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If you think the new Lego Friends collection looks cute and innocent, think again. This line of girl-targeted Legos has a started a full-blown gender war, lead by 22-year-olds Stephanie Cole and Bailey Shoemaker-Richards of feminist group SPARK. The two women claim these new pink and frilly Legos are sexist and disturbing.
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In countless interviews, SPARK members are quick to point out that these LadyFigs — the little female Lego figurines — are sexualizing girls with curvier body parts and an affinity for pretty things.
In a change.org petition the women of SPARK describe the Lego Friends line as "a pink Barbielicious product line for girls, so 5-year-olds can imagine themselves at the cafe, lounging at the pool with drinks, brushing their hair in front of a vanity mirror, singing in a club or shopping with their girlfriends."
But they fail to mention the interests of these LadyFigs, as highlighted on Lego's website, range from engineering to journalism. Cole and Shoemaker-Richards also do not mention they are not parents themselves. Lego told Bloomberg Businessweek the launch was "very successful." Lego agreed to meet with the women of SPARK to discuss the issue.
