Toymaking giant LEGO vowed this week to remove “gender biases” from all of its toys after a study found that girls are less likely than boys to play with LEGO sets.
“The company will ensure any child, regardless of gender identity, feels they can build anything they like,” LEGO said in a statement, adding that it wants all of its products to be “free of gender bias and harmful stereotypes.”
It is unclear what exactly LEGO plans to do to bring about these changes.
In a statement to NBC News, however, the company specified that it will change its marketing strategies to focus less on gender and more on “passions and interests.”
LEGO also plans to launch a “diversity and inclusivity playbook” for its product design and marketing teams.
The announcement comes just a few days after California’s Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill that requires all large retailers to make their toy sections “gender neutral” by 2024.
The bill claims that marketing certain toys towards boys and others towards girls is “inappropriate” and harmful.
State Republicans pushed back on the bill, slamming it as yet another attempt by the government to tell parents what to do with their children.
Other conservatives mocked both the California bill and Lego’s announcement:
The big problems facing California are now solved. Gov. Newsom has signed bills to ban gas-powered leaf blowers and require “gender neutral” toy aisles.
— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) October 11, 2021
Plastic blocks are gender biased?
— The Burgundian (@FinanceGuru10) October 12, 2021
