Lego promised to work toward removing gender bias in its toys in an attempt to make them more appealing to girls.
The announcement on Monday cites an international study commissioned by the Lego Group and conducted by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media found that girls were more comfortable in breaking with what society typically encourages for their gender in terms of recreation and toys as compared to boys.
“We’re working hard to make Lego more inclusive,” said Julia Goldin, the chief product and marketing officer with Lego.
The toy company stopped referring to its toys as being specifically for girls or boys. Additionally, instead of being able to search for products based on gender on its website, the company has instituted themes nicknamed “passion points.”
“New research commissioned by the LEGO Group reveals 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,” Lego said in its statement. “Despite the progress made in girls brushing off prejudice at an early age, general attitudes surrounding play and creative careers remain unequal and restrictive.”
TEACHER BANS BOYS FROM PLAYING WITH LEGOS BECAUSE OF ‘GENDER EQUALITY’
“These insights emphasize just how ingrained gender biases are across the globe,” said Geena Davis, the founder of the institute and an Oscar-winning actress.
Lego’s announcement was released on the United Nations’s International Day of the Girl, which seeks to empower and advance the rights of girls and young women from low-income and middle-income countries, according to its website.
The study, which surveyed roughly 7,000 parents and children ages 6 to 14 from countries such as China, the Czech Republic, Japan, Poland, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, also showed that most parents encouraged their sons to do more sports-related activities or engineering while pushing their daughters in the direction of cooking, dancing, or dress up.
“Parents are more worried that their sons will be teased than their daughters for playing with toys associated with the other gender,” said Madeline Di Nonno, chief executive for the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media.
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Lego joins the ranks of several toy companies that have already begun attempts to make their toys more gender-inclusive. For instance, Hasbro announced in February that it would be dropping the “Mr.” from the brand name and logo for its Mr. Potato Head toys.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1084 on Oct. 16 that will require larger department stores have gender-neutral toy sections beginning in 2024, the Washington Post reported.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Lego for comment but did not receive a response.
