Maybe we need to propose to Lego that marketing regular and pastel legos to
both girls and boys will be the most effective way to expand their market
share. Realistically, what advantage could there be to perpetuating outdated
cultural stereotypes? Every child and parent, regardless of gender, could be
supported in choosing to build rocket ships, the beach set, or both
regardless of the color of the set. I can't imagine a parent of a boy NOT
choosing to buy the rocket ship set because there is a picture of a girl on
the package. Yet some parents of girls might be encouraged. Wake up Lego!
Does anybody have ideas about how to address the marketing issue at the store
level? As long as every major department store thinks about toys in terms of
the lavender /pink aisle for girls and the war toys and blocks etc in primary
colors for boys the perpetuation of an outdated cultural narrative with
respect to gender will persist - and the Lego Companys of the world will be
able to rationalize color coding schemes that are ultimately not in their or
their customers best interests.
Is this a topic for the group TAG - Taking Action for Girls - that was
introduced earlier on this newsgroup? Anybody still have their address?
Thanks,
Mary Berle
TERC
Cambridge, MA
Mary_Berle-Carman@terc.edu
--------------------------------------
Date: 10/22/96 7:17 PM
To: Mary Berle-Carman
From: edequity@tristram.edc.org
Does anyone have an address for Lego where we might express our deep concern
at the further stereotyping of gender roles at a time when many of us are
working so hard to expand career opportunities for girls and women, and at a
time when in both Canada and the United States governments are identifying
the need to educate and use all of the human resources available to design,
build, renovate and maintain the best elements of the world in which we live.
>I can't help but to reply to the message asking if the girls' Legos are in
>pastel colors. Yes, of course, they are gender-colored! As the mother of
a 12-year-old girl who has a huge collection of Legos (the traditional sets)
and who wants to work in the future for Legos, I was appalled when I first
saw the girls Legos come out.
>
>Jody Smothers Marcello
>Blatchley Middle School
>601 Halibut Point Road
>Sitka, Alaska 99835
>Akjsm@aol.com
>907/966-1452
>
>
Marcia Braundy
Advocate for Women in Trades, Technology, Operations and Blue Collar Work
(WITT)
------------------ RFC822 Header Follows ------------------
Received: by qm.terc.edu with SMTP;22 Oct 1996 19:16:16 U
Received: from tristram.edc.org by is.TERC.EDU (5.x/SMI-SVR4)
id AA09081; Tue, 22 Oct 1996 19:04:12 -0400
Received: (from root@localhost) by tristram.edc.org (8.6.12/8.6.12) id
RAA17859 for edequity-tempore; Tue, 22 Oct 1996 17:45:03 -0400
Message-Id: <199610222145.RAA17859@tristram.edc.org>
Date: Sat, 19 Oct 1996 10:42:11 -0700
From: mbraundy@pro.net (marcia braundy)
Subject: Re: Toys and gender (More)
Sender: owner-edequity@tristram.edc.org
Precedence: bulk
Reply-To: edequity@tristram.edc.org
Apparently-To: edequity-tempore@tristram.edc.org