Subject:
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Re: Men vs. Women
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Thu, 6 Feb 2003 20:24:45 GMT
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Viewed:
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123 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Scott Costello writes:
> As I roam through the vast halls of this community that is Lugnet, I am
> continually struck with the fact that males members and participants tend to
> out number females by a very high margin. This is also reflected in the
> ratio of people that in our local Lug, and train club; even Brickswest had a
> ratio of at least 4 to 1. So I have been wondering why this is, what is it
> about the brick that seems more attractive to males than females.
>
> My first thought is to examine the core differences between what each gender
> enjoys more. Last night upon looking for new storage techniques, I came
> across several scrap booking sites. This is a hobby that my several women
> in my family including my wife enjoy very much, and there is an expo coming
> up locally soon. In these expos the ratio is inversely weighted towards
> females. In college I majored in English, and was almost always outnumbered
> by my female colleges, while my best friend was a history major who saw few
> women in his classes. Why do they call romantic comedies “Chick Flicks”? All
> these things simply point out that sometimes interests are driven somewhat
> by gender.
>
> What bothered me mostly about this though is the fact that during my stint
> as a Kay Bee Toys employee, we considered Lego toys to be gender neutral,
> and they were kept in the aisle next to the games and puzzles. Hardcore
> feminists may disagree with me, but it is commonly considered that G.I. Joe,
> He-Man, and toy guns are boys toys, and Barbie, baby dolls, and dress up
> stuff are more girls toys. Cars, trains and video games existed in a sort of
> gray area, but leaned more toward males than females. Why then would a toy,
> which is in most stores retailed as gender neutral, seem to be enjoyed more
> by boys than girls?
>
> TLC has made several “outreach” attempts to attract female consumers, but
> never really have captured that demographic. I always thought it was a
> little insulting that a company would believe that in order to attract girls
> you must color everything pink. So I look to all of you to help answer the
> question that I cannot, why do are there more male AFOL’s than female.
> Please don’t respond with the “I’m a girl and I like Lego” line, I know
> there are female fans, I do not discredit your existence, I merely question
> why there are not more like you out there in the world.
>
> Scott
I don't know if it starts when we're young. Thank goodness my sister grew
up with her brothers 'casue she was basically a 'tom boy' (old euphimism
definging a girl who doesn't do 'girlish things'--archaic to be sure...) and
she was with us in the sand box, the tree house and playing with LEGO.
She's also the only relative of mine who supported my LEGO addiction thru my
teens and 20's, buying me sets for Christmas, whilst the rest of the family
said I should 'give it up and grow up'.
But she was an exception--all my female cousins played 'Barbie' and such
stuff, and they all seemd a little 'prissy' to me. Now that everyone's 'all
growed up', my sister goes for 1 month canoe trips, rides horses, hikes,
camps, and does all sorts of groovy wonderful things (and I haven't seen her
in a dress these past 2 decades, except for that wedding dress she was in a
few years back), whilst my other female relatives enjoy 'hotel camping trips'...
I dunno, maybe it's how we treat our kids while they're kids.
As to the ratio of male/female enjoying our hobby, again I think it comes
because LEGO sets are given mostly as a 'boys gift'--boys are "expected" to
like construction and all that stuff.
I still remember a few Christmases ago, my sister came home (from BC) and we
got to talking and she all of a sudden said, "You know that there are *pink*
LEGOs now?" She was at a friends house, and her friend had young kids, boy
and girl, and what, Paradisa or Scala... whatever... Pink. My sister was
absolutely horrified! "Feminizing LEGO", she mentioned.
I won't tell her that I have a LEGO doll sitting in my 8448--she'd probably
throttle me thru the phone ;)
Dave K
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Men vs. Women
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| (...) trips'... (...) As a father of two a girl and a boy, I have managed to raise two lego mainiacs. When I first started buying lego for my kids, I started out with a few of the now infamous blue tubs. At the time I bought the tubs, my daughter (...) (21 years ago, 6-Feb-03, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Men vs. Women
|
| As I roam through the vast halls of this community that is Lugnet, I am continually struck with the fact that males members and participants tend to out number females by a very high margin. This is also reflected in the ratio of people that in our (...) (21 years ago, 6-Feb-03, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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