Lego Goes Gender-Neutral, To Remove Gender Bias From Its Toys
Danish toy manufacturer Lego announced that gender bias in the toymaker’s products will be a thing of the past. Earlier this month, Lego said that it would ensure all its products and marketing are accessible to all and free of gender bias and harmful stereotypes.
Lego pledged that it would remove gender stereotypes from its products and will no longer market toys at boys and girls distinctly.
This comes after a study carried out by the Geena Davis Institute showed that “girls today feel increasingly confident to engage in all types of play and creative activities, but remain held back by society’s ingrained gender stereotypes as they grow older”. This is a tendency that Lego wishes to tear down with their newest measures.
Happy International Day of the Girl! 🥳 Bold, innovative and inspiring – girls’ creative energy is rebuilding the world. Together, let’s get the world ready for girls!#LEGO #RebuildTheWorld #DayOfTheGirl pic.twitter.com/dYQfp7o0CA
— LEGO (@LEGO_Group) October 11, 2021
Fight Against Gender Biases
“We believe that it is crucial that we as a society encourage new points of view and establish more initiatives, to ensure that all children have equal opportunity to develop their creative potential and ambitions. In Lego we want to do our part in order for that to happen,” said Lena Dixen, Senior Vice President in Lego, to TV2.
Lego’s fight against gender biases will not have a direct effect on the famous building blocks as we know them, as the Danish company will only shift away from segmenting their products on gender and instead focus their products and marketing developments on interests and play patterns.
It is not the first time that Lego has addressed issues relating to inclusivity and equality. In May, the company announced that an LGBTQ+ set was in the making.
We’re super excited to reveal our new set – LEGO Everyone is Awesome! Because we celebrate every LEGO builder ❤️🌈 #LEGO #EveryoneIsAwesome pic.twitter.com/J7KSz3zWik
— LEGO (@LEGO_Group) May 20, 2021
‘Ready For Girls’ Campaign
Alongside the new initiatives, the Billund-based toy giant also launched a ‘Ready For Girls’ campaign, celebrating girls’ creativity to rebuild the world.
“We want to emphasize and spark debate around the fact that playing is still gendered to an extent where even though the new study shows that while girls are ready to engage in all forms of playing, the world is not quite ready to meet their ambitions”, said Lixen.
The study referred to is based on the answers of 7000 parents and children from China, the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, the UK and the US.
One of the findings was that 74 percent of the boys meant some activities are designated for boys while others are for girls. It was 62 percent of the surveyed girls who agreed to that. It also showed that three out of four parents would recommend Lego to their sons rather than to their daughters.
