Girls' Corner

[ZippyWharrgarbl]

They probably will. But still, those ANGRY EYEBROWS remain. I mean, look at my avatar. That thing's as mad as anything. Those butterflies are just driving a stake of hate through its soul.

Edited December 19, 2011 by ZippyWharrgarbl

[Alyska]

Based on the first 24 hours, I don't have high hopes for my Cuusoo project, mainly because a majority of the target audience wouldn't be Lego fans already, and the site doesn't allow people under 13 to post or vote. And there's a lot of spam on that site, too.Oh well, it was worth a shot.Out of interest, does anyone else here have a Cuusoo account?

[Kaleidoscope Tekulo]

I just made my account the other day so I could support your project. Mine's Gold777547 (the same as my regular Lego account). Also, it takes more than 24 hours for the results to really be guessed at. Heck, I've posted three short stories here on BZP and only one of them has any replies to it (and that was probably only because of the popularity of the contest). The other two are sinking slowly into the abyss. XDD Does that mean I'm going to stop writing stories? Nope. ^^ (Much to the dismay of many, many -aka like 7- people who frequent the SS forum. XDD).Although I have gotten some feedback on those stories elsewhere... Still, these things take time. You never know when something like this could be picked up, and it certainly wouldn't go anywhere if it weren't up on Cuusoo to begin with.I'm kinda hoping the LEGO Friends line will crash and burn... Well, not totally, but I hope it will ultimately fail or transform into something less... pink and frilly... O.e I remember Bellville sets were at least... interesting due to the unique colors and pieces. These do not look promising in the slightest to me, unfortunately...Wasn't there a quote from Walt Disney that basically said something along the lines of "If you only market to children, you will fail"? Look at Hayao Miyazaki, Teen Titans and the older Disney movies. They are all enjoyable for all audiences. With Lego, it just seems like they're marketing to children first and foremost, especially with this new girls' line. I really don't think it will hold up, or rather I really hope it doesn't hold up... =/

[Alyska]

Lego Friends needs to do moderately well, whether we like it or not. If they don't, Lego is not going to think "Oh, we're doing it wrong. Let's try something completely different for girls."; they're going to think "Girls are a waste of time and money," and not try anything else for another five years. Basically, it needs to do well enough to show that there's a market for it, but it needs enough room for improvement for them to want to make changes.And I agree with the bit about the age group. It seems to be aimed entirely at children under nine. I am a bit disappointed that Lego is going for something so generic, but the sets are quite well designed for what they are. Also, the advantage of something like this is that it's not dependent on story, like my Cuusoo idea is. It is definitely a "safe" option, but they have to start somewhere.I have a few issues with Cuusoo that I've mentioned in another topic, but one of the most irritating ones is that only the most recently updated/most supported projects get displayed on the front page. Basically, nobody is going to find a more obscure project unless they search for it. And so, some of the most "successful" projects are the ones that rely on comment spamming to stay on the front page.

[GSR]

Alyska, I take it you saw the Bloomberg article about Lego's rationale behind Lego Friends? I think it makes a good point that at the end of the day, you do need to make some allowances for "traditional" likes for young girls if you want to get them interested in something largely seen as male-only; part of what drove the design of the Friends line was research Lego did that told them, "yes, 'prettier' sets are wanted by this market". The question then becomes, of course, can Lego manage to have girls transition from that to other Lego lines - or can they make lines targeted to an older female audience that go beyond "it has shopping bags"?

[Kaleidoscope Tekulo]

