Pink Legos - Part II<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Part Seven of I-Don\u2019t-Know-How-Many in a series of posts inspired by \u201cMiss Representation.\u201d \u00a0If you haven\u2019t seen the trailer for this movie, and you have\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theworthingtonpost\/2012\/01\/pink-legos-part-ii\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pink Legos - Part II\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Part Seven of I-Don\u2019t-Know-How-Many in a series of posts inspired by \u201cMiss Representation.\u201d \u00a0If you haven\u2019t seen the trailer for this movie, and you have\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theworthingtonpost\/2012\/01\/pink-legos-part-ii\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Worthington Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-01-14T21:30:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-01-27T19:05:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Aliza Worthington\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Aliza Worthington\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theworthingtonpost\/2012\/01\/pink-legos-part-ii\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theworthingtonpost\/2012\/01\/pink-legos-part-ii\/\",\"name\":\"Pink Legos - 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{"id":204,"date":"2012-01-14T17:30:04","date_gmt":"2012-01-14T21:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theworthingtonpost\/?p=204"},"modified":"2014-01-27T14:05:01","modified_gmt":"2014-01-27T19:05:01","slug":"pink-legos-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theworthingtonpost\/2012\/01\/pink-legos-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Pink Legos – Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Okay, okay, okay. \u00a0When I recommended buying Pink Legos<\/a>, I was imagining the same sorts of construction sets found in primary colors, only in pastels. \u00a0Should have done a little more research. \u00a0No, these aren\u2019t the same architechtural and vehicle structures as the ones being offered in primary colors \u2013 they\u2019re simpler! \u00a0For girls! \u00a0Yay! \u00a0Whew \u2013 thank goodness I don\u2019t have to worry my pretty little head about building hard stuff like the BOYS do!<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what I did to examine the issue a little further.<\/p>\n

I read this<\/a>\u00a0analysis of the new Lego LadyFigs. \u00a0Lotsa great points and spot-on exploration of troubling gender issues.<\/p>\n

I watched this<\/a>\u00a0Spark Video Petition asking Lego to re-examine its marketing strategies. \u00a0I will sign it. \u00a0I really support this effort.<\/p>\n

I watched this\u00a0thoroughly offensive treatment of Star Jones<\/a> on the Today Show. \u00a0Consequently, I was reminded why I hate the Today show and never watch it.<\/p>\n

And this<\/a>. \u00a0The Lego Friends commercial. \u00a0Barf.<\/p>\n

HOWEVER \u2013 I hate almost EVERY commercial aimed at kids. \u00a0I hate the food commercials aimed at kids. \u00a0I hate the toy commercials aimed at kids \u2013 girls AND boys. \u00a0Make no mistake \u2013 the marketing to boys is every bit as shallow and stubbornly adherent to gender stereotypes as the marketing to girls. \u00a0I hate most magazines aimed at kids, and most TV shows aimed at kids. \u00a0They are, so many of them, filled with obnoxious behaviors, colors, sounds, images and insulting messages. \u00a0And, please don\u2019t get me started on how adults are depicted on these shows. \u00a0There is a reason the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children under the age of two years old not watch TV.<\/p>\n

I get the huge disappointment loyal Lego customers feel \u2013 it has for so many decades been considered a brilliant gender-neutral toy, and this new line extremely condescending and misguided. \u00a0I can just feel parents deflate when they see these commercials. \u00a0It\u2019s like having your your hero selling out. \u00a0(Imagine Keith Hernandez going from being a baseball great all fans can love to doing gross, sexist, and poorly-acted commercials for men\u2019s hair dye<\/a>. \u00a0Thank GOD he would never stoop to that level. \u00a0Oh. \u00a0Wait\u2026)<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong. \u00a0I can get whipped up into a righteous fury over mistreatment of girls and women as much as the next guy. \u00a0I can, and I do. \u00a0Yet, I can\u2019t help what bothers me most in this whole scene being played out with Legos\u2019 new line. \u00a0Go back to the Today Show clip<\/a>. \u00a0Watch the end of the Lego segment. \u00a0Watch from 6:45 \u2013 7:00. \u00a0Listen to what gets used as the hilarious segue into the next segment. \u00a0Nancy Snyderman, M.D., saying, \u201cThe BRAVE parents will buy this line for their BOYS!\u201d \u00a0 HAHAHAHAHA!!!! \u00a0Donny Deutsch saying, \u201cNo, they WON\u2019T!\u201d \u00a0Snort! \u00a0Matt Lauer saying, \u201cTHAT\u2019s probably not going to happen.\u201d \u00a0Chortle!<\/p>\n

Truly, I began to conceive of \u00a0this post being willing to have my mind changed \u2013 to say \u201cI WAS WRONG!!! \u00a0Don\u2019t buy Pink Legos!!! \u00a0Don\u2019t support the sexist and insulting messages that go along with the new pink Lego line!!! \u00a0Don\u2019t do it!!!\u201d \u00a0 My stomach clenches at this blatant, insidiously insulting line of products, and I am intensely grateful to all who are fighting the sexism so powerfully.<\/p>\n

But, you know what? \u00a0There\u2019s also this<\/a>. \u00a0The much publicized story of a big brother sticking up for his younger brother who wanted a purple game controller. \u00a0Standing up for him to their DAD. \u00a0That such things go on boggles my mind. \u00a0Add to it those toss-off remarks by people with such reach and influence as Snyderman, Deutsch, and Lauer? \u00a0Sorry, my post-modern feminist friends. \u00a0I find myself wanting to stick up more than ever for the little boys who want things that are traditionally though of as \u201cgirly.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, again, I ask you \u2013 in the name of these boys \u2013 if your son wants these, buy them for him. \u00a0Please. \u00a0Seems to me I made that very argument a couple of weeks before Nancy Snyderman tossed the notion off as a joke.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"