0:00:00.334,0:00:06.548
♪ Each day there’s adventure, always something new, and the team that dreams tomorrow up is LEGO Land and You ♪

0:00:06.548,0:00:09.468
In my last video we visited the pastel coloured,

0:00:09.468,0:00:13.398
gender stereotyped suburban wasteland that is the LEGO Friends theme.

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We also took a tour of LEGOs ridiculous and slightly hilarious attempts to market to girls in the past several decades.

0:00:19.528,0:00:24.358
So if you haven’t watched that one go ahead and check it out before continuing on to this one.

0:00:24.358,0:00:28.946
It’s no secret that LEGO’s clubhouse is currently designed and marketed primarily for boys.

0:00:28.946,0:00:33.325
Reporter: There are very few toy brands as ubiquitous as LEGO.

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And yet research shows that LEGO only clicks with about half of all children, the male half.

0:00:39.206,0:00:41.625
Boy: Look at mine mommy

0:00:41.625,0:00:47.714
Reporter: Since 2005 LEGO has embraced that, marketing almost exclusively to little boys.

0:00:47.714,0:00:50.634
And it’s giving boys a boost in the world,

0:00:50.634,0:00:53.940
LEGO play has been attributed with accelerating boys development.

0:00:53.940,0:00:58.259
Research shows that it helps fine tune spacial and math skills.

0:00:58.259,0:01:03.367
How did the company shift from their initial relatively gender neutral universal building experience,

0:01:03.367,0:01:05.649
to a more male dominated one?

0:01:05.649,0:01:07.734
Well it wasn’t by accident.

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The LEGO group intentionally did it in three ways.

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#1 Marketing exclusively to boys:

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LEGO has been intentionally designing, creating and marketing

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almost the entire LEGO universe specifically and exclusively to boys since at least the mid 1980’s.

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First lets take a quick look at the history of LEGO’s marketing before this gendered shift occurred.

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LEGO can be traced back to the early 1930’s but started producing their interlocking plastic bricks in 1949.

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♪ LEGO a whole new world to build

0:01:36.471,0:01:41.560
This young girl had such fun, she used LEGO one by one.

0:01:41.560,0:01:47.392
With a nic-nac-paddy-wack build a house of grand, this young girl’s a LEGO fan. ♪

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LEGO focused on marketing their products with a strong emphasis on creative play, cooperation, and imagination

0:01:52.779,0:01:59.494
for the next three decades in a relatively universal way to children of all genders, even as something that families can do together.

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By the mid 80’s, however, girls had all but disappeared and LEGO was marketing almost exclusively to boys.

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Some of you might remember Zack, you know, the LEGO maniac.

0:02:15.218,0:02:17.304
♪ I know a boy his name is Zack,

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his micro chips are out of wack,

0:02:19.348,0:02:21.433
he built a Blacktron Cadillac,

0:02:21.433,0:02:23.560
he’s Zack the LEGO Maniac.

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He sent his cosmic fleet to Mars,

0:02:25.604,0:02:27.648
he’s out there cruising with the stars.

0:02:27.648,0:02:29.733
His mind is lost in outer space

0:02:29.733,0:02:34.237
A cosmonaut, earth calling Zack, hey Zack come back! ♪

0:02:34.237,0:02:36.365
ZACK became the official LEGO mascot,

0:02:36.365,0:02:40.994
he embodied the LEGO experience and helped to identify the brand with boys’ play.

0:02:40.994,0:02:44.247
Boys continued to dominate LEGO’s marketing for the next two decades.

0:02:44.247,0:02:48.647
♪ Once upon a time a boy discovered a magic castle.

0:02:48.647,0:02:54.883
Inside was a bat lord and his knights, a witch and the smell of rotting bones.

0:02:54.883,0:03:02.140
It was time to go, and the boy tried to escape but the witch insisted he stay…

0:03:02.140,0:03:03.712
for dinner.