Yeah, I see LEGO Friends much like I see the sand element in Bionicle. If it's either going to be yet another separate element even though it isn't (earth and stone are the same thing, I don't care how much you argue. It's like saying ice isn't water even though it is), then I'd rather have it be nothing to the story at all. =/And even if it does crash and burn, that doesn't mean Lego will always give up on it. They know that there's marketing potential and money to be made by targeting a female audience. They'd better get it right or the company is going to lose business. Granted, if it all crashed and burned in a horrific fiery death easily comparable to Krakatoa, they would probably shy away from that line of thinking for probably around ten or so years (I am basing this on totally nothing aside from logic XD). Still, I'm sure they'd come back with a new idea eventually. After all, they took the time and effort to make a toy line for girls (which shows they know the marketing potential and that they are serious about this in some form), and with MLP's success (and hopefully Lauren Faust along with others with similar goals will have some influence on other marketing), then who knows what the next approach will be? I'm not saying it's going to definitely happen, but there's a plausible chance that Lego could come out with something decent for all or most ages in the girls' department. Although, if it's going to be generic and totally miss the target, then I'm inclined to say "maybe it's better without." =/ If Lego Friends is successful, that means consumers are saying "We want more of this product" and then it's not very likely to change due to the fact that it sells. That's why I'm hoping for a "crash and burn" option; I know Lego can do better. (My word, if I were in charge of the Lego Friends project, then all of my employees would totally hate me. XDD).Anyway, I understand that it's a first approach, but when you start off with a girly product, and if said girly product sells... I just worry the girls toys will always be a boring pink blah. -.-

Edited December 19, 2011 by Tekulo: Toa of Wind

[Alex Humva]

Me, personally, think that in the end a doubled market potential will win Lego over. No businessperson in their right mind will exclude half of the potential customers; that's just too much profit wasted.Even if this crashes and burns -and I'm sorry, but I hope it does-, Lego will still try to reach the other half of the market place. It's just simple business sense.

[Alyska]

Well, there's a possibility that superhero stories for girls are going to make a comeback, thanks to a certain Ms Faust working on a new TV show about the DC superheroines. There's also Mattel's Monster High, which I love as a premise for a girls' toyline, although it needs a bit of work on characterisation, and the outfits are still a bit Bratz-like. Other franchises are turning away from the stereotypical pastels and pinks, so if Lego starts playing follow-the-leader, they may eventually come out with something decent in, oh, about five to six years' time.But, yeah, the other franchises I mentioned are probably geared at a somewhat older audience. At that age, kids will be forming a more complex sense of identity, and moving away from the "I'm a girl! I like pink!" line of thought. At least one thing I'm pretty sure of is that LEGO will never resort to over-sexualised imagery like Barbie and Bratz- they're still keen to maintain their family-friendly reputation.I'm reading the Bloomberg article now, and I'm thinking that a lot of the principles that they applied in designing Friends- the detailed, attractive designs and the individual character personalities- could easily be applied to my idea for the constraction line, without it looking stereotypical at all. I think I may have incorporated some of those principles unconciously already, but I'm considering adding them to my rationale.

[Kaleidoscope Tekulo]

Ah, that's right! I have high hopes for the super hero show coming out. ^^I haven't heard of the monster high one. Still I do like female characters who aren't just girly. Granted I'm a fan of Starfire from Teen Titans (as well as Raven and Tera), but she's not pink, her eyes are green (bonus) and her personality is hilarious. Not to mention the fact she's super strong and fires star bolts and laser eye beams. ^^

[Alyska]

Okay...Anyone got any other ideas for a Lego line aimed at girls, that cuts down on the stereotyping?I was trying to think of some good licensed themes they could run, and then I realised that most franchises are boy-oriented or unisex, unless they are explicitly designed to sell toys to girls.Although, the new Pixar film is going to have a female lead. I'm looking foward to that.

[ZippyWharrgarbl]

I'd like to see more female characters like Hermione Granger, from Harry Potter. Ron and Harry would have been useless without her, and she was boss at magic. Too many female characters have to rely on males to do anything (Twilight, anyone?), and I'd like to see a change to that.So, maybe a line with strong female characters? Something to tell the kids you don't have to be a man to be independent? Maybe even... not include the colour pink?*A multitude of gasps fill the room.*

[Alyska]

Thing is, there's nothing inherently wrong with the colour pink, it's just that you can't expect every girl to like it. I have no problem with, say one pink set out of a line of six. When you make everything for girls pink, that's when you start getting problems...

[Alex Humva]

Yeah, IMO, pink is fine -it is, after all, just a lighter shade of red-, but it's the stereotyping that gets problematic. Boys can like green blue red yellow orange or what not, but girls are expected to be focused on pink? Causes problems.Personally, for a line of sets, I say go the gender neutral route; have even amounts of each gender, and don't focus on it. That's how I always write my stories at least; gender is an afterthought, effectively a flip of the coin and rarely changes anything.That, and you can still have teamwork without it being slanted against women or men. Equal amounts of both is just the best option, IMO.

