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[email protected] Girls category

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  • margotmargot Member Posts: 2,308
    What a cutie pie, and wow, nice Playmobil!
  • gifinimgifinim Member Posts: 174
    My daughters Sylvanian Families house is currently the scene of a rather bloody battle between SW droids and Chima figures. I'm not sure, but I think the droids objected to the Speedorz being parked in the kitchen. She has really taken to the Chima line because of the number of strong female characters, rather than any particular boy/girl targeted marketing.

    If LEGO are going to put a 'Girls' section on the site then can we have a 'Grandparents' section too - my dad is back into LEGO in a big way now but my mum keeps telling him he's too old for it.
    chromedigiandhe
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    ^ The age slider stops at 16 years old. They don't even care for regular AFOLs let alone GFOLs.
  • AanchirAanchir Member Posts: 3,037
    The "Girls" section has indeed been there for several years, and I've always been interested in seeing what kinds of sets go there. Certainly there are the strictly girl-oriented sets and themes, but also some other noteworthy items:

    - Certain licensed themes like Spongebob Squarepants and Harry Potter. This is quite understandable. If the source material is not strictly targeted at one gender or another, then it's likely that both genders get substantial representation in focus groups and the sets are tailored to both genders. Note that the Harry Potter and Spongebob Squarepants themes both have plenty of potential for slice-of-life, dollhouse-style role play, much like LEGO Friends.

    - AFOL-oriented sets (Creator Expert, LEGO Architecture, etc). This is also a bit of a no-brainer. AFOL-oriented sets are notable for their tendency to be well-rounded, and as such there should be plenty for anyone to enjoy provided they are experienced enough as a builder to appreciate the building experience.

    - Duplo sets. This is consistent with something that was revealed in some interviews prior to the release of LEGO Friends regarding the research that was being done for that theme. As toddlers, particularly prior to entering school, girls and boys do not feel nearly as pressured to play according to societal gender roles. Of course, less than half of all Duplo sets are in this category, which is a rather suspect decision. While some are clearly aimed at "boyish" interests (My First Construction Site, Creative Cars), other omissions seem somewhat arbitrary (#5685 seems like a set girls would love, at least as much as any other Duplo impulse set). So I'd chalk that up, at least partly, to pure carelessness on the part of whoever's doing the categorizing.

    - Creator houses. Again, "dollhouse" play. Though I'd think other Creator sets, like sets for building animals or various micro-vehicles, would be plenty well-suited to a girl.

    - City sets. Currently the only one is the Advent Calendar, but others were included in this category in the past, including #7635 and #7639. Today it seems like these kinds of subjects tend to appear in LEGO Friends. Still, it'd be nice if the LEGO Group considered sets like #60023, #4432, and #4429 as sets girls might be likely to enjoy, for diversity's sake.

    - Collectible Minifigures. Character-driven, detail-oriented, and with a wider range of female characters than the typical LEGO theme, it's no surprise these are popular with girls.

    - Bricks & More. This is what the general public thinks of as "regular LEGO" that is "for everyone". But some Bricks & More sets are omitted, including, inexplicably, #10660 Pink Suitcase! o_O

    This is all based on the U.S. listings, by the way. Some older sets may no longer be listed on [email protected] on the U.S. site, so tell me if you notice anything that I didn't acknowledge.

    Overall, I don't think this is sexism any more than the decision to put a maximum recommended age range on certain sets is ageism. It's just a strategy the LEGO Group uses to try and ensure that people who receive LEGO as gifts enjoy their experience enough to become repeat customers.

    However, the lack of a "boys" category could present problems for the LEGO Group if users don't understand the function of the categories. I can easily picture a person picking out gifts for a boy, seeing the "Girls" tag on a set, and deciding that's not the set to get. And if the LEGO Group responds to that by including fewer sets in the "Girls" category, then the tag is no longer doing its job.
  • LostInTranslationLostInTranslation Member Posts: 5,572
    edited October 2013
    I was looking at a set on Amazon.co.uk and was surprised to see this in the product details:

    "About this item
    Features
    Target Gender: boy
    [...]"

    I've never noticed this before on Amazon and was surprised because the set was #31010 Creator Treehouse! I would have thought that was a prime candidate to be gender neutral, so wondering why they decided to label it as for boys. I hope they didn't just decide wholesale that all non-Friends Lego must be for boys... I'll try to do more research later.
  • princedravenprincedraven Member Posts: 3,764
    @LostInTranslation That is interesting, but I cannot find that at all. Are you looking at the mobile version of Amazon or something?
  • LostInTranslationLostInTranslation Member Posts: 5,572
    Yes, mobile version.
  • chromedigichromedigi Member Posts: 344
    This is really unfortunate. The Creator houses comprise most of the non-Friends LEGO that interests my daughter, and are one of the few themes that are arguably not gender-biased.
  • princedravenprincedraven Member Posts: 3,764
    I think this may be an error on input, I have checked quite a few others and almost none of them have a 'Target Gender' field and the ones that have it state unisex. Not found another example of 'Target Gender: boy' yet and checked Superheroes and LoTR sets too.
  • Pitfall69Pitfall69 Member Posts: 11,454
    I think it is unfortunate as well, but it is just to point people in a direction. It is no different than men's and women's sections in department stores. This doesn't mean you can't wear anything in either section. If I want to wear high heels with my Wrangler jeans, Dammit, I'm going to do it ;)
    khmellymelLegobutterfly
  • margotmargot Member Posts: 2,308
    ^Make sure you post a picture!
    khmellymel
  • AFFOL_Shellz_BellzAFFOL_Shellz_Bellz Member Posts: 1,263
    Our granddaughters are totally into Princesses, and girly things so knowing Lego [email protected] carried Duplo Disney sets I was able to quickly narrow the choices down to what was in stock in the Duplo Disney Princess line. Both of them were thrilled with the sets.

    As for not stereotyping roles, that isn't done by companies without the knowledge and cooperation of those raising the child/children. My oldest daughter played with more Buddy L trucks than dolls, my youngest daughter didn't give a hoot about toys as long as there was a book available. All three boys were just as individual.
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