Honestly, as a parent, I expected more from Lego. Of all the toy companies in all the world, they seemed the most unlikely culprit to buckle under the pressure of Princess Nation (you know, that segment of pop culture devoted to coloring little girls' thoughts pink). Sadly, the new Lego Friends line seems to indicate that I was mistaken.
Basically, all you need to know about Lego Friends is that they come in exclusively pastel colors with names like Emma the Beautician and Social Butterfly Stephanie.
Sigh.
But even though I'm disappointed, I'm not entirely surprised. Lego Friends are merely the latest gender-simplifying plaything designed to keep the glass ceiling intact for generations to come.
Just like those dusty old board games I used to play with from my grandmother's basement ...
Actually, to be fair to Lego, board games from the 1960s make Social Butterfly Stephanie look like Gloria Steinem.
"What Shall I Be? The Exciting Game of Careers for Girls" limited ambitious young ladies' futures to such options as Ballet School, Airline Training School, Charm School, and Drama School. (Which career was the right fit for you depended on the heart-shaped cards you were dealt; for example, "You are overweight" meant you'd never make it as an Airline Hostess, Ballet Dancer, or Model.)
Milton Bradley's "Mystery Date" took an equally evolved approach to love and romance. Collect the proper accessories and catch a dreamy fella! Swoon.
Dumbed-down toys and games for girls have been so consistently commonplace for so many years that Saturday Night Live even did a commercial parody about it, "Chess for Girls." The classic game of strategy, wit ... and bubbles!
I don't expect this phenomenon to go away ever anytime soon. I'm just relieved that my daughter outgrew her own short-lived fascination with all things frilly years ago. Not because I think toys like Lego Friends do any real harm to girls, necessarily, but because they don't do girls any good, either.
What do you think of Lego Friends?
Image via Bloomberg Businessweek
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Comments 77
its shit like this makes me glad i didnt have a girl
Why do we think if a toy company makes something, we are required to buy it? If it doesn't sell they will cease production. The reality is girls are different from boys (shocking I know) and different things, even colors appeal to girls ... even MORE shocking, girls are different from OTHER girls and different colors and ideas appeal to them. It is stunning that children of the 50's and 60's (those of us in our 40's and 50's) ever succeeded with all of the toys that held us down. Let girls be girls ... how empowering to know that being a GIRL who likes princesses and pink and butterflies and bows has value. Let girls be girls, the fantasy only last for a few years. As for Lego, good for them, we live in a free market society, if the market wants to support girl toys they would be stupid to ignore that piece of the pie!
seriously? there are better things to bitch about than a fucking lego doll. get over this "sexist" bullshit.
i would like to just say toys are toys no matter who they are for. as a child i had barbies and realy girly stuff BUT i also had matchbox cars and playd with boy stuff i played football with my causins. as a child it doesnt matter who they are for. a child will like what they want to like and as parents we need to guid our child in to being their OWN person. even if it means they like the all mighty girly frilly stuff. thats what they like and we shouldnt try to change them. so if lego wants to bring out girly legos and little girls like tham and want them so be it
I feel like the real issue with legos is a lack of middle ground. Boys could benefits from a more gener nutral "dream house" type set that lets them pretend to be any kind of grown up they want. honestly, how many kids dream of desk jobs? Firefighter or ballarina are popular choices because they are fun jobs! They look exciting and active. I don't know any kids who want to be a CEO, it sounds good to an adult but our kids aren't ready to trade inactivity and stress for a pay check just yet.
In the article that this article is based on, all 5 lego girl sets are given, not just the "girliest" ones: Animal lover (vet?), smart girl, beautician, singer, and social butterfly. (I'm not sure where you're getting SAHM from.) This article just focused on the careers/character traits the author found particularly degrading, I assume. It strikes me when I read the original Huffington Post article that these lego girls aren't meant to be occupational, like Doctor Barbie etc. and be about what girls aspire to be when they grow up, but it seems to be more a reflection of what girls might identify with now. Aspects of their personality they like and want to focus on.
I do tend to have an internal "ew" reaction when it seems like all the girl stuff is drowning in pink. Even my daughter, who likes frilly sparkly pink girly stuff, is getting sick of it. She likes yellow more and keeps asking why nothing is ever yellow. But I don't think that looking down on traditionally female traits and roles and careers is particularly helpful for girls. Many girls will want to be stylists or bakers or caregivers or whatever, just like many will want to be doctors or lawyers or politicians. There is nothing wrong with any of those careers and I don't see what good it does for girls to tell them they're not smart enough to know what they want to do.
If you don't like them, don't buy them. The solution is simple. I don't mind gender specific toys. What I do mind is people telling their son that they can't have a doll because they think it will turn them gay... REALLY?? It's the most ignorant thing ever. So if my daughter wants to play with a GI Joe or My Little Pony, she can, same goes for my son. The one gender specific toy I absolutely refuse to buy is Bratz and similar dolls. Those things are just plain ugly and send out the wrong message.
What is so wrong with being pink and frilly?
I agree that the pink princess stage only lasts a few years or at least it did for us (thank heavens!!!) However, I do wish that Lego had more girl-oriented kits. My daughter used to love to build with blocks and had a few legos, but she was never interested in the pirates, space ships, etc...that Legos typically sells. We found 1 girl/gender-neutral house kit. What gets me is that Lego must think that only boys like to build stuff and that is the issue for me. My girl is one of those who used to wear pretty clothes, but be outside hunting for worms and frogs.
Good grief. I buy my girls barbies and dolls and kitchen sets. I don't care if it makes me a sexist mother. My kids like playing with girl toys. They also like trucks. I don't think I'm messing my kids up by letting them play princess and mommy. Let your kids play with what they want to play with and stop turning children into political disagreements.