The Minidoll Problem
The Minidoll Problem
Everywhere I look in the LEGO community, I see AFOLS going on and on and on about how much they despise minidolls, with little to nothing to base their argument on. People who hate minidolls hardly ever give a reason as to why. All these forty-year-olds ranting on their blogs and throwing tantrums when a set has the audacity to include minidolls. Here is the problem with minidolls, and why I think the tides will turn.
Firstly, part of the dislike comes from the lack of articulation in comparison to minifigures. While yes, it is a valid criticism, I can't say it has ever bothered me much. Perhaps it's because I'm quite young and grew up with minidolls instead of minifigs (and if it seems I'm wearing rose-coloured glasses when talking about this, feel free to let me know!), that I never cared.
Maybe because I never knew what I was missing by the oh-so-great legs that move independently, and hands that twist around. Well, actually, even when I was young, I thought it was cool that minifigs had twisty hands, but I also thought that the minifigs were really, really ugly. I gladly exchanged less articulation for a nicer looking figure.
A second reason is that it genders the sets based on which figure is included. And while this, too, is partially valid, I have to point out LEGO is far from the only company that has gendered products. In fact, some LEGO Friends sets might even be able to pass as City sets if you just swapped the figures.
But I also have to point out that the parents of young girls are buying Friends and Disney Princess sets. In the past this was not the case. Sure, there was the occasional girl who didn't mind a minifigure, but this was not the standard. Don't you think it would be easier for LEGO just to have one figure? And yet they have two. Why? Because money. Half of their target demographic just wasn't playing with LEGO, but introduce this new figure, and suddenly they are! Why is this such a bad thing?
Another reason is that the sets have ugly colours and/or simple builds. I have to point out that this is true of some sets in the Friends and Disney catalog. And it's also necessary to point out that this is also true of some City, Ninjago, Monkie Kid, DREAMZzz, Marvel, DC, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars sets. Other sets, from both minidoll and minifigure sets, are really beautiful and intricate.
Yet another (baseless) reason is: why do girls even need LEGO? Hmmm, lets wrack our brains. Why do you think that girls deserve to develop their motor skills, teamwork, mathematics, and so on, on an equal footing to boys? Like, obviously those are exclusively masculine skills.
You don't need motor skills to clean the house. You don't need teamwork to cook dinner. You don't need mathematics to massage your husband's feet like a good little housewife. Big men need big skills to go out and do manly work all day, submissive homemakers do not. Simple as that. If girls weren't willing to play with the almighty blocky, abstract, ugly minifigure, they don't deserve LEGO at all. Tell me you're a misogynist without telling me you're a misogynist.
That's not to say that all women hate minifigures. That's not to say that no men like minidolls. Both have a place in the LEGO world, to be enjoyed by all genders. That's not even to say that minifigures are 'bad' figures, nor am I trying to hate on everyone who prefers them. Your opinion is valid. This article was meant to present an argument, and feel free to disagree completely. But there is no need to hate on things that young girls enjoy, which happens all too often.
I mean, 'ballet is shallow,' 'Disney Princesses are bad role models,' 'Barbie is sexist (yeah right, she's a working woman who teaches kids to be anything they want to be),' 'pink is like, the worst colour ever and no-one is allowed to like it even a little bit,' and so on. Why do you think not-like-other-girls exists? Hello, because society tells them anything remotely feminine is bad, and therefore preteen girls feel the need to distance themselves from it. Way to make fun of children for problems grown men create.
But I think there's one final twist to this tale. I said earlier I grew up with minidolls. It has been nearly twelve years since the debut of the minidoll figure. Someone who was eight when they came out will be twenty now. New AFOLs are about to come to the surface. There are already accounts on YouTube that have loved minidolls since day one, the EllieVs (who, incidentally, inspired me to write this post and touches on similar points in this video) and Brickomotions of the world, and I predict there will be a whole lot more in the years to come. The minidolls are ready to fight back. They've made it this far, and the fans of minidolls will be heartbroken if they went away. Minidolls are here to stay. Go cry about it on your own blog, or else rejoice, like I will, and many others.
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