This is an interesting debate, more about the merits and follies of marketing than anything else. But its implications reach much further than one might suspect!
When I was a young lad, my brother and I, like many thousands of boy's in the eighties, played with Lego's off and on throughout the years. We didn't have a lot of money, so we didn't have the gigantic medieval castle sets, and I never got the Airport playset that I wanted for ages...sniff. Ok.....moving on!
But we did cherish and make the most out of the sets that we did have. And we did so because of one crucial quality that LEGO's have that a lot of toys these days don't...the ability to be merely tools for our own imaginations.
To me, LEGO's are a perfect balance between unsophisticated design, and complex building potential. You didn't have to be an engineering marvel to have a lot of fun, making your lopsided apartment complex, with plants growing out of the roof and horses galloping in the living room. You didn't have to be an aerospace engineer extraordinaire- with your triple-decker space jet with wings that wouldn't lift a hummingbird and so many jet engines sticking out the back that, had it been made in real-life, instantaneous self-combustion would have been the more likely outcome.
The results of our handy-work, were like an extension of our own unique personalities. Literally, we built 3-dimensional representations of our individual personalities, motivations and strengths...all in the palm of our hands. I always strove to create the coolest, sleekest looking spaceships...as I was always a StarWars fan.
Interesting, and of note...I ended up joining the Air Force after high school, with a career fixing cargo and fighter aircraft...and my brother [a ridiculously over-powered gun-nut] became a GM certified mechanic, a Harley bike expert, a Honda crotch-rocket guru, and is now planning on joining the Army Reserves this year! HA... I can just hear Yoda: "SymBOLic...your LEGO building...will become, Hmm?!"
When I was a young lad, my brother and I, like many thousands of boy's in the eighties, played with Lego's off and on throughout the years. We didn't have a lot of money, so we didn't have the gigantic medieval castle sets, and I never got the Airport playset that I wanted for ages...sniff. Ok..
But we did cherish and make the most out of the sets that we did have. And we did so because of one crucial quality that LEGO's have that a lot of toys these days don't...the ability to be merely tools for our own imaginations.
To me, LEGO's are a perfect balance between unsophisticated design, and complex building potential. You didn't have to be an engineering marvel to have a lot of fun, making your lopsided apartment complex, with plants growing out of the roof and horses galloping in the living room. You didn't have to be an aerospace engineer extraordinaire- with your triple-decker space jet with wings that wouldn't lift a hummingbird and so many jet engines sticking out the back that, had it been made in real-life, instantaneous self-combustion would have been the more likely outcome.
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| Warning-not real me- Image contains simulated representation of my younger self~ |
The results of our handy-work, were like an extension of our own unique personalities. Literally, we built 3-dimensional representations of our individual personalities, motivations and strengths...all in the palm of our hands. I always strove to create the coolest, sleekest looking spaceships...as I was always a StarWars fan. My brother, however, created wonderfully tough looking tank-like vehicles, with enormous guns, engines, and big wheels.
Interesting, and of note...I ended up joining the Air Force after high school, with a career fixing cargo and fighter aircraft...and my brother [a ridiculously over-powered gun-nut] became a GM certified mechanic, a Harley bike expert, a Honda crotch-rocket guru, and is now planning on joining the Army Reserves this year! HA... I can just hear Yoda: "SymBOLic...your LEGO building...will become, Hmm?!"
So it is with a skeptical eye indeed that I read about the newest product line from the LEGO corporation, entitled deceptively 'LEGO Friends', it consists of obviously girl-orientated figurines or LADYFIGS as they seem to be called, and likewise stereotypical playsets befitting what the Martha Stewarts of the world would call 'girl-orientated'. Examples include: a salon, a horse academy, a veterinary clinic, and a café. See where this is going? Did I mention the 'Ladyfigs', the newer, ever-so-slightly taller girl figurines, have boobs and curves, whereas the previous minifigs of the existing product line, were fairly neutral in shape, with only textures and designs indicating their sex. Behold, Katy Perry got her own LEGO's!
I tend to agree with the crowd that is yelling...'girls are interested in pink and purple and apron-strings...ONLY because that's what the marketing agencies of the last 100 years has told them they are supposed to want!' When in reality, girls start out in life as blank a slate as boys, with their environment dictating their future strengths, interests and accomplishments. Just read up on the studies yo! Girls don't need shallow-minded, profit-driven Ad agencies nor toy companies in the 21rst century reprehensively placing them into a pink and purple boxes, just to sell toys! Girls were already playing with Lego's, they perhaps just needed more girl figurines, and perhaps a commercial or two with, you know...girls in them!
-not more sexism.
Here is a link to a more in-depth article HERE at themarysue.com.
This is an article about the director of SPARK Movement, Dana Edell, and the problems the people at SPARK and others have with these Ladyfigs. You’ll notice there’s a poll at the side there. As I write this, it is 75% in favor of the new gendered playsets.
