{"id":7677,"date":"2015-04-13T21:07:29","date_gmt":"2015-04-13T13:07:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=7677"},"modified":"2022-06-16T17:02:48","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T09:02:48","slug":"lego-creativity-gender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2015\/04\/lego-creativity-gender\/","title":{"rendered":"Bricks without Boundaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lego has captivated generations of children but do contemporary sets stifle creativity?<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Kelly Wong\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

It has been around since 1949 and still continues to bring hours of fun to children around the world. Some may slavishly follow instructions to build a pirate ship, or a spaceship or a a rather angular tree. Others may simply let their imaginations take over and build whatever comes to mind. But whatever they create, their raw material is the same Lego \u2013 that deceptively simple system of hollow interlocking plastic bricks that can be put together to form infinite combinations, and then be taken apart so you can start all over again.<\/p>\n

Jared Chan Chun-kit, the Facebook editor of LegendBricks, a Lego user group founded in 2010, takes two flat pieces with rounded ends and quickly makes them into a heart. He takes two plastic bow-and-arrow pieces and turns them into the armrests of a chair.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it\u2019s really a test of if you can think of [the construction] or not,\u201d Chan says. \u201c If you\u2019re as crazy about it as we are, then play it as frequently as we do, the power of observation is very important.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is precisely because playing with Lego can inspire this use of imagination, creativity and observation that the toy has been a firm favourite with not just children but also their parents and teachers. The toys are used in the classroom and some schools even offer after-school classes in Lego building.<\/p>\n

But in recent years, Lego has come under criticism for becoming less creative and for reinforcing gender stereotypes by bringing out \u201cthemed\u201d sets based on blockbuster films like Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean and sets targeted specifically at girls. These sets include instructions for pieces that are specially designed to make specific objects.<\/p>\n

\"Lego's<\/a>
Lego’s 1981 ad (source: internet)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Critics were quick to point to Lego\u2019s own advertisements from the past, including one from 1981 featuring a little girl wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans and proudly holding up her Lego creation, which highlighted a very different ethos. Lego was less theme oriented then, and consciously gender neutral. Along with the slogan \u201cWhat it is is beautiful\u201d, the copy reads \u201cHave you seen anything like it? Not just what she\u2019s made but how proud it\u2019s made her. It\u2019s a look you\u2019ll see whenever children build something all by themselves. No matter what they\u2019ve created.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sadly, this is not an experience that Alex Tam Shun-yiu, who is a committee member of Hong Kong Gifted Family Association, can share from his own experience with Lego.<\/p>\n

Tam recalls that he did not find playing with Lego appealing at all. He was not capable of following the instruction booklet strictly to assemble the bricks. He ended up frustrated and finding things to blame.<\/p>\n

He argues that assembling the bricks with the given theme\u2013setting and guidelines does not reveal people\u2019s creativity.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only does Lego fail to show how creative I am, but it also hinders my creativity. If the Lego is based on a theme, then you can only follow their instructions to build a ship or a building as your final products,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

But for Jared Chan, real Lego lovers can build with creativity regardless of the sets, even if they are themed, all it takes is practice and experimentation. Chan uses the example of building Lego trains. Since the company has produced different types of parts over the years, Chan tested his skills by building three versions for the same train using different types of parts. \u201cThis is a task to challenge myself, to keep thinking whether new parts can fit in my train and to make it look better,\u201d Chan says, \u201c This is exactly what creativity means.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Chan\u2019s reasoning, even with very specific pieces designed for specific sets, children can still bring their talent in creativity into full play as long as they are encouraged to do so and do not feel compelled to follow the in-box instructions. For this to happen, parental attitude is very important.<\/p>\n

Ambrose Leung Shing-yin\u2019s five-year-old son Andre attends classes at BrickArt Design Studio which sells Lego creations and customised products. But he allows Andre to play with Lego without instruction and guidance.<\/p>\n

Leung says he wants his son to explore and find his personality through playing with Lego. Instead of obeying orders and rules, his son can live up to his potential and pursue his dreams in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should not guide the children. Like, if my son tells me he wants to build a Lego building that is taller than the ICC (International Commerce Centre), I tell him to think about how to achieve that rather than saying it is impossible,\u201d Leung adds.<\/p>\n