[Kaleidoscope Tekulo]

Wait, the new Pixar film? You mean Brave? I want to see that movie more than any other. I really don't get excited about too many movies (because Hollywood is totally out of all things original and are reduced to superhero puddles of films, which are fine for, say, The Dark Knight, but they get old after so many viewings).I'm not excited because it's a female lead; I'm excited because of how dark it's looking. I'm a huge fan of classic fairy tales and the Brothers Grimm, and this movie is said to be very much in the style of a classic Brothers Grimm story. I heard it was originally going to be called The Bear and the Bow. A movie like that sounds like a perfect cup of tea and crumpets for someone like me. ^^As far as the color pink goes, I don't hate it. I mean, Pinkiepie is pink (Pink is in her name) and she's just awesome. XD I just don't like it when everything turns into a monochromatic blah. Heck, Howl from Howl's Moving Castle wears a pink jacket. XD Speaking of which, have any of you guys seen any Hayao Miyazaki films? His protagonists tend to be women, and they tend to be pretty well developed characters too. Howl's Moving Castle is my personal favorite. ^^

[ZippyWharrgarbl]

Pink's fine, but I have yet to see a girl's line of toys that do not include vast amounts of the colour. Also, slightly related: I went into a store a while ago, which was known for stocking gamer clothes, and was annoyed that the only female nerd shirts you could buy were either pink ones with Princess Peach on them or lame ones with cutesy messages like 'I Love Nerds' with Hello Kitty on it or something. I've since ragequit on the store, as nowadays the only female clothes it stocks is aforementioned cutesy shirts and clothes that reveal a lot more than I'm comfortable with.Have you guys noticed this with clothes stores? I don't like clothes shopping much, but now I hate it because I usually leave the store feeling insulted by the suggestion that since I'm female I have to essentially wear short shorts and tiny shirts in public.I love the Studio Ghibli films! They're so nice and thought-provoking. After watching Howl's Moving Castle, I went and read the book by Dianna Wynne Jones. I was surprised to find the movie was actually much, much better, though the book provided a bit more depth. I personally loved Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle, though I recently watched Porco Rosso and that was cool too. That girl who whoops the sky pilots into shape only with her words is awesome.

Edited December 21, 2011 by ZippyWharrgarbl

[Alyska]

Yeah, I've been having a lot of trouble with clothes lately too, especially in summer. And stuff isn't built to last these days either, so I might have a top that's perfectly decent one year, but has sagged into "Play now, my lord!" territory the next. I have a bone to pick with the entire fashion industry.And Alex, I agree that in an ideal world, Lego would still be making gender neutral products and marketing them as such, but the fact is, Lego just doesn't think that way any more. And because male is considered the "generic" form of humanity, any product that is not explicitly presented as being for girls will be seen as being for boys anyway, and therefore ignored by gift-shopping parents of girls. I think Greg said once that the lines that are big with both genders are the licensed ones like Harry Potter, to which kids already have an attachment through the story.Maybe a non-licensed line that was heavily story driven, and the story well marketed (through TV shows, movies, etc) could appeal to both genders if they developed a meaningful connection to the story first.Hmm... now we just need a good story...

[Alex Humva]

Yeah, I know, I'm the dreamer in the corner, wishing for a world that isn't coming. xD Kinda depressing at times, but hey, there's always hope, even if it's so tiny you need a microscope to see it.I just cannot see where the Lego marketing people are coming up with the 'we shouldn't attempt to market to women' thing. I mean, seriously. It doubles your potential profits. It's simple business sense to attempt to reach as many customers as possible. I guess they're trying with the whole Lego Friends thing, but even that... I don't know about that. It's like when you wish for a million dollars, then a suitcase falls out of the sky with it and God informs you that you just killed a thousand people to get the money.Well, maybe not that severe, but you get the idea. Bionicle really was a success story for Lego in terms of storyline and sets, so methinks that we need something like Bionicle or Hero Factory, but without the blatant "there's that one girl, and she sits in the corner trying not to get hurt." If you had equal amounts of both genders in the six person teams, and a really good story to tie it together, then you could have a set line that markets to both genders, and everything works out.Then again, Lego might of realized what I realized a while back; society is simply not ready for that yet, and probably won't be for a long time. It'll change, eventually, but that day is not today. I can only hope that the whole 'I'm cool with my kid buying what s/he wants, I'm not going restrict them based on gender' trend continues and we start to see a change in opinions for the next generation, but until then, we're stuck. :

