Melanie McDonagh

Why Lego is right to eliminate gender

  • From Spectator Life
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So, is it farewell to the Friends Cat Grooming Car playset with Kitten, and the Disney Princess Ariel, Belle and Cinderella set? And what about Olivia’s Electric Car toy, Eco Education Playset? Or the Ninjago Legacy Fire Dragon Attack? Or the City Great Vehicles Refuse Truck?

Lego, you may have gathered, is to eliminate gender stereotypes from its products, including labelling that marks toys for boys or girls. Look up Lego for boys or girls on Argos or similar, and you’ll see the full horror of what that entails. The girls’ stuff has a pink or mauve element plus a kitten or a princess or a castle or a hairdresser (though the Eco Education set has its very own wind turbine). The boys’ is either about construction or a marauding beast or something out of Star Wars. It is very good news that the divide is going to go. Lego is Danish, and about the wokest company this side of the Atlantic, but sometimes, it gets things right.

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