0:03:03.712,0:03:05.977
LEGO Mania. ♪

0:03:05.977,0:03:07.883
Yeaaaaaa…

0:03:09.314,0:03:12.260
♪ Pistons that pump

0:03:12.260,0:03:15.482
Gears that'll get you going

0:03:15.482,0:03:18.066
Motors that muscle

0:03:18.066,0:03:21.572
and blades that’ll blow you away.

0:03:21.572,0:03:24.991
Technically speaking it'll turn you on.

0:03:24.991,0:03:28.840
LEGO Mania. LEGO Mania. ♪

0:03:29.501,0:03:35.709
In 2011, LEGO made sure to drive home the point that LEGOs are for boys with their Build Together marketing campaign.

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Ah the father and son roadtrip

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Just a little imagination and you’re good to go.

0:03:43.180,0:03:46.186
It’s been said that a man’s home is his castle

0:03:46.186,0:03:51.106
and truer words were never spoken when that home is in the hands of this father and son team.

0:03:51.106,0:03:55.318
Well done gentlemen, well done indeed.

0:03:55.318,0:04:00.449
Each ad revolves around fathers and sons collaborating on imaginative LEGO creations.

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You’ll notice there are no grandmothers, mothers, daughters or sisters building together.

0:04:05.704,0:04:10.542
#2 Producing male identified and male centered themes and sets:

0:04:10.542,0:04:14.375
Over the next of couple decades but especially in the late 90’s and early 2000’s

0:04:14.375,0:04:20.040
LEGO began creating and producing more sets that were intentionally male identified and male centered.

0:04:20.040,0:04:22.734
To reinforce that LEGOs are specifically for boys,

0:04:22.734,0:04:27.684
LEGO made their products male centered by populating their sets and themes with male minifigures.

0:04:27.684,0:04:32.397
Male centered means that the focus of attention is on men, their stories and what they do.

0:04:32.397,0:04:36.693
In terms of LEGO, this refers to their shift from their original less gendered minifigures

0:04:36.693,0:04:39.237
to sets and themes dominated by male characters,

0:04:39.237,0:04:44.282
moving away from the 2 dots and a smiley face to frowns, sneers and facial hair.

0:04:44.282,0:04:49.331
On the rare occasion when women do appear, they’re sporting bright red lipstick, curves and cleavage.

0:04:49.331,0:04:52.873
The lack of female minifigures in the LEGO universe is staggering,

0:04:52.873,0:05:01.802
conservative estimates reveal that the ratio of unique male identified minifigures to unique indentified female minifigures is 18:1.

0:05:01.802,0:05:06.389
The minifigure gender disparity only got worse when LEGO started making sets based on movie franchises

0:05:06.389,0:05:10.288
such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean,

0:05:10.288,0:05:13.028
because those films are male centered and male identified,

0:05:13.028,0:05:18.443
not surprisingly the themes and sets based on them are also male centered and male identified.

0:05:18.443,0:05:22.781
Out of the two hundred and fifty plus unique mini figures in the Star Wars sets for instance,

0:05:22.781,0:05:25.200
you can count the number of women on your fingers.

0:05:25.200,0:05:29.700
This positions boys and masculinity as the default for the LEGO universe.

0:05:29.700,0:05:31.289
Who can help us?

0:05:31.289,0:05:36.962
ADU is here. Step aside ma’am, let the ADU take over, go get em boys!

0:05:36.962,0:05:41.967
#3 Focusing on stereotypical boys play scenarios with an emphasis on combat:

0:05:41.967,0:05:45.095
Remember that whole creativity and imagination thing?

0:05:45.095,0:05:47.597
♪ You can build this transport pretending you’re on Mars.

0:05:47.597,0:05:50.684
The box shows ways to change it by snapping off the cars.

0:05:50.684,0:05:53.270
You can snap them back together and get a scouting craft

0:05:53.270,0:05:56.182
or match them with a laser for a base defender craft.

0:05:56.182,0:05:59.192
You can make up something wild, supercharged and new.

0:05:59.192,0:06:02.278
The sky’s the limit when the team is LEGO Land and you! ♪

0:06:02.278,0:06:07.033
That was back in 1985, let’s check in on what’s happening in the contemporary LEGO themes.

0:06:07.033,0:06:09.494
Ready your weapons. And get ready.