To inspire his interest in Lego, he does not limit his son to buy gender-specific lines, for instance, City which is targeted specially at boys. Sets in the line include construction sites, police units and race-cars. Leung chooses the Lego Architecture series instead which better suit his son\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n

Criticism of the company for gender stereotyping children\u2019s toys is comparitivley recent. The Danish firm was heavily criticised for Lego Friends, a range aimed at girls launched in 2010. The pink and purple themed sets\u2013 which feature a group of five friends who seem to lead a life of leisure \u2013\u00a0 were criticised for going against the gender equality the company had previously championed.<\/p>\n

When an open letter to parents from the company in 1974 was posted on the internet last year, it quickly went viral.<\/p>\n

In the letter, Lego states that: \u201cThe urge to create is equally strong in all children. Boys and Girls. It\u2019s imagination that counts\u2026The most important thing is to put the right material in their hands and let them create whatever appeals to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Writer So Mei-chi agrees with these sentiments. So says she seldom buys Lego for her son and daughter but they are given sets as gifts or hand-me-downs. When they play with them, So says she does not set any rules or convey gender-specific expectations to them. \u201cBoys can use the bricks to make dolls while girls can build aircraft,\u201d she says. \u201c I do not think it is necessary to set limits for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, some parents do have reservations when buying Lego for their children that is targeted at the other sex. Amie Yau Kwong-fan has a six year-old daughter and also a two-year-old son who play with Lego. Although Kwong does not think it is a toy that belongs to either boys or girls, she finds it hard to overcome traditional views. She says that when buying the construction toys for her son, she usually prefers sets like cars which are considered to be boys\u2019 toys.<\/p>\n

Hardcore Lego aficionados tend to think the debate over gender stereotyping is overblown. William Wong Hung-hei, a core-member of LegendBricks, believes that neither the gender stereotype issue nor the movie tie-in and themed sets is a big deal. He says players can modify the bricks in the set-themed lines to produce something creative, for instance by building Iron Man\u2019s house on top of a cliff made of Lego bricks.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Wong also sees Lego Friends as a sales strategy to attract more female consumers. He adds that the accessories in the range are useful and cannot be found in previous lines. One of his friends used the pink and purple bricks in Lego Friends to construct a beautiful big wheel. \u201cIt depends on how you use and interpret [the bricks in Lego Friends],\u201d says Wong.<\/p>\n

Wong\u2019s view is shared by Ray Kwan Yiu-wai, the founder of Brick Art Design Studio. He says the controversial line entices more girls to play with Lego while boys are willing to make use of the pink and purple bricks to enrich their creations.<\/p>\n

Kwan says children find the bricks by themselves to be dull while the licensed products with themed settings arouse their interest. That in turn can spur them on to think about how to use the building blocks in alternative ways.<\/p>\n

\"Disney
Disney cartoon figures made by Lego bricks by Ray Kwan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThey will find out that following the instructions is not enjoyable \u2026then [they] will throw away the instruction booklet and create something more entertaining,\u201d Wong says.<\/p>\n

Educational psychologist Helen Ku-Yu Siu-yin, the Secretary for the Division of Educational Psychology of The Hong Kong Psychological Society ,says any problems with gender-stereotyped or themed sets are not so much in the toys themselves but in how they are used.<\/p>\n

She encourages parents to look at whether they are choosing too many gender-specific toys for their children overall, and to resist the urge to say \u201cNo!\u201d when children use their imagination when playing with the bricks.<\/p>\n

Ku-Yu says if children are only encouraged to follow the Lego instructions, their imagination will be inhibited and the activity will not help to foster original thinking and creativity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would mean it [Lego toys] only trains a technician, but not an engineer,\u201d Ku-Yu says.<\/p>\n

Edited by Agnes Ng<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lego has been a popular toy for generations of children. Its manufacturer and fans say the bricks encourage creativity. But more and more Lego products are now theme and even gender specific \u2013 some are based on blockbuster entertainment franchises. Does this hinder children\u2019s creativity?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1963,836,1],"tags":[74,378,47],"class_list":["post-7677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-issue-136","category-lifestyle","category-uncategorized","tag-children","tag-creativity","tag-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7677"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7893,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7677\/revisions\/7893"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}