Edited December 21, 2011 by Cartographer Alex Humva

[Alyska]

That's right. So, in order to make that transition, we first need to get rid of the perception that the toys girls play with are automatically lame. So, a couple of lines for girls that are on par with the stuff for boys, and possibly even making the two compatible, will help bridge that gap in the meantime.Trust me, I've been that dreamer in the corner. Everyone thought I was nuts. So, now I'm toning down my ideas to the point where normal people can understand them, because that's more likely to make something happen.

Edited December 21, 2011 by Alyska

[Kaleidoscope Tekulo]

I love the Studio Ghibli films! They're so nice and thought-provoking. After watching Howl's Moving Castle, I went and read the book by Dianna Wynne Jones. I was surprised to find the movie was actually much, much better, though the book provided a bit more depth. I personally loved Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle, though I recently watched Porco Rosso and that was cool too. That girl who whoops the sky pilots into shape only with her words is awesome.

Ten points for Zippy.The scores are as shown.Zippy: 10Alyska: A Green PenguinAlex: A Chocolate Chip CookieGSR: Eternal Fame and Glory XDAnyway -coughbackontopiccough- I haven't seen Porco Rosso, but that does sound like a character Miyazaki would use. Even when the main character was a man (Princess Mononoke), the princess was extremely fierce and independent, and even the women working in the town were strong and hard working. I really haven't seen too much of that in culture these days. Although, maybe Tiana from the Princess and the Frog as she really is a hard worker throughout the film (even to a fault. ^^; )I've heard that her book isn't as good as the movie. Although, I love Sophie's character. She isn't the typical strong and independent type, and yet she goes through a great adventure and you get to follow her character development. ^^ Chihiro in Spirited Away was similar to her, I think, only she was a child where Sophie was an adult. They do wind up with a love interest at the end, but even so I think that's more along the lines of "Good things happen to good people" type of theme as opposed to "look at the romance, it's romance!" type of story. I'd love to see more of that in American culture dealing with women. I'm so glad the movies have been translated into English. ^^Gender neutral is a good idea, but it has to be done right. I like how Teen Titans went about it. There was action, but there were also internal struggles. I think a proper balance between the two allowed room for a pretty gender neutral story. After all, I wouldn't call Starfire a spokesmen for boys, but I wouldn't call Beast Boy someone girls would be particularly interested in. There was romance between Starfire and Robin, but Raven remained independent (she and Beast Boy remained close friends as opposed to romantic interests -as they were in the comics, or so I've heard-). (Sorry, I'm a broken record with this example, but it's really one of the few things besides Studio Ghibli that comes to mind when I think "gender neutral" ><)As for clothing, I only really pay attention to the guys' section... Though, I don't really have too many complaints because most nerdy shirts and things can be found for a decent price at superstores (thank you video game popularity. ^^).

[ZippyWharrgarbl]

Tekulo, if you like Teen Titans, don't look at the new comic ones that are out. They've twisted Starfire and Beastboy into... well, they're no longer the nice teens we know and love. Ugh, Starfire's new outfit...I know girls who got fed up with being unable to find good nerd shirts in girl's sizes and just bought guy's ones. It's a good idea, I think. I mean, there's not too much of a difference, besides the curvier look of most female shirts.With toys, better yet, LET'S NOT HAVE GENDERS AT ALL!!! AHAHA THINK OF THE WEIRD COMPLAINTS FROM PARENTS > : DOr just have a balanced group of characters. That could work. (But my idea's more FUN)

[Alyska]

Hmmm... I said I wouldn't do this, but I find myself trying to elaborate on the characters and story from my Cuusoo project.The green goth girl is called Ebony; she's a dryad (forest spirit) who was raised as a normal human. Powers include plant control, healing abilities, and enhanced speed. She can pass as human as long as she stays out of the sun- prolonged exposure to sunlight causes her body to start producing chloropyll, and she goes green like a potato. Occasionally gets mistaken for a vampire.The one with pink hair, I've tentatively named Belle. She's your generic anime-style magical girl, or possibly a parody of one. She doesn't really have elemental powers like the others, but gets miscellaneous, quirky spells that come in handy more often than you'd think. Has no indoor voice. She acts immature and ditzy, but may or may not be much cleverer than she acts. She enjoys performing experiments with her magic, usually at Ebony's expense.One such incident: Belle is testing out a "Meet your Maker" spell that causes objects to return to the person that created them. (Spoiler'd for longness, not spoilerness)

