The news in brief:
Recently, LEGO took some flack in the news for it's relatively new LEGO Friends range. It seems some people objected to the pink and pastel colours, the more Barbie-doll like minifigures and the more leisure-oriented playsets. Take a look at this little madam:
I mean, just look at her with her wavy hair and Alice-bands. In a pinky-purple box. Who does she think she is?! And just look at those butterflies! And the dot over the 'i' is a love love-heart!
It's like any second now she going to start booting down people's front doors and telling their little girls that they can't be doctors or lawyers or CEOs or adventurers or world leaders.
At least that's how it might appear if you applied absolutely no critical thought what-so-ever.
First of all the LEGO Friends run about half-a-dozen small-to-medium sized enterprises: a café, hairdressers, an ice-cream bar and god knows what else. They can all afford cars and don't seem to be reliant on any dirty testicle-owning men to fund their fairly extravagant life styles. God forbid that little girls grow up to be independently wealthy, sports-car-owning proprietors of their own small businesses.
Secondly, one of the LEGO friends is a scientist, with a laboratory and a mother-fucking robot. If I had a little girl and she grew up to be a robot-inventing, lab-coat-wearing, diploma-having scientist I'd be pretty pleased with my fearsome, ninja-like parenting skills.
Thirdly, let's take another look at our friend here. I know it's hard to see past the hearts and the butterflies and the little plastic bikini top, but if you look really closely you can just about make out that she's riding a god-damned jet-ski. Jet-skis are awesome. And you know who else has a jet-ski? Batman. Batman has a fucking jet-ski! And if my hypothetical little girl grew up to be an extreme sports star / Batman, I'd be one proud dad.
The fallacy here is that feminine is mutually exclusive with feminist. And no. No it's fucking not.
Feminism is about freedom of choice. The freedom to be whatever you want to be, regardless of weather or not your reproductive parts are internal organs. If a little girl wants to be a princess instead of a space ranger, and wants to play with dolls rather than transformers then that is fine. Just so long as it is her choice.
And before anyone gets too worried that tradition LEGO doesn't represent women, let's check out this water-sports doing superstar:
And this motorbike riding, wicked-flip pulling bank robber:
And this fire-fighter:
And this arctic explorer:
Of this elf warrior:
Or this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles villain:
The great thing about LEGO is that it is fuelled almost entirely by imagination. A little girl (or boy) can make a representation of themselves in a space suit or business wear, or police uniform or pretty dress and insert themselves into the Justice League or the Avengers or Hogwarts or the police of the fire brigade or the Space Police or anything they can damn well imagine, even if that includes lounging by the pool with friends and baking cupcakes.
But hey - why do any research and apply any thought when you can just wheel out a barrow full of sensational headlines to make parents angry at a beloved toy manufacture. 'cos you know - that sells papers.
Reading the news, so you don't have to...