0:06:09.494,0:06:11.121
You control the battle.

0:06:11.121,0:06:12.289
Transform to attack mode.

0:06:12.289,0:06:13.415
Prepare for battle.

0:06:13.415,0:06:14.541
Arm the rockets.

0:06:14.541,0:06:15.500
Arm the weapons.

0:06:16.546,0:06:17.210
Load the missile.

0:06:17.210,0:06:18.378
You can load the bombs.

0:06:18.378,0:06:19.296
Man the canons.

0:06:19.296,0:06:20.413
Load the rockets.

0:06:20.413,0:06:21.654
Arm the missile.

0:06:21.654,0:06:22.685
Prepare the torpedoes.

0:06:22.685,0:06:25.108
And fight back.

0:06:25.108,0:06:25.608
Fire at will.

0:06:25.608,0:06:26.721
Fire the canon.

0:06:26.721,0:06:28.138
Fire the mighty catapult.

0:06:28.138,0:06:29.027
Fire.

0:06:29.027,0:06:29.527
Fire.

0:06:29.527,0:06:30.027
Fire the missile.

0:06:30.027,0:06:31.854
And attack!

0:06:38.899,0:06:42.652
While LEGO group itself has admitted that they have prioritized catering to boys,

0:06:42.652,0:06:45.530
this has notably shifted their marketing and product design

0:06:45.530,0:06:50.866
to be less about LEGO’s educational benefits such as fostering creativity and imagination

0:06:50.866,0:06:54.456
to more about combat, aggression, conflict and competition scenarios

0:06:54.456,0:06:58.460
which feel a lot more like G.I. Joe then they do the LEGO of yesteryear.

0:06:58.460,0:07:02.339
Even in the popular CITY theme we’ve started to see these conflict elements take center stage

0:07:02.339,0:07:06.760
with the edition of the cops and robbers subtheme over the last couple of years.

0:07:06.760,0:07:10.013
It’s not that women and girls are never interested in combat based play—-

0:07:10.013,0:07:14.392
aggression and competition are of course, possible human behaviours for people of all genders.

0:07:14.392,0:07:20.523
In our current patriarchal society, however, traits associated with men and masculinity are more highly valued,

0:07:20.523,0:07:23.276
even ones that aren’t exactly the most socially beneficial.

0:07:23.276,0:07:28.053
♪ Ninjago, rebuild your spinner and win the fight

0:07:28.053,0:07:29.824
But what about my sister?

0:07:29.824,0:07:32.303
We’re saving a girl? Is she hot?

0:07:34.298,0:07:36.713
Become the master of spinjitsu ♪

0:07:36.713,0:07:42.545
In this case LEGO has strongly emphasized combat and violent conflict in order to market to boys.

0:07:42.545,0:07:47.509
This marketing choice has a further consequence of limiting boys because they miss out on toys that help develop

0:07:47.509,0:07:51.346
cooperation, relationship building, nurturing and caregiving.

0:07:51.346,0:07:54.849
Now let’s bring all of this back to the new LEGO’s “for girls”.

0:07:54.849,0:07:58.436
While the entire concept and marketing of the Friends theme is deeply problematic,

0:07:58.436,0:08:00.605
it’s not without some small merits.

0:08:00.605,0:08:07.317
The emphasis on sharing, cooperation and nurturing are values that I would love to see infused in toys for children of all genders.

0:08:07.317,0:08:10.754
Even the title of Friends draws attention to the importance of relationship building,

0:08:10.754,0:08:15.286
however, these values are almost exclusively found in media and toys for girls

0:08:15.286,0:08:18.164
and are wrapped up in harmful gender stereotypes,

0:08:18.164,0:08:22.410
meanwhile, these positive values are almost entirely absent in toys aimed at boys.

0:08:22.410,0:08:24.593
The repercussions of this can be grave,

0:08:24.593,0:08:29.676
relegating the responsibility for fostering healthy relationships and communications on women

0:08:29.676,0:08:36.141
and simultaneously reinforcing to boys and men that using violence is a practical option for solving conflicts,

0:08:36.141,0:08:38.268
even interpersonal ones.

