design: “Thoughtfully Fit on Multiple Body Types and Gender Expressions.” No celebration of one’s God-given masculinity or femininity here.

A Disturbing Anti-God Brand

Another disturbing move Target made was to partner with a brand called Abprallen. The artist behind this brand identifies as “a gay trans man.” This artist’s designs feature themes involving Satan, witchcraft and the occult. One of the products really got my attention:

This design features a guillotine labeled “homophobe headrest.” Oli London, who has detransitioned after identifying as the opposite sex, rightly asked on Twitter, “Why would @Target employ someone that encourages violence?” I haven’t seen evidence that this exact design itself was in Target stores, but it’s bad enough that Target partnered with a brand that produced this design. Target has since pulled Abprallen products off its shelves, which is good, but not necessarily enough to gain back trust.

For more on this call for targeted violence against those of us who oppose sexual perversion, see Tom Gilson’s “Why I’m Not Boycotting Target.” (He prefers for himself a term other than boycott.)

This is Sad. What’s Sunny About It?

When I shared the news with a friend that these designs existed at Target, she cried. Is this news really fitting for a Sunny Side? Here’s the sunny side of this horrible reality: people are pushing back. What should be treated as unacceptable is being treated, at least by some, as unacceptable. And the pushback is getting noticed.

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I rejoice to see the righteous pushback. Imagine that Target had put this display up just four years ago. Or go back further: 10 years? 20 years? 50 years? 100 years? The further we go back, the saner the response likely would have been: A wholesale rejection of the normalization of wickedness. Anger at normalizing that which harms children.

A good and healthy response to this wickedness being pushed on minors and society is to reject it in nonviolent ways. That’s what we’re seeing. Target has lost $9 billion in stock value.

To see some backlash in our day is to see Americans waking up from the sleepy mentality that this is just the way things are now, and we must accept it or be shunned. No: we can stand for what is right. We can protect our children. We do not have to smile at evil, but we can rather shun it. As Proverbs 3:7-8 says:

Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and shun evil.
This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.

As Dr. Michael Brown has encouraged many times, let us reach out to individuals caught up in its lies with love and let us resist the wicked agenda with courage.

The good news is: people are refusing to accept wickedness as normal. The good news is: while walking through Target, fewer children and minors will see products encouraging them to reject their natural, God-given sexuality. The good news is: designers associating Satan with acceptance have been taken off Target’s roster. The good news is: people are not afraid to speak the truth.

 

Aliya Kuykendall is a staff writer and proofreader for The Stream. You can follow Aliya on Twitter @AliyaKuykendall and follow The Stream @Streamdotorg.

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