Minifigs, mini-dolls and my stubborn nostalgia

I was flipping through the new LEGO catalogue the other day (because what I really need is more LEGOs!) and I was thinking back to this post, where one commenter wrote, “the City line, at least, is moving nicely towards gender equality – at least one of every set of firefighters will have a traditionally feminine head with lipstick, for example.” I have also found this to be true in other lines of the LEGO products. For instance, I have a lady astronaut minifig (who apparently wears make up in space). Out of curiosity, I counted the minifigs included in the four new LEGO City sets featured in the current catalogue. Out of 17 minifigs included in these four sets only 4 are female. Not the equality I was looking for. This is obviously not a scientific experiment, just my impressions of what I’m seeing in the catalog. One of the new sets, Artic Helicrane, includes both a male and a female in a traditionally male occupation similar to the above commenter’s reference to firefighters. So, that is happening. I suppose we are plodding along toward gender equality in LEGO. 

Along the lines of LEGO featuring females in traditionally male jobs, the new LEGO Friends lines are suddenly doing a pretty good job of putting women in traditionally male roles. I have briefly mentioned the LEGO Friends Jungle Rescue Base in the past. I like the Jungle Rescue Base set better than many of the other LEGO Friends sets, although this set is also a little weird: it somewhat inexplicably includes a water park twisty slide to help the mini-dolls rescue the animals. (I really, really hate the whole mini-doll concept, but more on that later). The First Aid Jungle Bike set features a motorbike with a detachable side care, driven by Emma. The Jungle Bridge Rescue features a helicopter, piloted by Mia.

 

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And, then there was Matthew.

Matthew, included in the Jungle Bridge Rescue set, stumped me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for seeing gender equality in the Friends sets, too, but I had just never noticed a male mini-doll before. (I’ll admit I must not have been paying attention, because Matthew is not new.) Granted, I don’t love the LEGO Friends sets in general, and I in particular hate the concept of the mini-doll but, if mini-dolls are going to exist, then I would like to see gender equality in the pink aisle, as well. According to this site, the LEGO mini-doll line up consists of 21 mini-doll characters, with 3 of them male. So, the ratio here is a little worse than my random (and not at all scientific) sampling of the City sets.

But, still Matthew bothered me. It took me a while before I could get at why he was bothering me. I think for me it comes down to a sense that these mini-dolls create a bigger divide between the more traditional City sets and the Friends sets than I had previously thought. That is, you can take a set from each line and dump them together. The bricks are interchangeable and only the colors vary. But, the mini-dolls don’t fit the spirit of interchangeability. I mean, sure you can mix them together and have the mini-dolls go play in the City, but they are different. Maybe it’s just my own stubborn nostalgia, but the mini-dolls make the set feel somewhat less LEGO.

This super cute blog demonstrates the frustration with having separate minifigs and mini-dolls. (Many of the comments in the blog describe the mini-dolls as creepy, so I guess I’m not the only one who feels this way.) The site even offers printable decals so you can recreate the mini-dolls as minifigs. Cute idea; I just wish they had simply stuck with minifigs.

After analyzing this month’s LEGO catalogue, I feel we have taken two steps forward only to take one step back. I see a slow, slow creep into gender equality, but it needs to happen with both lines.

(At least I didn’t buy any new LEGO sets this time.)

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