0:08:38.268,0:08:41.771
Once LEGO had doubled down on gendering all their products as 'for boys'

0:08:41.771,0:08:47.070
they were backed into a corner where they were forced to create a distinct and seperate "for girls" collection.

0:08:47.070,0:08:50.088
LEGO Friends is clearly marked as “Not for Boys”

0:08:50.088,0:08:54.367
which defacto reinforces that the rest of the LEGO universe is “for boys”

0:08:54.367,0:08:55.986
and for boys alone.

0:08:55.986,0:08:59.330
If we look at the language in advertisng for the sets marketed to boys,

0:08:59.330,0:09:04.044
they're encouraged to actively participate in the building as a core part of the story.

0:09:04.044,0:09:06.004
You can build the huge helicopter.

0:09:06.004,0:09:08.664
You can build the massive clone turbo tank.

0:09:08.664,0:09:10.258
You can build the Batmobile.

0:09:10.258,0:09:11.676
You can build the dino truck.

0:09:11.676,0:09:13.136
You can build the rocket.

0:09:13.136,0:09:16.389
You can build the king’s castle.

0:09:16.389,0:09:20.769
But in the LEGO Friend’s marketing the construction is not central to the narrative being sold.

0:09:20.769,0:09:22.480
♪ Drive by Olivia's house,

0:09:22.480,0:09:24.564
pass the vet's with all the pets,

0:09:24.564,0:09:26.381
to the newly built café.

0:09:26.381,0:09:27.317
We’re here.

0:09:27.317,0:09:28.703
Let’s all help out,

0:09:28.703,0:09:30.195
make burgers,

0:09:30.195,0:09:31.071
shakes,

0:09:31.071,0:09:31.863
bake the cupcakes. ♪

0:09:31.863,0:09:34.996
See how things have been built but the action is not attributed to anyone?

0:09:34.996,0:09:37.994
The minifigs just show up at the “newly built cafe”.

0:09:37.994,0:09:41.206
And the playtime is supposed to happen after the building is complete.

0:09:41.206,0:09:45.166
Unlike in the other commercials where boys are encouraged to actively build and construct

0:09:45.166,0:09:46.920
as a part of their LEGO experience.

0:09:46.920,0:09:52.509
Now, to the credit of girls and women, many of us have stubbornly continued to like the classic sets

0:09:52.509,0:09:56.888
despite LEGO’s best efforts to ignore us and kick us out of the LEGO club house.

0:09:56.888,0:09:59.682
So LEGO spent four years and millions of dollars

0:09:59.682,0:10:03.231
to research the desires of girls to create another Barbie wasteland

0:10:03.231,0:10:07.982
and continues to ignore the fact that they already have a potentially great product for girls

0:10:07.982,0:10:09.567
it's called LEGO,

0:10:09.567,0:10:11.986
or it used to be.

0:10:11.986,0:10:17.200
Lego's logic surrounding giving girls what they "want" sounds an awful lot like self fulfilling marketing,

0:10:17.200,0:10:19.508
as Lisa Wade pointed out on the Ms. Blog

0:10:19.508,0:10:23.247
"Executives are going to great lengths to explain that the line is based on research...

0:10:23.247,0:10:27.836
This frame gives the company an excuse for reproducing the same old gender steryotypes

0:10:27.836,0:10:29.748
that we see throughout our culture...

0:10:29.748,0:10:32.035
In this way they are trying to make it clear that they shouldn't

0:10:32.035,0:10:34.717
be held accountable for the messages their products send"

0:10:34.717,0:10:36.803
The real takeaway from LEGO's research

0:10:36.803,0:10:40.598
is that the literally billions of dollars that the media and toy companies spent

0:10:40.598,0:10:42.142
over the last couple of decades

0:10:42.142,0:10:46.327
on aggressively gendered marketing and gender stereotyping has worked.

0:10:46.327,0:10:49.578
We see fewer commercial of boys and girls playing together,

0:10:49.578,0:10:53.572
and more products that segregate boys and girls into different categories of people

0:10:53.572,0:10:58.199
each with very rigid and limiting ideas of what roles are appropriate.

