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Iconic toy brand LEGO recently launched a new line of toys meant just for girls — but two young women, Bailey Shoemaker-Richards and Stephanie Cole, think the products are unfairly “dumbed down” for girls. The new line is called LadyFigs, and it’s made up of busty, pastel-colored figurines that come with interests like shopping, hair-dressing, and lounging at the beach. The uninspired toys even come with pre-assembled environments — so there is no assembly (or imagination) required. Bailey and Stephanie say they’re frustrated that LEGO is pushing outdated gender roles on girls and cheating them of the opportunity to build and discover. So they took to the internet, blogging about what they call the new “Barbielicious” LEGOs and petitioning the toy company to lose the sexist LadyFigs line and go back to empowering both boys and girls with its original products. Click here to sign Bailey and Stephanie’s petition today. LEGO hasn’t always thought its toys were only for boys. In the 1980s, the company was actually celebrated for a major advertising campaign that spotlighted a young girl and her LEGO creation with the tagline “What it is is beautiful.” But since then, LEGO reversed course and decided to market its products only to boys. The company claims its research shows girls just don’t appreciate the original LEGO line. But Bailey and Stephanie argue that with LEGO’s renewed emphasis on boys — featuring only boys in its ads and stocking products in the boys’ aisles of toy stores — it’s no wonder young girls wouldn’t think LEGOs were meant for them. Bailey and Stephanie’s fight to get LEGO to return to its gender-neutral toys is already making waves, with the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Time weighing in on the issue. But LEGO is stubbornly holding its ground and told Business Week that the LadyFigs launch is a “strategic” move to “reach the other 50 percent of the world’s children,” as if girls have never been part of LEGO’s focus. Public pressure can prove LEGO wrong. If enough people sign Bailey and Stephanie’s petition, it could convince LEGO that the new LadyFigs are bad business and the company should return its focus to empowering boys AND girls with toys that inspire creativity and innovation. Tell LEGO to stop selling out girls — sign Bailey and Stephanie’s petition today. Thanks for being a change-maker, – Shelby and the Change.org team |
Tag Archives: Stephanie
your health care
Good grief. The new House Republican majority has already announced that they will vote to repeal last year’s health care bill. And the vote will happen next week!
Democrats want to offer amendments to save the most popular parts of that bill — keeping kids on their parents’ health care until age 26, ending discrimination against pre-existing conditions, and filling in the prescription drug “doughnut hole” that forces seniors to pay thousands.
But the Tea Party says they won’t allow any amendments — even to protect popular reforms that save lives.
Yesterday, Adam and I, plus our Capitol Hill director Shaunna Thomas, talked to several Democratic members of Congress — and they are eager to highlight the real stories of people who would be impacted if Republicans had their way. So we’ll share your stories with them.
The House bill will go nowhere in the Democratic Senate, but next week’s debate is a valuable opportunity to show America just how crazy the Tea Party zealots are — and to show Democrats how to start swinging from day one.
If repealing the reforms listed above would impact you, please share your story here.
Please pass this email to others you know who would be impacted by Republican proposals. And thanks for being a bold progressive.
P.S. A recent Associated Press poll showed that by 2 to 1, Americans think last year’s health care law didn’t go far enough — as opposed to thinking it was too much government. So this year, we’ll be pushing Democrats to give Americans a government-run, public, “affordable health insurance option.” But the best way to encourage Democrats to play offense in the future is to help them play good defense next week. That’s where your health care stories come in — click here to tell us yours.
Be a Seed for Change 