An article (more of an editorial, really) at USNEWS.com, entitled “5 Reasons Not to Buy Your Daughter Pink Legos,” begins like so:
Gender segregation starts early these days, with color-coded diapers, blankets, and binkies. Most of us seem happy with this arrangement, spending some $22 billion on toys every year. But when one company recently went too far, the response was swift.
I was immediately reminded on the ONE “Cathy” cartoon I have read in the past decade (I swear.) Cathy is determined to find a gender-neutral toy for her niece. Combing through the toy store, she finally gets an idea: plastic dinosaurs! Unfortunately, they only have two kinds – Dinosaur Commando Squad and Dainty Dino Beauty Shop.
Anyway, Lego did a bunch of research, found that girls were playing with Legos, and figured they might play with them MORE if they were building little kitchens, beauty shops, etc. As a result, a petition protesting the idea went up online, and supposedly has 50K signatures.
This author lays out her case. Here are the bullets:
- Girls are already surrounded by gender stereotypes wherever they turn.
- Girls love Legos, even without the new line for girls.
- Classic children’s toys that stand the test of time are usually gender-neutral.
- Buying the new Lego line will lead to more gender-specific toys.
- Strong girl role models abound, and they don’t have to look like models.
That’s her view…what do YOU think?
(photo: classictcj.com)
It’s all about marketing and what sells. We need to get over ourselves and not worry about something so petty as the color of legos.
good for you…how i feel also
What next…the color of the black dots on dice?
Companies will do anything to sell more products. Let the kids decide what they want to play with. It is going to be really hard to get away from blue or pink but the world is all about color.. There’s way to many things to worry about.