0:10:58.199,0:11:00.167
All of this marketing is inescapable

0:11:00.167,0:11:04.253
and young people and adults alike internalize these deeply harmful and limiting messages.

0:11:04.253,0:11:05.748
Although we don't want to believe it,

0:11:05.748,0:11:08.877
the truth of it is, that advertising works to manipulate us

0:11:08.877,0:11:12.338
and it works really well, or else corporations wouldn't do it.

0:11:12.338,0:11:16.885
What LEGO should have done if they were serious about expanding the LEGO universe to include girls

0:11:16.885,0:11:20.555
is to actually include them in a meaningful way,

0:11:20.555,0:11:23.808
not segregate and separate them into their own pink enclave.

0:11:23.808,0:11:27.812
In the future here are two suggestions that LEGO can use as a starting point

0:11:27.812,0:11:30.732
to think about producing and marketing new products.

0:11:30.732,0:11:34.857
First, they’ve got to integrate more female minifigs characters into their themes

0:11:34.857,0:11:37.318
and make them the focus of those sets.

0:11:37.318,0:11:42.241
Then they’ve got to completely drop this “ladyfig” doll thing from the entire LEGO universe.

0:11:42.241,0:11:47.907
Secondly, LEGO needs to go back to the drawing board and create products that foster creativity and imagination

0:11:47.907,0:11:50.084
that children of all genders will adore.

0:11:50.084,0:11:53.796
They can start by deemphasizing the macho testosterone and the combat,

0:11:53.796,0:11:59.928
and create universally appealing sets that include occupations and adventure scenarios for children of all genders.

0:11:59.928,0:12:03.325
LEGO can look to their own specialized Creator collection

0:12:03.325,0:12:07.435
which includes sets that are more reminincent of the original LEGO building experience.

0:12:07.435,0:12:10.059
These sets even come with three different instruction guides

0:12:10.059,0:12:14.400
which help to encourage builders to think about the bricks as remixable elements,

0:12:14.400,0:12:18.325
to be taken apart, hacked and rebuilt again in different ways.

0:12:18.325,0:12:22.737
Unfortunately the Creator line is not prioritized within the LEGO universe.

0:12:22.737,0:12:27.330
This ad campaign from the early 1980’s has been passed around online quite a bit,

0:12:27.330,0:12:31.960
not only because it strongly emphasized the confidence building benefits of creative play

0:12:31.960,0:12:38.258
but it did so without exploiting gender stereotypes and remarkably it didn’t prioritize boys over girls.

0:12:38.258,0:12:43.429
This ad in particular features a young girl proudly displaying her new LEGO creation with the text,

0:12:43.429,0:12:45.395
"What it is, is beautiful"

0:12:45.395,0:12:51.576
And in fact it is beautiful to feature a young girl who is unconstrained by regressive notions of gender.

0:12:51.576,0:12:54.732
In addition to being critical of gender stereotyping,

0:12:54.732,0:12:58.774
we ought to be consciously critical of the values being promoted in children’s toys.

0:12:58.774,0:13:01.823
And let’s be honest, toys that promote sharing and cooperation,

0:13:01.823,0:13:08.329
creativity and imagination are probably a better educational experience for raising healthy, well developed kids

0:13:08.329,0:13:11.754
than a constant focus on blowing stuff up and shooting people.

0:13:11.754,0:13:14.294
Between the Creator sets and this ad campaign,

0:13:14.294,0:13:19.092
its clear LEGO already knows how to create an inclusive, universal play experience

0:13:19.092,0:13:22.218
that children of all genders can participate in.

0:13:22.218,0:13:26.839
So the next step is to actually do it, across the entire LEGO universe.

0:13:29.262,0:13:30.655
I hope you enjoyed that video,

0:13:30.655,0:13:35.485
it was probably my most ambitious project to date and took an enormous amount of time to put together,

0:13:35.485,0:13:38.643
please help keep Feminist Frequency going by donating today.

0:13:38.643,0:13:46.310
You can visit feministfrequency.com/donate