LEGO Promises To Get Rid Of 'Sexist' Games
LEGO has changed a lot over the years. What began as simple, plastic multicoloured building blocks has now expanded into a mind-blowing collection of LEGO sets, characters and video games. This includes its biggest 'set ever' with over 11,000 pieces. However, some of these collections have, on occasion, been accused of being 'sexist' by asserting discriminative gender stereotypes to young children.
Now, the multi-billion dollar toy company has vowed to eradicate gender stereotypes from its products and make its games more inclusive for all.
The news comes after LEGO conducted a study, which was launched in acknowledgment of the UN’s International Day of the Girl. The research detailed a number of eye-opening statistics about the gender dynamics which are rooted in the toy industry and how it affects a young child's career ambitions.
What Did LEGO's Survey Reveal?
On its website, LEGO claimed that "7,000 parents and children aged 6-14 years old in China, Czech Republic, Japan, Poland, Russia, UK and USA" were interviewed as part of the study, which was carried out by the Geena Davis Institute. The research showed that while girls are encouraged to follow a creative career path, boys are more likely to be pressured into physical and STEM-like activities, i.e. science and building.
The research found that young girls are more determined to break gender boundaries when it comes to creative play. While "71% of boys vs. 42% of girls say they worry about being made fun of if they play with a toy typically associated for the other gender."
Another interesting result was the parents featured in the study were "almost four times as likely" to push boys over girls to play program games and sports. Not only that, but 71% of the parents said that they would do the same when it comes to encouraging boys more than girls to engage with coding games.
How Has LEGO Promised To Get Rid Of 'Sexist' Games?
In response to the results of its study, LEGO has promised: "The company is committed to making LEGO play more inclusive and ensuring that children’s creative ambitions – both now in the future – are not limited by gender stereotypes... We will work closely with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and UNICEF to ensure LEGO products and marketing are accessible to all and free of gender bias and harmful stereotypes."
There are a number of upcoming LEGO sets and video games on the way which, hopefully, all children will be encouraged to have a go at.
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This includes new Super Mario character sets and LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.
