Recently Lego toys introduced a new line of characters targeting girls. The new Lego Friends series has girl characters that are taller, thinner, and bustier. The marketing campaign says that the girls like to ride in “cool convertibles” and “work on their tans” in the pool. The characters come with sets that feature a cafe and a beauty shop.
SPARK (Sexualization Protest, Action, Resistance, Knowledge), a national group that works to inform the public about the sexual depiction of women in the media, and Hardy Girls Healthy Women, an empowerment group based in Waterville, Maine, quickly mounted a protest against the new Lego line. Both groups were founded by Lyn Mikel Brown, a professor of education at Colby College. Professor Brown stated, “We want to see girls doing more than clubbing and partying and being concerned about their weight and appearance.”
Professor Brown is a graduate of Ottawa University in Kansas. She holds a master’s degree in human development and psychology and an educational doctorate from Harvard University.
An online petition was established at Change.org, a social activist website calling for Lego to stop selling the new line of characters. As of this posting, more than 46,000 people had signed the online petition.