Today, I continue my current crusade/tour of gender stereotypes perpetuated by toy companies. What can I say? I’m on a roll.
Today, it’s your turn LEGO.
Part of me hates to single out LEGO, they’re not the only ones guilty of this crime, and I loved them as a kid. Zer and I had our own gender-neutral Lego kits (they were like little Lego suitcases and were awesome).
Many of these issues with gender roles and kids are labeled as complicated and messy, and they can be. Life is complicated, it’s true, but sometimes it just doesn’t need to be.
Case and point: A recent letter written by a seven-year-old girl named Charlotte to LEGO made headlines both because it’s adorableness and its awesomeness. Here’s just part of Charlotte’s note:
“Today I went to a store and saw Legos in two sections the girls pink and the boys blue. All the girls did was sit at home, go to the beach, and shop, and they had no jobs but the boys went on adventures, worked, saved people, and had jobs, even swam with sharks.”
It’s heartbreaking, no?
Her request is simple. All she wants is:
“…more Lego girl people and let them go on adventures and have fun ok!?!”
Ride-on Charlotte, ride-on.
What makes it worse is that LEGO hasn’t always been so hung up on marketing to girls vs. boys.
This recently revived LEGO ad is proof of that:
That’s the same girl, posing with LEGO for girls then and LEGO for girls now.
I know LEGO is trying to make this right by adding scientists, surgeons, and astronauts to its female character repertoire, but the fact remains that they still work in pink labs, wear pastel scrubs, and explore space in sparkly shuttles.
Guys you’re over-thinking this. You’re a toy company. You shouldn’t be worrying about appealing to boys or appealing to girls, but appealing to kids. Why not feature a girl in your commercial for LEGO Batman? I speak from experience, some little girls like superheroes too.
Finally, for the sake of fairness I have to add that girls are not the only ones who suffer when you pigeon-hole children into gender roles. If the boys want to play with the LEGO Disney princesses, let them.
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USA Today: Where are all the Lego girls? 7-year-old wants answers
Mashable: Found: Girl in 1981 Lego Ad Is Now an Alt-Medicine Doctor in Seattle
…bi-daily smile…
