To be really annoyed with Lego Club

[anastaisia]

I don't mind them having the new Lego Friends range. Some children, of both genders will like it.

I do mind then switching my daughter's 'normal' Lego Club magazine to Lego Club GIRLS magazine and making me call them to switch it back. And having a special magazine for girls which makes boys the 'default' and girls something other and different.

If it's all the same, I'd prefer to have to opt into ridiculous gender stereotyping for my daughter than have to opt out of it. Or, you know, just have one magazine that features all the ranges so children can choose freely from them according to their interests and personality rather than being shown special toys to suit their gender....

I don't have the foggiest idea what a Lego club is, let alone the friends range.
FWIW, I've always considered Lego to be gender neutral. So not aimed at a certain gender, but both.

Kreecher - Lego Club basically sends out a quarterly magazine to members, a decent mix of marketing and actual engagement with the children reading. Has comic strips based on their ranges, ideas for things to make, competitions, pictures of things children have made. Well, it was for kids generally, now it's for boys as the default and girls get a special girly version.

Pink Stinks have information about the new range and deliberate marketing at girls here. I wasn't really bothered about it existing - but I really am cross about my daughter being pushed towards it this way rather than it just being another option. She likes Lego Atlantis, Indiana Jones, Ninjago and just building things with sets of bricks. There's nothing in this magazine except Lego Friends or Lego City and some TV/Film character ranges.

I saw an ad for the Lego Friends yesterday and it's certainly something I'd have loved as a kid. What I wanted was more flowers and female figures in my Lego. I just wanted to build houses and gardens, I wasn't interested in spaceships and rockets. I'd have gone bloody mad for a pink toy cake shop.

I don't object to Lego making a cafe or cake shop or whatever it is. I do object to any branding of it as "This is for girls/this is for boys". DD1 has in Lego a set of standard multicoloured bricks and a pony/gymkana thing among other stuff, bought several years ago.

YABU. I don't want my son looking a girls lego. It might make him, you know, gay.

Oh no, actually YANBU, how ridiculous.

I have a bit of an issue with the pink playmobil stuff too. Boys like the real world, girls need to live in a fluffy fantasy land full of fairies and unicorns. They don't need to be bothering their pretty little heads about the real world. It's terribly aging, don't you know!

My DD is 5 and as soon as she gets a hint of something being 'boys' she avoids like the plague. Which wouldn't happen if they were gender neutral.

Actually I was being a bit tongue in cheek there, but it reminded me of a mum at DS's school who said she thought I was being "irresponsible" in buying DS a tea set for that very reason. Apparently playing with toys designed for the opposite gender is what does it! Yeah right.

I love this gendered-ad remix tool

www.kaltura.org/demos/RemixGenderedAds/

:o

YANBU.

My dd1 went into a meltdown this morning because ds1 said that ninjago was for boys only . Our magazines have come today and I suspect she will have to fight ds2 for dh's mag (we all have them because of legoland discovery centre membership). Both hers and mine have been changed to girls ones and ds2 gets the junior mag but often prefers to read the main one, hence dh's copy and mine making handy spares! Ah well, now I'm really looking forward to after school time .

There is a number to call and swap back - though you won't get a replacement for this month but will get the regular magazine again in March :(

I phoned to complain and asked that my daughter be sent the "normal" Lego mag, and it was very obvious that they'd had loads of complaints. I got a pre-prepared script about how they'd done market research and apparently patronising pink shite is what girls want.

Of course the sad thing is that, now the "normal" Lego mag is for boys, they'll be no photos of girls showing off their creations in it. I just find the whole thing so depressing. Lego's always been the favourite toy in our house, and now it all feels a bit fucked up. I guess we'll end up asking them to take us off the mailing list, and stick with the ton of Lego we've already got, rather than buying any more.

DD got her first Lego magazine in the post today as ds has now moved up to the next one. I was surprised to see it is a girls mag. I totally agree with those who think it is wrong to do gender specific issues, but unfortunately my dd is one of the girls who will prefer a girly one.

My ds1 (7) saw the Lego friends advertised and asked for some for his birthday :) He thought it would go well with his lego city! I thought I had signed him up for lego club, but haven't had any magazines, will have to check!

Oh yea, YANBU!

I have dds and one has been sent the the normal issue and one has the pink girls version

I would like to know where they do their market research, i think it's all a load of old twaddle and don't know why they have done it.

I emailed them this morning about the exact same issue. I was too cross to ring and release my ranty pregnant hormones at some bored teenager in a call centre.

The magazine is in the recycling already, it usually takes at least 48 hours for DD to shred it before I put it there.

When I saw the thread title I knew what it was about!
The DSs both got the usual one, and DD got the pink one.

I am cross.
She, however, will be delighted when she sees it.

YANBU my DS is a member of the junior version (as a 3yr obsessed with lego) however i am a woman obviously and object to the pink girls range, i love pink personally and am girly when i want to be, but given the choice as a kid, i loved "boys toys" and by looking at both versions of the lego, i would NOT want to play with the "girls" things and much prefer the general lego!! It's far too "girly and pink" the general range is far better!

We got the magazine though today - the character drawings have breasts is that really what the market research demanded and what sort of questions did they ask to come up with it.

I think the girly Lego is fine per se - there are lots of children out there (mostly girls) who'd like these sorts of accessories to add to their imaginative play.

But the magazine thing is not OK for all the reasons given above - they should just cover the "friends" range in the normal magazine.

YADNBU - see the other thread

Can I ask what's in the 'girls magazine'? Like, what sort of topics does it cover compared to the 'boys version'?

Might be able to get an essay out of this

I am really disappointed in Lego and really surprised that they have done this. Actually, the writing was on the wall when they started marketing their new 'girls' range but making their magazines gendered is horrible. I am inclined to unsubscribe even though it's the highlight of DS's post

My DD got a normal magazine today, nothin pink about it and full of super heroes, anyone else? Is it a gradual change over?