When Lego released its new pink
set, featuring pink bricks, flowers and ponies, many parents were outraged by
the suggestion that little girls couldn’t enjoy Lego as it was. For many years
children of both sexes have been playing with Lego, and the bricks have always
come in a number of different colours, and featured characters of both sexes.
The point of Lego is that children can build anything they want, and some
parents felt that this pink set designed to build houses and ponies - quite
clearly aimed at girls - was a step back for equality between the sexes.
However, the toy industry is
faced with a difficult decision here. On the one hand they want to promote
healthy ideas of gender and allow both boys and girls play with whatever toys
they like, but on the other hand toy makers are trying to sell toys and some
gender stereotypes still stand. When advertising products, the toy industry
still tends to stick to the notion that girls are nurturing whilst boys are
aggressive. Advertising an action man set with keywords including ‘cute’
‘princess’ and ‘flowing hair’ is unlikely to sell many toys, whilst a pink
bicycle is unlikely to be called the ‘warrior’. Whether it is well thought of
or not, boys and girls do still conform to certain gender stereotypes, which is
why products for boys still tend to be aimed at sport, fighting and building,
whilst girls toys go for fashion, pink and beauty.
However, there are some positive
moves being made in the wider world of the toy industry, as sets typically
aimed at girls in the past have started to become more acceptable for both
genders. Kitchen and home sets, for example, have started to move away from the
typical pink and flowery designs and are becoming more utilitarian, clean and
simple. This means both boys and girls can be attracted to the sets and will
feel equally as invited to come and play with them. Some playhouses clearly
designed for both genders now feature small gardens and other ways to decorate
and clean, encouraging boys to get involved in household chores and take pride
in tasks which in the past have been considered a girls’ prerogative.
