Lego is trying to break away from criticism it promotes gender stereotypes one brightly colored brick at a time.
Meet Professor C. Bodin. She is Lego's first female scientist and is included in the new Minifigure Series which debuted in stores Sept. 1.
The scientist is a member of the 11th version of the popular series that has included past female characters such as Hollywood Starlet, Mermaid, and Roller Derby Girl. The male characters in the series include Heroic Knight, Business Man, and Space Man. (The male characters also include some more strange offerings such as Mime, Disco Dude and Lawn Gnome.)
The Denmark-based Lego company has come under fire in recent years for promoting gender stereotypes in its toys. According to a report in in Scientific America, Lego's sex ratio of minifigure models is almost 4:1 in favor of males. Previous Lego offerings included a female doctor in the 1970s and female astronaut in the 1990s, but those have been few and far between.
And, as writer Maia Weinstock pointed out in the Scientific America story, the female offerings produced by Lego are "laden with stereotypes."
" A quick glance at some typical female (minifigure) torsos suggests that girls/women are predominantly into pink, hearts, and excess skin," Weinstock wrote.
As for Professor C. Bodin, she offers a unique set of skills, according to the company. Her specialty is "finding new and interesting ways to combine things together. She'll spend all night in her lab analyzing how to connect bricks of different sizes and shapes ... or how to mix two colors in one!"
For her work, the professor won a top scientific award, the "Nobrick Prize."
Seems appropriate, doesn't it?
You can read the Scientific America story here.