5 Reasons Not to Buy Your Daughter Pink Legos

I am a feminist, a journalist and a parent and I have interviewed Mads Nipper along with other LEGO designers. I have also done my research and I have bought the new LEGO marketed towards girls.

Some of the LEGO research into how girls play was very interesting - one facet being that they found girls like all the pieces that come in separate bags to make up the individual components - unlike the boys bags which, though there may be several in a set, hold pieces in a non linear way.

They also discovered that girls like to play with narrative in a different way to boys, being more in control of their story.

I bought LEGO Stephanies Pet Patrol, who rides a quad bike and LEGO Olivia's inventor workshop - where Olivia is surrounded by tools and makes her own robots. Hardly gender stereotypes.

I like the fact that these positive role models come in recognisable female toy forms, so that the empowering nature of what they do is not eroded by how they look to young girls who have already, unfortunately, been trained or may naturally think that beauty is an important aspect to a womans' success(sadly this is still true in adult life and to represent success outside of this sexist and stereotypical norm could well be off-putting to a large proportion of young girls).

I dislike the pinkification of young girls as much as the next feminist but LEGO did a lot of work and research and brought in female designers to work on these sets. They also live in a place that has a better record on equal rights than the US or the UK, including a higher percentage of political representation and equal maternity and paternity leave of a year divided between both parents with affordable childcare.

Women do look different to men. We have curvier and softer bodies. It doesn't make us less able to do things and I believe the LEGO sets for girls represent that.

Amanda Brown 1:49PM April 11, 2012

I think the article misses the point completely. Nobody has ever said that girls cannot play with LEGO Star Wars or Harry Potter. Or play baseball or become a scientist. What LEGO has simply done is create a playset that resonates with girls that like pink and purple. It's called choice. And by not offering those playsets before, girls and boys had no choice.

I can honestly tell you that my daughter loves the Friends line because it's speaks to her in a way that Star Wars doesn't.

Don't limit your children to stereotypes also means letting them choose the colors, themes and characters that they like. Not just what you think they should like.

The best part of this is that it's still LEGO. It teaches systematic problem solving, creativity and all in a fun way.

So, kudos for LEGO for stepping up and offering something for other girls that like the color pink and purple. It' not stereotyping but rather opportunity for more kids to enjoy a worthwhile and creative toy.

L Tuck of MA 10:24AM April 10, 2012

I love how this article completely forgets to mention that one of the sets is an inventor's workshop AND that the characters in these sets run their own businesses. These building sets appeal to young girls, offer them a view of the world where they can thrive independently, and encourage them to build creatively with an open-ended building system. This article seems to be written by an employee of melissa and doug, a company which doesn't make timeless toys.

Steve of WA 2:00AM April 08, 2012

II absolutely love the new Lego sets for girls- and guess what? I would let my boys play with them too!

Oh and PS- I OWN a toy store and people WANT pink legos and purple castles and everything else previously designed without a girl in mind... I'm 32 years old and I LOVE pink!!! Great Job Lego:-)

Lindsay of ID 12:50AM April 07, 2012