7 year old girl writes to LEGO to complain about gender stereotypes

[NunsArePeopleTooDougal]

www.buzzfeed.com/tabathaleggett/lego-just-got-told-off-by-a-7-year-old-girl

I haven't got children her age so I don't know how bad it is, but from what I remember, LEGO always used to be fairly gender neutral?

Out of the mouths...

Well said Charlotte!

it's bad

DDs are slightly too old (and DD2 was a playmobil addict) to have had any Lego friends, but they are still a bad joke in this house.

And my pride and joy at about 10 a slightly simpler 1980's helicopter that was one of the first technical sets brought out

What a brilliant letter! If our children just started counting boys and girls, men and women – in the news, in films, in adverts – and noticed what those people are doing, they'd be questioning it. I think it might be too late for the adults to start counting, because we collectively accept the status quo.

Brilliant.

In Lego shop with dd, 7. dd is holding two sets of marvel Lego and obviously trying to decide between them. Up comes helpful shop Lego shop assistant 'well, which one? What are you thinking?' he asks. 'I'm thinking, why aren't there more female superheroes?' says dd. Cue lots of 'erm, ahs, well...' I was so proud.

A good friend of mine, hw has two boys, has bought dd1 Lego Friends twice - once for her 4th birthday and once for Christmas - both last year. I hate it: not only for the reasons that have already been cited, but because I ties so prescriptive that dd, when she has played with it, has worried that she isn't doing it 'right'. Lego didn't used to be like that. It was all about imagination.

Tbh, I have hidden it away so she never asks to play with it.

Well done to that girl, the "pinkification" of stuff needs to stop/

I played with Lego when I was a child and it was multicoloured.

DS lo ves the stuff and we have boxes and boxes if it......when my nieces come they play happily with it. The could not care less about the colour.

It's a fab letter.

Btw, LEGO have brought out a Minecraft edition - get that instead of Lego Friends, and your kids will love you forever. Mine are obsessed with Minecraft.

It's a good letter but I do wonder if her feminist and misinformed mum pointed these things out to her and got her to write the letter. There's actually lots of female lego characters with jobs. See here: lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/15401 If mum didn't get

Birdo83 did you read that link? It's actually someone suggesting LEGO makes some female scientist figures, they aren't actually available to buy.

If you look at the LEGO miniseries here are the figures for male:female

Series 12: 5 female, 10 male, 1 panda
Series 11: 5 female, 11 male
Series 10: 5 female, 11 male
Series 9: 4 female, 12 male
Series 8: 4 female, 12 male

There's a bit of a theme going on so I checked series 1 and surprise surprise there are 4 females and 12 males. Obviously LEGO are taking their sex ratios from Hollywood films where there are 3 male parts for every female part. Funny isn't it, considering that women make up half the population...

Ah, yes, legoplaying, but you're forgetting about legofriendsville where the entire population is female! That's misanthropy right there! Or alternatively, a ghetto..

What about Casper the Penguin, he lives in LEGO Friendsville? Seriously though there are only 5 women in the Lego Friends series: Andrea, Mia, Olivia, Stephanie and Emma which doesn't really balance the 141 male minifigures. Dare I admit we do quite like the LEGO Friends animal sets here, I think they are better value that either the minifigures or the small LEGO box sets. Of course we also have lots of LEGO Creation sets. I quite like LEGO (you may have noticed!).

Sorry legoplaying, I don't know about Casper and I was being sarcastic! I thought your figures for the mini figures were optimistic - whenever I've counted there's always been 4 females to 12 males. Makes me - and dd - rage.

My boys like lego friends
Just buy the creator sets, more lego, better value!