Lego has apologised after a magazine produced by the brand was called sexist because of a comic strip where a character says ‘a group of girls among researchers will stick out like sore thumbs’.
One mum spotted the images in the latest issue of Lego Friends, a magazine that is targeted at girls aged between seven and 11.
The scene shows two characters having a conversation about going to a meeting.
One says: ‘I think we should secretly go to the meeting too, just in case Carter tries something sneaky.’
The other character responds: ‘You’re right, but we won’t be able to just walk right in. A group of girls among researchers – we’ll stick out like sore thumbs.’
The girls eventually decided to dress up as bakers and give out muffins as ‘nobody will suspect a thing.’
The mum on Twitter was also concerned about images showing a group of girls dismissing science and saying it was boring so they wanted to do some baking instead.
Tweeting at Lego and the group Let Toys Be Toys, who campaign to challenge gender stereotypes in toy marketing, the woman said: ‘Both my children love Lego, and this makes me want to run in the opposite direction.
‘Sort out your magazines, this is an embarrassment to your brand.’
Other people were not impressed by the magazine and some said that messages like this discouraged girls from getting involved in science.
Steph said: ‘How’s this for representation: Women can only hang out with scientific researchers if they pretend to be bakers…’
Mik added: ‘It’s so very nearly “let’s bake some cookies for the boys!”‘
‘This is so disappointing to a lifetime Lego lover and female researcher…’ Emily added.
Heather said: ‘Thanks for the clear sexism. Women in tech, women in STEM and women in research already exist. We don’t have to make muffins anymore!’
A spokesperson for Lego said: ‘We believe that LEGO play is for everyone and our magazines should reflect that. With this story, we were trying to show that girls have lots of different interests and passions including science and STEM but we appreciate that some of the language we used missed the mark this time and we apologise.
‘We will certainly learn from this and do better in future.’
We contacted Immediate Media, the publishers of Lego Friends, for a response and we will update this article if they respond.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2019/12/18/lego-kids-magazine-branded-sexist-saying-girls-stick-among-scientists-11927086/
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