Lego Makes Playsets Gender-Neutral. NewsWire

NewsWire: 10/30/21

• Lego, the world’s largest toymaker, is pledging to make its products gender-neutral. This announcement comes amid other notable moves to make toy stores gender-neutral. (The Washington Post)
• NH: Lego is dropping all gender labels from its products. Its website will no longer sort playsets by “boys” and “girls” sections. Instead, it will sort toys by “passions and interests.”
• This move was spurred by a Lego-funded poll on gender and play. The survey found that while 76% of parents would recommend Legos to their sons, only 24% would recommend them to their daughters. The company hopes that by changing gender labels, Lego will be seen as a toy for everyone.
• This comes on the heels of an emerging national discussion about gendered play. Just this month, California passed a bill requiring large department stores to offer gender-neutral toy sections by 2024. 
• IMO, it’s surprising that Lego didn’t make this move sooner. It's one of the few companies that is "safe" to make such a progressive change. Lego is the largest toymaker in the world. And its playsets are already focused on gender-neutral themes like Harry Potter and Disney. (See “Lego: New Stress Reliever for Adults.”)

Did You Know?

• Out of Sync with the Church. We know that religious observance and attendance is lower among Millennials compared to older generations. But why? According to a new report from the Springtide Research Institute, which surveyed over 10,000 13- to 25-year-olds, half of young people don’t believe that religious institutions care as much as they do about issues that matter to them. The biggest disconnect is over LGBTQA+ rights. Almost three-fourths (71%) of youth said that they care about this issue, but only 44% feel like religious communities care. Almost as large are perceived gaps in caring about gender equity (25 percentage points), immigration rights (23 percentage points), and income inequality (23 percentage points). When asked why they don’t turn to religious communities or practices when facing difficult times, the most popular answer (60%) was that they “don’t believe some of the things [they] hear talked about at religious gatherings.” That said, the majority of young people (76%) still say they consider themselves religious or spiritual.