“Girly” Lego Friends Lineup is Out.

The picture above is one of the fourteen new Lego Friends sets being marketed to girls.  Specifically, it’s called Olivia’s Inventor’s Workshop and features a female character doing brainy stuff like complex math and building cool stuff with tools. 

The rest of the lineup is kinda heavy. on. the. animals. but at least there are a few professionals too: the inventor, above; someone who runs a design school; a musician; a veterinarian; and what appears to be a baker.  I don’t see any construction workers or cops or auto mechanics but I’d be thrilled if my daughter grew up to work in any of these character’s chosen professions.  All those options are infinitely better than being a sparkly fairy Barbie princess painting her nails for the millionth time while she waits for a buff mentally-challenged fashion-plate prince to show up.

(Relatedly, here’s a size comparison of the new Lego Friends minifigs vs. standard minifigs.)

There has been some furor over the new Lego lineup.  For example:

These kinds of toys aren’t what girls want, they’re what girls are told they should want: feminine, frilly activities with little need for building and more focus on the Lego “Ladyfigs” looking so super cute in their hot tubs, singing in what appears to be a nightclub and driving around in a convertible.

While there are Lego sets in the new Friends line that include professions like vet and inventor (the “smart” Olivia), these lines don’t manage to break through the gendered portrayal of the sets overall.  While it’s nice to see a Ladyfig working on science and a career, the range of options presented to girls is still limited. The Ladyfigs are compatible with regular Lego sets, but the regular sets won’t be available to kids unless parents are willing to buy both kinds. [emphasis added]

I totally agree that the toy and retail industries are doing a great disservice to our daughters by reinforcing stupid and harmful gender stereotypes. It’s truly idiotic that girls are pushed into pink frilly sparkly crap while boys are pushed into guns and robots and such. Lego is part of this: go into any Target or Walmart, and the Legos are firmly in the “boys” stuff along with Nerf guns and Transformers and such.  Nevermind that there is nothing gender specific about Legos (or Nerf or Transformers) except in antiquated social traditions.  My own daughter likes princesses and fairies and puppies but she also like Star Wars and airplanes and robots. She wanted to be a sword-wielding zombie fairy princess for Halloween. See, there’s nothing wrong with liking princesses. The problem is when you tell kids they can’t (or shouldn’t) like something because of their gender.

So, in the case of Lego Friends, who do we blame?  In my opinion, the problem is not Lego.  The problem is the retail industry.  I have no problem with Lego’s marketing plan with Lego Friends. They’ve had very little success breaking through the “boy” boundary in the industry, even with attempts like Belville (which seemed to go nowhere), so it makes perfect sense for them to make a line that the retail giants are willing to display in their “girl” toy zones.  And these Legos will likely be the most progressive girls’ toys in those sections.  If I were on their marketing team, I’d be hoping that these would succeed wildly and would make girls take another look at other Legos.  (Plus: I’m expecting this to be some kind of test of the new minifig design, which has not changed fundamentally in decades.)

But, perhaps, the root of the problem is parents.  Note my highlighted line above: the regular sets won’t be available to kids unless parents are willing to buy both kinds. Exactly. I will buy both kinds. I already do buy and mix Legos with my kids. You should too. Your kids deserve a variety of opportunities, in play as in life.

What do you think?