Lego - how depressing

Go entropy girl!

Here's another ridiculous one: I put tights on my 1y old. I buy them in all colours and stripes with no pink in, mainly navy, grey, rainbow etc. where I grew up it was entirely normal for boys to wear tights. Its cold. Theyre comfy. Loads of people at his nursery have commented on it, all positive if a little surprised. One girl thoughts said, oh I didn't know boys could wear tights? Doh, he's one, he has legs ......

yeah I know panicky crazy person....

It seems that the overall percentage of pink in her sleep suits has jumped up again too...i think we just got into the second size range that other people bought for her grrrrrrrrrr. So thats blue/green/yellow/red sleep suits and trucks on tonight's shopping list...

think I will ask the sales assistants why they are labelled as 'for boys' again while Im at it

Entropy

If she's only 7 months you've probably got away with it without damaging her for life. Do get her some trucks though!

Holy shit - I just realised that given a rattle and a toy truck to divvy up at baby signing I gave the rattle to my 7mo DD and the truck to my friends DS sitting next to her.....it is so hard not to end up sucked into this stereotyping thing. Not only that but DD doesnt have anything with wheels yet, she has a ball but thats it...

As a Guardian headline read yesterday: Canadian teenagers send Lego man into space www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/26/canadian-teenagers-lego-man-space?newsfeed=true

And where is 'woman'? Confined to the Beauty Parlour. Is it just me, or does this not really sound like child's play anymore?

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alittlefeministblogonlanguage.blogspot.com/2012/01/one-giant-leap-for-language.html

I find this gender stuff difficult.

I'm not into pink. Although I had dolls and loved animals as a girl, I also played with lego, cars, dinosaurs and as I grew older I was into science and computer programming as well as reading and art. Girls (and boys) like all kinds of stuff and restricting things by gender only limits them.

I don't like the idea of a house full of 'girly' toys. But I also wouldn't want girls to think that things traditionally associated with femininity are sub-standard or wrong either. They certainly aren't wrong because they are associated with girls. At the end of the day, there are loads of ways to be a girl (or indeed a boy) and I want them to find whatever way suits their personality. I reckon my job as a parent will be to discuss this sort of thing with them as they grow to encourage awareness of peer and media pressure.

Incidentally, I don't like the idea of hyper-masculine toys either. I don't understand why people are frightened of boys playing with dolls and the like. If girls playing with dolls is often about role-playing at being mum, why wouldn't they want boys to role-play at being dad? Skills of caring and nurturing are appropriate in both genders.

I'm 13 weeks pregnant. I don't know whether I'm having a boy or a girl. I will encourage my baby to play with a wide range of toys and discover what he/she enjoys. I hope I can encourage her/him to follow their passions, even when they cross traditional gender boundaries.

fingers crossed babies passion won't be make-up or lethal weapons - whichever gender they are.

My dd2 aged 6, has just seen an advert for the forest police Lego, and announced that she wants that. Even supposedly 'boys' lego appeals strongly to girls.

I would have happily swapped our lego for a Sindy horse or camping set .

Me and my sister used to pool our pocket money to buy Lego. Often it was buildings rather than vehicles (possibly houses for our pippa dolls to live in) but it was still building things

Fennel - I am as girly as they come and did an awful lot of Lego as a 70s child. No My Little Pony or Care Bear in my house, and very few Sindys. I did love Pippa, however!

I just took a look at the Lego friends range. It looks really moronic.

Money is tight these days.Parents will probably only big a couple of Lego sets if their dc aren't obsessed or they're very rich.Personally I suspect a lot of parents of girls will play safe and plump for the pink range now when choosing completely bypassing all the other fab themes they may have gone for before.

Think I must be older as Care Bears etc came after me.We had so much less.Sindy wasn't completely pink and she did stuff.I had the camping set,dune buggy thing etc.It was expensive so you didn't have hoards of stuff all the same but pink.

I had Spirodraw(big hit with my friends),normal Lego,bit of Playmobil. Everything didn't have to be pink or the same as there was less you improvised more.

I just think the pink thing leads girls to expect pink and reject other good toys.It makes them fit in with it all.Also a lot of it is total trash and doesn't ever differ.

All I'm saying is parents need to look for toys that lead to learning opportunities/quality play as play is important.

My dd has a couple of Polly Pockets but not the mall,model runway type shit too.You don't need all that stuff.She gets masses of play out of the box of normal Lego,Playmobil or even a shoe box alongside said figures as she's not trapped in a cafe,beauty world of very limiting toys.

My dds play with lots of lego kits, also lots of technical lego. They have never liked the pink versions (it was Belleville a few years ago when we started buying lego, but they didn't like that). They liked the pirate ships, fire engine, boats, the current 7yo dd (my most typically "girly") likes the house kits very much, and they'd all like Harry Potter probably (don't most children, girls and boys, like Harry Potter? Most I know do). It's not THAT depressing if you just avoid the beauy parlour type kits.

I'm really not that sure that most little girls in my 70's childhood were using their imaginations to build things from lego and scaletrix, that's not how I remember it. Many girls spent their time with my little pony, Barbie/Sindy/Pippa, and care bears.

Ooops sorry it went offline,didn't realise it had still posted.

Bytheway how many women work in electronics? Are there equal numbers of men and women?I suspect not.There isn't in engineering,dp had no women on his degree course.