"EBONNNNY! I need help! Quick!""What's the matter?""I need you to help me make a sandwich!""What?""See? There!" (She points to a near-finished salad sandwich, missing only the top slice of bread)."...Are you trying to tell me that you are incapable of putting another slice of bread on top of your sandwich?""Please? It's for science! Magic science!""So, it's some sort of magical sandwich that's going to explode when I touch it.""No! It's a completely ordinary sandwich... I swear!""*Sigh* Okay..." (Ebony carefully puts the top layer of bread on, then jumps back, expecting something to happen. Nothing does)"Yay! We made a sandwich together! Now for the spell...""Spell-?""Salad sandwich, IT'S TIME TO MEET... YOUR... MAKER!!" ( Lots of magical sparkles. The sandwich at first does nothing, then suddenly flies over to Ebony and splatters in her face.)"Aha!" says Belle. "So, when two or more people helped create an object, it returns to the one who finished it... or maybe it was just because you were closer to it than I was... Let's try it again! Wait... Ebony, where are you going?"

So, yeah, that's a sample of how I picture the characters and the overall tone. It would have villains and monsters and whatnot, but it would also include plenty of humour and lighthearted moments like the above....I'm scared of getting too attached to this project, since I technically don't own it.

[ZippyWharrgarbl]

I like it, Alyska. But some part of me wants the sandwich to change to something else, merely due to all the 'hurr durr you're a woman make me a sandwich' remarks I'm so used to getting. That's personal opinion, though, and it doesn' really matter in the gand scheme of things. What matters is this looks like a great premise for a TV show, movie, book and toy all in one.I'd hate to sound fangirly, but Homestuck tends to have great characters when it comes to genders. The male and female main characters are pretty much equally balanced in terms of numbers, and the females are pretty awesome.Ugh I hate sandwich remarks so much it's like aaaaaaargh make your own darn sandwich I'm too busy watching shows about monster trucks

[Alyska]

The main reason it's a sandwich is I thought it'd be amusing for Belle to start frantically calling for help over something as trivial as making a sandwich. And they have to make something in order for the spell to work. As a free woman, I defend my right to have my characters making a sandwich.If you get the sandwich comment on a regular basis, you could always carry around a small jar of Vegemite with the lid superglued on. Tell them "You're a man. Open this, and then I'll make you a sandwich."

[Kaleidoscope Tekulo]

Hehe I like it. ^^ The "Magic science!" line had me laughing a bit.And monster truck shows? O.o I watch shows about ponies thank you very much. XDAnd Alyska, that's pure evil in a Vegemite can. XD I haven't seen the new comics for the Teen Titans, though seeing the older comic designs of the characters, I'm liking some more than others.

[Alex Humva]

Alyska, you totally need to do a comedy on the characters. It could really work out, and it'd even tie into this topic.And if you do such a thing, I demand Clark's law be mentioned

[Alyska]

You mean Clarke's Law for girls' toys?Hmm... according to my calculations... if boys' toys run on advanced technology and science, and girls' toys are apparently powered by magic, then my project can successfully appeal to a gender neutral audience, because it's powered by MAGIC SCIENCE. Logic!Actually, I do kind of prefer fantasy to sci-fi, but it's for the opposite reason to what you'd expect. It's because if something impossible happens, and they say "It's magic!", that's a suspension of disbelief I'm willing to make, but if you try to tell me it happened through sciencey-sounding jargon that is blatanty nonsensical, I will be Not Impressed.That was a minor problem I had with Bionicle in the later years... "There is no such thing as magic... only highly questionable SCIENCE!"

