LEGO Objectifying Little Girls: Makeovers for the under 12’s
I have argued against girls needing pink, “girlie” LEGO since Friends was released. Because girls need the chance to build, learn, and create, not to be reminded that they are girls who are doing these things. Not to have stereotypical gender interests shoved down their throats. And girls certainly DON’T need beauty advice from a company that should be focused on stimulating their visual spatial awareness and creative thinking!
LEGO has let girls down with these beauty tips and their new Elf spa set. Instead of taking the opportunity to use their toy line to support girls’ love of creative play and building, they’ve gone for the lowest common denominator.
This behavior shows parents that LEGO doesn’t believe in girls. LEGO see girls in a narrow, restricted way focused on pink, purple, cupcakes, and salons. Sure, they’ve offered some cool options that aren’t necessarily stereotypical, like Jungle Rescue and Adventure Ship, in the Elves and Friends lines. And yet it always comes back to this, to cramming girls into a little pink box where they care about their appearance. As if the beauty industry doesn’t promote self-objectification early enough, as if preschoolers aren’t already afraid of being “fat,” little girls need LEGO to encourage them to think about how they look and if it’s pleasing to others?!
I’ve got an idea, LEGO. How about you stick with building toy sets that support imagination and creativity, not objectification? How about you let girls out of the pink box? Now that’s something I could get behind!
Podcast Gender and Media Talk
Dr. Jennifer W. Shewmaker » Gender and Media Talk
Gender and media podcast for everyday life, featuring interviews with guests ranging from researchers to practitioners in the field. Hosted by Jennifer Shewmaker.
Gender and Media Talk podcasts focus on hot topics and cutting edge research in the areas of gender and media.
