Legos puts kid’s imagination in the driver’s seat at play time, right? Their building blocks are uniform and unspecific so that any child can create whatever they like. That mission seems to have been set out by this note. In a pic that looks to be going viral, a letter addressed to parents from Lego strongly encourages them to let their kids – no matter what gender – to allow their imaginations run free.
“To Parents
The urge to create is equally strong in all children. Boys and girls. It’s imagination that counts. Not Skill. You build whatever comes into your head, the way you want it. A bed or a truck. A dolls house or a spaceship.A lot of boys like dolls houses. They’re more human than spaceships. A lot of girls prefer spaceships. They’re more exciting than dolls houses.
The most important thing is to put the right material in their hands and let them create whatever appeals to them.”
What a great message! And when you think that it comes from the 70s when women were still blocked from many job opportunities that were just “for men.” Even today, we are still struggling with gender roles and the stigma that comes with playing with the “wrong” kind of toy.
Btw, it’s been brought up that the grammar seems a little off and some have suggested that this letter might not be legit. But some enterprising Reddit users found that the letter appears to be real. It was placed in certain box sets in around ’74. It was made in Germany and – presumably – translated from German, which would account for the slightly odd wording. (At the bottom corner you can see it says “Printed in Germany”.) It makes sense that this message comes from Europe and not the United States. Can you imagine the right-wing uproar today with a company suggesting that perhaps “A lot of boys like dolls houses…a lot of girls prefer spaceships? Still, it’s great that any toy company understood this issue four decades ago.
(via Addicting Info)
The post #GenderEquality: Surprising 40 Year-Old Letter To Parents From Lego appeared first on World of Wonder.