Channelling girls towards pink unchallenging,uneducational shite isn't going to change that is it.

Also things have changed since when we were little,toys are less generic,less good quality.When I was young toy shops didn't have a pink shit aisle a la ToysRUs.We had less,we used our imagination/brains more.

Only time will tell but seriously I think a large number of the current generation of girls are missing out.

Re Lego themes.There has always been plenty that appeals to both genders if you're that way inclinded of steering where gender is concerned.Only this Christmas there was a lighthouse,Harry Potter,apple tree house,log cabin,robot with lighting up brick.Who will be buying these for their dd's now?.

Personally my dd has enjoyed playing with exactly the same themes as her brothers as she hasn't been conditioned to think all her toys should be pink and involve pets or beauty.

Bytheway how many women work in electronics? Are there equal numbers of men and women?I suspect not.There isn't in engineering,dp had no women on his degree course.

Channelling girls towards pink unchallenging,uneducational shite isn't going to change that is it.

Also things have changed since when we were little,toys are less generic,less good quality.When I was young toy shops didn't have a pink shit aisle a la ToysRUs.We had less,we used our imagination/brains more.

Only time will tell but seriously I think a large number of the current generation of girls are missing out.

Re Lego themes.There has always been plenty that appeals to both genders if you're that way inclinded of steering where gender is concerned.Only this Christmas there was a lighthouse,Harry Potter,apple tree house,log cabin,robot with lighting up brick.Who will be buying these for their dd's now?.

Personally my dd has enjoyed playing with exactly the same themes as her brothers as she hasn't been conditioned to think all her toys should be pink and involve pets or beauty.

Bytheway how many women work in electronics? Are there equal numbers of men and women?I suspect not.There isn't in engineering,dp had no women on his degree course.

Channelling girls towards pink unchallenging,uneducational shite isn't going to change that is it.

Also things have changed since when we were little,toys are less generic,less good quality.When I was young toy shops didn't have a pink shit aisle a la ToysRUs.We had less,we used our imagination/brains more.

Only time will tell but seriously I think a large number of the current generation of girls are missing out.

Re Lego themes.There has always been plenty that appeals to both genders if you're that way inclinded of steering where gender is concerned.Only this Christmas there was a lighthouse,Harry Potter,apple tree house,log cabin,robot with lighting up brick.Who will be buying these for their dd's now?.

Personally my dd has enjoyed playing with exactly the same themes as her brothers as she hasn't been conditioned to think all her toys should be pink and involve pets or beauty.

LanceCpl: TBH I'd have said 'pirates' was fairly gender neutral - DD's main present when she was 6 was a pirate set. (Morally - well, DDs idea of pirates was something like the ones in the 'Overboard' cartoon who never kill anyone and love their dogs)

And I'd bet some parents-of-boys will have refused to buy the more macho sets.

Some of you seem to think just because it's for boys - it's cool, and if it's for girls it's rubbish and pathetic. And you agree with your sons when they say the girl lego is crap
No - the specifically 'girls' lego is relatively rubbish and pathetic. Some of the themes in the Friends sets are good in theory but they're too pre-built. An inventor's workshop - fantastic - but there appears to be very little scope for invention within the set so its pathetic.

LanceCorporalBoiledEgg - I understand your point, and we have all sorts of Lego in this house, that is for everyone.

But one of the main complaints is that 'boys' Lego tends to be more challenging, harder to make and more technical. "girls' Lego is more about scene setting, and is not too much different to Polly Pocket.

In the latest Lego miniseries 6, there is a female Lego surgeon here which I think is supposed to be an effort at equality. I get the feeling Lego are listening, just not enough.

I loved lego as a child, and had no need for it to be girly! I hope in turn my DD (who is only 2 weeks old) will love it too when she is old enough, and hopefully without the need for it to be pink.

I do think that the marketing of toys is way off kilter, as my DS enjoys many craft making activities but due to most of the kits/equipment being pink or aimed at girls in general he is put off asking for them in case his friends see!

Whilst some of you have complained about the very 'masculine' direction that lego have taken in recent years, none have you have refused to buy the blatantly 'boy' sets for your boys have you?
And yet you refuse to buy the obvious 'girl' sets for your girls?
I smell a double standard.

Lots of lego sets are about fighting or pirates - these are not morally neutral themes for young children, any more than a beauty salon is (I personally find both fine if that's what the child wants to play, but if you're going to pick on beauty salons why not pick on warriors).

Some of you seem to think just because it's for boys - it's cool, and if it's for girls it's rubbish and pathetic. And you agree with your sons when they say the girl lego is crap :(

Well my 4 yo thinks warriors and pirates that "just fight all the time" are crap. She doesn't like fighting even if it's pretend. I'm cool with that. I think she'd like a treehouse though.

I agree with the magazine issue btw that's crap.

DD would adore this- but we are definitely not playing along.

However the only other female character that I noticed on a quick flick through the latest mag was Catwoman...

I miss the buckets & tubs it used to come in. I love the fact they do themed things like harry potter but girls ones? really? DD only likes it cause one of the girls has my name & her friends name. She did say she doesnt want it & would rather have normal lego cause she can build her own people. I think its a shame that the characters are already built. Where is the kids imagination going to go on creativity? Its just set up for roleplay now.