Vidya Singh

The first time I noticed the divide between “boys” toys and “girls” toys was about seven years ago when I was looking for something with Mickey Mouse on it for my husband’s nephew. I didn’t have kids of my own yet, and I was surprised by how much toy stores had changed since I was little. One long aisle was dedicated to the famous mice, with Minnie on my left and Mickey on my right. Mickey had interesting career paths to choose from.

“Where’s your baby?” asked one of the men in uniform. “She’s at home.” “So why you have this?” he asked with a scrunched face. “Drink is only allowed if baby is with you.” He was doing his best not to look at the long silver table beyond the X-ray scanner where a row of rectangular plastic bags stood, each visibly filled to the top with milk. Some were slumped, sweating as if they knew they were about to lose a fight. Another uniformed man glanced at the bags and then looked away in discomfort.