{"id":46789,"date":"2012-05-29T11:00:43","date_gmt":"2012-05-29T16:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/?p=46789"},"modified":"2012-05-19T18:32:37","modified_gmt":"2012-05-19T23:32:37","slug":"part-iv-historical-perspective-on-the-lego-gender-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/2012\/05\/29\/part-iv-historical-perspective-on-the-lego-gender-gap\/","title":{"rendered":"Part IV: Historical Perspective on the LEGO Gender Gap"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>The\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessweek.com\/magazine\/lego-is-for-girls-12142011.html\">splashy introduction<\/a>\u00a0of the new LEGO friends line earlier this year\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/online.wsj.com\/article\/SB10001424052970203513604577143034143271506.html\">stirred up a lot of controversy<\/a>. My goal with this set of posts is to provide some historical perspective for the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.themarysue.com\/legos-for-girls-a-reprise\/\">valid concerns<\/a>\u00a0raised in this heated debate.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This is Part IV, see also:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/2012\/05\/08\/part-i-historical-perspective-on-the-lego-gender-gap\/\" target=\"_blank\">Part I: The Brick Era (1932-1977) and\u00a0The Golden Era (1978-1988)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/2012\/05\/15\/part-ii-historical-perspective-on-the-lego-gender-gap\/\">Part II:\u00a0Gender Ahoy! (1989-2003)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/2012\/05\/22\/part-iii-historical-perspective-on-the-lego-gender-gap\/\">Part III:\u00a0Lean LEGO Fighting Machine (2004-2011 )<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>2012: LEGO Friends and the Ensuing Backlash<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/files\/2012\/04\/54.png\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-0\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-46799\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/files\/2012\/04\/54-500x289.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"289\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/files\/2012\/04\/54-500x289.png 500w, https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/files\/2012\/04\/54.png 639w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In Parts I through III, I\u2019ve discussed the history of LEGO\u2019s attempts to capture (or abandon) the imagination of girls and boys.\u00a0 In this final installment, I discuss their newest effort to market to girls, LEGO Friends.<\/p>\n<p>Several weeks before the first wave of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/brickset.com\/browse\/themes\/?theme=Friends\">LEGO Friends<\/a>\u00a0sets were available in U.S. retail stores, Bloomberg Businessweek ran a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/thebrickblogger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/Bloomberg-BusinessWeek-LEGO-Friends-Cover.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-1\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\">cover<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessweek.com\/magazine\/lego-is-for-girls-12142011.html\">story<\/a>\u00a0that presented an in-depth look at TLG\u2019s thought process in creating the sets. This was a very deliberate move on the part of TLG: it got their version of the story out there first (\u201cfour years of marketing research show this is what girls want\u201d) and it made a bold statement about the LEGO brand (\u201clike it or not, the minidoll is LEGO now\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>This move implies that they foresaw the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/news\/mainer-no-friend-of-new-lego-characters_2012-01-08.html\">backlash<\/a>\u00a0this line would inspire and hoped to mitigate it. The article portrays TLG sympathetically, as a company that wants to help girls build important skills and is trying to figure the most effective way to reach them. This idea is echoed in TLG\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/aboutus.lego.com\/en-US\/PressRoom\/CorporateNews\/article\/393912.aspx\">official press release<\/a>\u00a0responding to the controversy. To a certain degree, this maneuver has been successful on TLG\u2019s part. I have seen plenty of people point to the quote about \u201cfour years of marketing research\u201d to dismiss the arguments that LEGO Friends perpetuates harmful gender stereotypes. But the attempt to integrate the minidoll into the LEGO brand is ultimately doomed.<\/p>\n<p>In many ways, LEGO Friends is an improvement over the previous \u201cgirls only\u201d themes. Even more so than Paradisa, for example, LEGO Friends has a building experience that is on par with other currently available LEGO sets (mostly City and Castle, as the action themes use more complex techniques.)<\/p>\n<p>The interests\/occupations of the female characters are just a little bit broader than previous lines. While\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/brickset.com\/detail\/?Set=3932-1\">Andrea<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/brickset.com\/detail\/?Set=3936-1\">Emma<\/a>\u00a0have\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/brickset.com\/detail\/?Set=5942-1\">clear<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/brickset.com\/detail\/?Set=5943-1\">predecessors<\/a>\u00a0from Belville, Olivia the <a href=\"http:\/\/brickset.com\/detail\/?Set=3933-1\">inventor<\/a>, Sophie the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/brickset.com\/detail\/?Set=3188-1\">Veterinarian<\/a>, and Stephanie the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/brickset.com\/detail\/?Set=3935-1\">farmer<\/a>\/<a href=\"http:\/\/brickset.com\/detail\/?Set=3930-1\">pastry chef<\/a>\u00a0(?) broaden the range of possible careers just a little bit.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/files\/2012\/05\/7.png\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-2\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-46883\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/files\/2012\/05\/7.