Shattering The Plastic Ceiling: Why It Matters That LEGO Just Created A Female Scientist

[demmiblue]

Source: Think Progress

CREDIT: Today.com


Meet Professor C. Bodin: She looks authoritative, in her white lab coat, wielding beakers full of dangerous-looking yellow and blue liquid. She’s definitely smart — according to her bio, she won the “coveted Nobrick Prize for her discovery of the theoretical System/DUPLO® Interface.” But Bodin is far from intimidating; she’s only an inch and a half tall.

Bodin is the newest minifigure from LEGO. She and others were rolled out this week as part of the company’s Minifigure Series 11. And while that may seem like an unremarkable event — she’s just a fictional figure meant for kids, after all — the creation of Bodin is actually something to be celebrated: She is the first-ever female scientist in the company’s 81-year history.

LEGO hasn’t always been a model of gender equality. The company has often marketed itself exclusively to boys. It also got itself into hot water earlier this year after one father discovered a sticker of a male LEGO construction worker sticker with a speech bubble reading “Hey Babe!”

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But why should it matter if there’s one female scientist in LEGO’s collection? Well, Weinstock reports, “the ratio of all-time minifigure models is roughly 4:1 in favor of males. And the female characters LEGO has produced are often laden with stereotypes. A quick glance at some typical female minifig torsos suggests that girls/women are predominantly into pink, hearts, and excess skin.”

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/09/06/2584721/plastic-ceiling-lego/