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"Deidre Rushton Brumby" <drb@tasmail.com> wrote in message
news:Fz2zsD.Isp@lugnet.com...
> What? You (Lego) mean that I can't get a Mindstorms set for Christmas
> after all? I thought I'd dealt with all the "you can't program computers
> because you're a girl" stupidity 10+ years ago and now a respected toy • company
> that supposedly is encouraging children's development comes along and
> spouts the same thing?
Okay, I think that this isn't sexist at all. It's just a case of directed
marketing, where the manufacturer pitches the sale towards the largest
demographic. In this case, and I am sure that the statistics would bear this
out, is that the market share for the soccer and the mindstorms sets would
be dominated by boys. Thus, they direct their advertising towards this
greater market. Sound economic principle. If I want to sell 3 mega-tons of
coal overseas per year, as most coal mines do, they don't send their reps to
small Pacific Islands. They go to Japan, and other major industrial powers.
Case in point; car advertising. Have a close look at the ads for the
Mitsubishi Mirage, and the those for the XR8 Falcon. Who would you say that
these are direct at? Clearly, the Mirage advertising is directed at women,
while the XR8 advertising is directed at men. I've worked in a service
station, and seen members of both sexes driving both these cars, yet they
are not offended that the advertising is specific to one sex.
I think that a similar situation applies here. Just like the 'recommended
ages' on a box of lego are wrong (particularly to AFOL's), they still aim at
the largest demographic. The advertising is just the same. If you want to
buy a 'recommend ages' 12-16 set for your 10 year old, do it! If you want to
buy a mindstorm set for your daughter, because you think that she'd enjoy
it, do it!
There's enough sexism in the world as it is. Let's not look for some where
it doesn't exist.
later,
David Drew.
Public key available at
http://www.hydrowash.com.au/david/pubkey.txt
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