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"486\" height=\"344\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/files\/2012\/05\/7.png 608w, https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/files\/2012\/05\/7-500x353.png 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 486px) 100vw, 486px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Despite the presence of a beauty salon and a fashion designer, the clothing options in Heartlake City are also very limited. There is only one pair of full length pants available and threes shirts with sleeves, everyone else has skirts or capri pants with tangtops and sleeveless blouses. Olivia will have to raid her dad\u2019s wardrobe if she wants to make her laboratory OSHA compliant.<\/p>\n<p>The minidolls may be the biggest barrier to efforts to use LEGO Friends as a gateway to the rest of the LEGO product.\u00a0 In addition to being <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">sexified<\/span> and out-of-proportion to the classic minifig, their articulation makes them simply less interesting than the classic LEGO person.\u00a0 The classic minifig has 7 points of articulation (8 if you count the hairpiece\u2019s ability to move rotate independently of the head) whereas the minidoll only has 4 points (5 with the hair.) Minidolls can\u2019t rotate their hands (which limits the ability to accurately pose accessories) or move their legs independently (which prevents them from being posed in active positions like running, they can only sit, stand or bend over).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/files\/2012\/04\/62.png\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-3\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/files\/2012\/04\/62-500x211.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"211\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The value of the LEGO system is the ability to connect all the different pieces to each other. The only compatibility between minidolls and minifigs is the hairpieces and accessories (think about the message that sends.) More, unlike the legs and torsos of minifigs, which easily connect to standard LEGO bricks so you can build\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/armothe\/3527925223\/\">any<\/a>\u00a0type of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/kaptainkobold\/4829473667\/in\/photostream\/\">legs<\/a>\u00a0you want, the leg to torso connection on the minidoll is not compatible with any standard LEGO connection. \u00a0Additionally, the minidolls do not have LEGO connections on the back of their legs like minifigs do, making it impossible to securely attach to vehicles in seated positions.<\/p>\n<p>To be fair, the minidoll has a slight advantage over the minifig in regards to racial diversity. Though darker skin tones were introduced to minifig in 2003 with\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/brickset.com\/minifigs\/?m=sw105\">Lando Calrissian<\/a>, there has yet to be an identifiably feminine, dark-skinned minifig. Andrea (and Sarah) are therefore trailblazers. Friends is also the first instance of a LEGOLAND scale theme that integrates realistic flesh colors and is\u00a0<em>not <\/em>connected to an external franchise (movies, comics, sports, etc.). This is a topic I&#8217;d like to discuss at length another time, but I hope this is the start of a trend that leads to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/lego.cuusoo.com\/ideas\/view\/7207\">a more ethnically diverse range of minifigures<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In sum, LEGO Friends is far from perfect, but it is a decided improvement over previously girly-LEGO iterations.\u00a0 Still, many consumers object to the line vociferously, coining the clever slogan:<em>\u00a0&#8220;<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/mommyish.com\/stuff\/lego-for-girls-already-exists-its-called-lego-987\/\"><em>LEGO for girls already exist &#8211; it&#8217;s called LEGO<\/em><\/a><em>.&#8221;\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>TLG seems to fundamentally misunderstand this argument. In a press release, for example, they explained:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>We want to correct any misinterpretation that LEGO Friends is our only offering for girls. This is by no means the case. We know that many girls love to build and play with the wide variety of LEGO products already available.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This isn\u2019t satisfying to detractors because the critique of Friends (as I understand it) is not that it is being presented as the only LEGO product line for girls, but that TLG is so clearly marketing LEGO Friends\u00a0<em>only to girls<\/em>. Rather than creating themes that appeal to both boys and girls and marketing them to both boys and girls, TLG is creating products for boys and products for girls. The fact that the focus groups for LEGO friends consisted of girls and women and the focus groups for lines like Power Miners and Atlantis consisted primarily of young boys proves that TLG fundamentally believes that boys and girls have entirely separate needs and desires. This is a harmful belief that we as a culture need to rid ourselves of.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>David Pickett is a social media marketer by day and a LEGO animator by night.\u00a0 He is fanatical about LEGO and proud to be a nerd. Read more from David at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/thinkingbrickly.blogspot.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Thinking Brickly<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0splashy introduction\u00a0of the new LEGO friends line earlier this year\u00a0stirred up a lot of controversy. My goal with this set of posts is to provide some historical perspective for the\u00a0valid concerns\u00a0raised in this heated debate.\u00a0 This is Part IV, see also: Part I: The Brick Era (1932-1977) and\u00a0The Golden Era (1978-1988) Part II:\u00a0Gender Ahoy! (1989-2003) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[55,2102,253,1711],"class_list":["post-46789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-gender","tag-gender-history","tag-history","tag-toysgames"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46789"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46892,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46789\/revisions\/46892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}