Because
we've had mostly negative posts, I'm going to write a nice,
positive-ish post about something that all, or nearly all of us love:
Legos. Recently, Lego came out with a female scientist
minifigure. It makes me really happy that they came out with her, and
didn't just have a male scientist.
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| Lego's Intergalactic Girl in a pink spacesuit |
It annoys me that in toy
stores there's always the blue aisle with a bunch of really cool
toys, and then there's the pink aisle that looks like someone rolled
everything in pink and purple glitter with a few cool toys. In the
girls' section, it's all about dolls and princesses and dress up, and
there aren't many toys that encourage actual professions. There are
barely any toys where you have to think, and build, and make new
things. Lego in general has great toys that let you build and
engineer, but there's still a section where everything is pink. One
of their other minifigures is a perfect example. Just because an
astronaut is a girl does not mean that the space suit has to be pink.
There is a time for things being pink and girly, but everything a
girl does does not have to be girly.
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| Lego's female scientist minifigure |
What we see when we're
kids can effect the rest of our lives. If all we see growing up are
girls being princesses and waitresses and dancers, with nothing else,
then that's all you're going to think of. You won't immediately think
of an engineer, or a scientist as being cool. Yes, you can still
change your viewpoint once you grow up, but why? Why not just
encourage girls from the start to get good jobs that they like doing,
without gender restrictions? The answer is simply because it's
different, and no one wants to see if something new is going to sell
as well as something coated in pink glitter. There is nothing wrong
at all with going into a profession that is already in the girl toy
aisle, but there is also nothing wrong with going into a different
profession. When you see a cool toy or character or something,
sometimes it has no effect on you whatsoever, but sometimes it makes
you think “I want to be like her when I grow up!”. Princesses are
nice, but you shouldn't really plan on just marrying a prince and
living happily ever after as your career goal. It's possible, but you
should definitely have a backup plan. People are getting better, but
there are still a lot of problems. I said that this would be a
positive post, but I kind of lied about that. To make up for it, I'll
have a happy ending. Now, finally, Lego has a female minifigure that
isn't doused in glitter, and isn't in some girly profession. I love
that Lego is having an actual person, someone that you could actually
be if you worked hard. You probably still won't have skin that
yellow, and if you did, you might need to see a doctor or wash your
face.
--Luna Lovegood
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