Awww, Lil' Puppet reminds me of myself as a girl. I loved animals
so much, (ponies). Had dozens of stuffed animals in my zoo and hundreds of rubber and plastic animal models. I created my own animal society. This kingdom was lead by my two-foot-stuffed Lion, Aslan, who was their King. I, of course, was their ...
Pr...
... esident.
My favorite color was green though,because it was was a natural, happy color that went with everything and because it matched my eyes.
I think that LEGO's heart is in the right place with this set, (well aside from having to make a pile of money by opening their marktet.) The friends model is a little strange, but looking at their website it appears they have had alternate models to the traditional LEGO men with Sponge Bob and other sets. I will also say that LEGO men in drag, are really really ugly.
So I can see the need for a new model from a market perspective. If LEGO wants girls' using
their toys, then they will want them to be attractive. Back in the day when playing with LEGO's I would free build the stuff I wanted and use my other small toys as the characters because I wasn't really interested in the lego men. Like my
Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers tree house, or my
Tailspin plane and Louie's bar. That is the great thing about LEGOs back in the day. They were simple building materials that were so neutral, one could turn them into anything they wanted.
I will say that I am glad to see that they are still making the flowers and plants that I loved so much as a kid. Also, holy crap that Horsey model is a HUGE improvement to the old one. Well done LEGO.
I think the major problem is from the retailer's need to segregate the toys. Even though plenty of toys LEGO makes are neutral, (see Sponge Bob) in order to get toys shelved so that a Parent like Sock or wei, who have only girls, will see them, is to make something for that section. That reiforces the binary that exists so that LEGO has to play to that binary. Where they take it from there is another issue.
I was glad to see that they created
Olivia's Invention Workshop. That kicks the science-isn't-for-girls trope right in the teeth. Go LEGO! (Also, holy crap, I made a robot just like Olivia's as a kid out of random widgets! Only mine had an directional antena on his head that I could adjust to give him some expression. LOVE IT!)
However, another of the sets totally got my back up.
Stephanie's Convertible. I get adding all the girly hair bows and ribbons and what not, I really do. BUT any car building set I remember always had a set of tools to play mechanic on the car with your toy figure. This is part of the whole, "I want to shrink down and be there" thing. The gendered iconography of tools goes way back. Even in portraiture from the seventeenth century, a little boy with flowing locks and a pretty, lace-covered, christening gown would have a hammer placed in his lap so the viewer would know,
that is a boy. But seriously? Why doesn't she have any tools to work on it? At least she can pump her own gas... holy shit. That isn't a gas pump. It is a car wash.
Way to go LEGO. A girl can't play mechanic, but she can
clean the car. After she does her hair of course.
But again, I can't really blame LEGO for this. All kinds of ugly things that come from the binary will creep in if the binary is enforced. The retailers are the ones enforcing the binary by the way they stock their inventory, hell even the store shelves and signs are PINK. LEGO has to conform to get toys sold, which is after all their mission as a company. I predict that these toys will do well in these stores but less well online. Sadly, I also predict Inventor Olivia will be the worst selling of the lot. These are systemic problems I don't think LEGO alone can reverse. But kudos to them for making the effort.
The real way, IMO to break the bias will be by our culture removing the stigma against "girl" things as bad or lesser than "boy" things. It is easier for a girl to pick up a "boy's" toy than it is a boy to pick up a "girl's" toy. And the reason is societal privilege in its most basic form.
If male is the default empowered place, female becomes the othered subservient place. That is how it unconciously creeps in that boys make the cars and girls clean them. It is the same reason a little boy playing with dolls will be teased and a girl playing with legos applauded. The little girl is reaching "up" towards the empowered place. The little boy is reaching "down" and is being a "sissy, nancy, fairy, wussy," etc. as well as countless other pejoratives based on femininity. Society wants to correct boys who do this. That is part of the reason they make a kitchen set pink and flowery and covered in gender cues. It tells the boy to GTFO. Thankfully, society has gotten to the point that there is less pressure to correct girls who do the reverse, but the idea of applauding them for being male can be just as bad. That idea still reinforces the system that has boys on top and girls below and sends the message that a girl has to be more like a boy in order to have power.
This is one of the many reasons I find the whole Brony phenomenom facinating. It is one thing for a fan to embrace something like Pokemon, which has cuteness as an aesthetic (thanks Japan!) but is based on battles, action, and competition. It is easy for male fans to embrace the cute while getting the action they are accustomed to. BUT it is entirely another thing to embrace the cuteness of pastel ponies, rainbows, unicorns, butterflies, friendship, cooperation, and all things girly. THAT is unprecedented. As these older boys are embracing these things their younger siblings are watching them. They see their brother in highschool brushing a pony. They see their older cousin at Christmas excited to get a rainbow dash hoodie. Dad's like wei take it to a new level of acceptance. It normalizes that "girl" things are desirable and dare-I-say, COOL.
I think that is what is needed to break the binary. More than boy's-toys-for-girls, more than girl's playing with boys-toys, more than making neutral toys. Make all the traditional toys that we have always had, but stop enforcing the bianary. Fuck it. Pink is a
great color. Butterflies are pretty. Cuteness is a fantastic quality that is
universally appealing. Nurturing animals is fun and rewarding. Cupcakes are
fucking delicious. No one has to be a girl to enjoy these things, but since we asociate these things as "girly", who the hell says that is somehow not as good as butch alternatives?
ETA For Sock: The number of pet themed playsets are staggering. Almost half of the
LEGO Friends Playsets are pet themed. They have a Vet, and a Dogshow, and a Pet Patrol, (I am not even sure what that means) and a Stable, and Nature themed Tree House. I think they are tapping into the small girl's like to nurture thing.