[Alex Humva]

No, not the trope, the actual law. Clark's Third Law I believe. "Any sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic."When that law is done right, you can have an amazing blend of fantasy and science themes. When done run you get a mess.But you can still have 'magic science', as I mean, look at Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. It's magic system is extremely detailed and well bounded, with rules set in place that aren't broken. You constantly see A Wizard Did It all the time, but you don't care because the rules are so well made and explained, seeing a giant statue that was made with the One Power is less "...how the **** did they do that?" and more "oh cool." Similar to a reaction if it had been made with pickaxes and a bunch of engineers.SPEAKING OF WHICHAny of you guys read the Wheel of Time series? It's got some... very interesting gender dynamics that go on in it. While admittedly the dynamics can be boiled down to men going, "dem crazy women folk" and women going, "**** stupid men", there are enough exceptions and breaks from it -for instance, the time when one of our intrepid heroes breaks a rather sexist woman out of prison, and she is forced to admit that, yes, he did something smart-, it makes for a rather interesting read.Not to mention, all the characters are extremely well rounded, regardless of gender, and we have action girls aglore. As well as all sorts of other character themes, such as politicians, farmers, merchants, crazy desert wasteland dwellers, and all inbetween, all in both genders and all very well rounded.That, and the whole magic system revolves around each gender having different specializations without coming across as in your face or pushing an agenda.

[ZippyWharrgarbl]

I haven't read the Wheel of Time series, but I'll make a note of reading it. :)Has anyone here read anything in the Discworld series? They're fantastic when it comes to magic/science. Everything's magic on their world, but it can be taken down to a science. There are also notable books with stories where the main characters are both awesome AND female, such as any with the Witches and the Tiffany Aching Chronicles. Also, 'Equal Rites' was about a girl who was born with wizard powers, and it's all about her travelling to the Unseen University to be trained as a wizard, though they are all men (since wizards and witches never deviate from the standard genders and their magic is totally different from one another's).My goodness I love Discworld. Excuse my fan-ism.

[GSR]

Discworld is unspeakably, incredibly wonderful. I do believe I've read all the books in the series, which is no small task.

[Kaleidoscope Tekulo]

I've hated that about Bionicle too (as you might have guessed from earlier rants. XDD). I prefer centering around my characters where magic exists in their universe. I think those types of stories allow more elements of faith, symbolism and it prevents you from looking so far into the story that you no longer see what the story is about. That and, you know, we're talking about creatures that control the elements and have masks that do the impossible... totally doesn't sound like magic in any way shape or form to me. XDHmm, those stories sound interesting. Though, I've already heard about Discworld before. I'll have to check them out sometime. ^^ I'd be interested in a comedy with those characters. They do sound entertaining so far, Alyska. XD

[Alyska]

Hmm... I'm really not sure how much I'm going to do with the characters. I want to do enough that it gets people interested, but not so much that it takes away from the other projects I'm working on.My time on Cuusoo has got me thinking I want to do a storyline about trolls. In this universe, trolls start out as nasty, imp-like little critters that go out of their way to annoy people because they feed on anger. Naturally, they start hounding the most hotheaded heroine (haven't decided who she will be yet), who loses it at them and tries to fight, causing them to grow bigger and stronger. Eventually, her friends realise what's happening, and persuade her not to react any more. Cue a scene of the gang blissfully ignoring the damage that goes on around them, smiling and laughing, offering the monsters cookies, etc, until the trolls have shrunk back down and run away screaming. I think there's an important moral there.

[ZippyWharrgarbl]

Sounds great, Alyska! I like the moral in there. It's a good one. :)The great thing about Discworld is that it doesn't necessarily have to be read in order. I think I started with the movie 'Hogfather', which is based on the Discworld book of the same name. Come to think of it, it's like a Christmas story, so maybe they'll be showing the movie on TV soon. First book was either 'The Colour of Magic' or 'Mort', I think it was the former, but both were excellent.Also, their 'planet' is so illogical it's logical. It's a disc that rests on the backs of four elephants, which in turn stand on the shell of a space turtle. Sounds legit, right?

[Alyska]

One of the official Lego staff commented on my project and said he liked the idea!He said I should get ahold of "mommybloggers" to gather support, since there isn't much of my target age group present on Cuusoo....Soooo... does anyone know anything about "mommybloggers" and how to catch them?

[Kaleidoscope Tekulo]

That's great, Alyska! ^^I looked back at what he said, and he mentioned panning it out a bit more. I think he means "look at this through the eyes of the parents" or something along those lines. After all, the parents are the ones who are going to buy toys for their children, so if you're going to appeal to them you may have to alter your pitch a bit.Personally, I'd start with "This is the idea, and this is what separates this toy from all of the other toys for girls out there" which should be relatively easy (you know, considering on how new/unique this idea is for a girls' toy). Anyway, this is your project so you can decide for yourself. ^^; Still, if you'd ever like a second opinion, I'm sure we'd all be ready to discuss.I'm not too sure what he meant by "mommybloggers." I'm sure they're blogs written by mothers, but I'm not certain where to start with that. I'd ask the Lego staff member to provide a link if possible.At any rate, I'm glad to hear your project got some feedback at least. Here's hoping for the best!

[GSR]

Congrats on getting some feedback, Alyska! By "mommybloggers" I take it he's referring to the small but existent cadre of middle-aged, female bloggers who have turned to the internet as a way to connect and discuss aspects of domestic life that they may not feel they normally have a chance to. Googling gives some interesting results, including New York Times articles and the like.I'd heard of this sort of demographic before, but this is the first time I'd heard it referred to as such. That's the downside of pursuing a CS degree with honors, it makes it darn near impossible to fit in sociology courses where I'd get a chance to look into this sort of emergent culture more closely.

[Alyska]

Hmm... I guess when it comes to appealing to parents, there are a number of possible directions I could take it:-Encourages creative play-High playability when compared to other girls' toys.-A LEGO line for girls which is on par (set and story-wise) with the stuff for boys.-A wide range of colours and styles to appeal to girls with different tastes and interests.-Provides alternative female role models to the traditional "let's go shopping" archetype.-The sets are feminine and aesthetically pleasing, without being overly sexualised or stereotypical.I've lightly touched on most of the above points in the existing description, except for the parts about role models and the anti-Barbie-ness. They are certainly valid points that would appeal to a lot of parents, but I don't want it to turn into some sort of feminist rant. When I start talking about those sorts of things, I tend to get a bit carried away and it puts people off talking to me..I'll try and fit it in without sounding like I'm forcing my opinion too much.

[ZippyWharrgarbl]

Have you guys seen the LEGO Friends site yet? I... I just don't know about it. At least they attempted something with the Inventor's Workshop, I guess. And at least it requires building. But still... it just doesn't look like a thing you'd give to a child to enforce postive gender roles. :

[Alyska]

I've got a couple of character bios up on Cuusoo, in case anyone's interested.And yeah, I've seen the Friends site... there's a lot of hugging involved. It's looking a bit sparse, content-wise- I was hoping they'd have some sort of story content avilable. The story stuff is really what's going to define whether it's sending a good message to girls or not, since there's so much emphasis on the individual personalities of the characters. I'm sure the sets will naturally branch out into less stereotypical stuff as the line progresses- this year is just playing it safe to give it time to gather an audience.I've read through all the bios, and I can't figure out which girl is meant to be the funny one. And if there isn't a funny one, I will be seriously disappointed. When not even a female-focused line can produce a female comic relief character, there is something very, very wrong. Comic relief. It's serious business.

[GSR]

Hey Alyska, congrats on making BZP's front page with your Cuusoo project!I saw this article (well, opinion piece) in the New York Times, and figured you'd all be interested, though it's a few days old:http://www.nytimes.c...make-sense.html

Edited January 3, 2012 by GSR

[Alyska]

Thanks!After reading that article, I definitely want to see more shops laying out toys based on type, not gender. It encourages kids to define themselves by their personal interests, rather than their gender. If my Cuusoo project ever got made, I would want to see the sets on the shelves in the Lego section, right next to Hero Factory, or whatever other constraction lines Lego is producing by then.Actually, that brings me to a big question that's risen up in several places since the release of Friends:"Why is Lego not a gender neutral toy?"I think it it's partly due to the assumption many people have that anything that is not explicitly for girls must be a boys' toy, a mentality which quickly gets passed down to children. It also seems to be deliberately invoked by Lego through the storylines and marketing- the advertisements almost always focus on boys, and the story-driven lines have little to no female characters. I think one day, Lego will be able to produce truly gender-neutral products, but it will require a serious overhaul of how toys in general are marketed before it can work.