Women and Lego

[mister_e]

Let's face it, this community is predominately male. I don't need to see any surveys or statistics and neither do you, you already know it. Just like anything "geeky" it tends to be us males that are drawn to it. Which brings me to my point; why do you think women (speaking in general, of course not all women) lose their fascination with things such as Lego? Is it because they truly are more mature than us boys (most likely) or is it because they are more susceptible to society telling them that they can no longer play with toys. I know, of all my childhood toys, Lego was the least gender-biased (in my opinion anyway), so I know there are tons of girls who played with Lego. My wife admits to liking and playing with Lego as a child, yet she cannot understand why a grown man my age is still entertained by the brick. What's wrong with her ? Thoughts?

[Lord_Of_The_LEGO]

Which brings me to my point; why do you think women (speaking in general, of course not all women) lose their fascination with things such as Lego? Is it because they truly are more mature than us boys (most likely)

Are you implying Fans of LEGO are immature? If so, I have to highly object. If building and buying and collecting a children's toy implies immaturity, are those adults who collect Star Wars figures immature? What about adults who like model trains? Or G.I. Joe? Or Barbie?

Generally, I consider the LEGO fan community a mature group of persons, both male and female, teenage and adult. I don't think why you buy or what you do measures or affects your maturity.

[The Hordesman]

There's atleast five females that are quite active here, but I get your point. It maybe because they need to work alot more to get something near the men's payment...

I hate injustice.

[Scnicker]

No generalization here, but women tend to enjoy shopping, gossiping and caring about themselves more than Lego, but I highly object that playing and building Lego is a sign of immaturity. Actually, I think mature people that has interest in Lego are more mature than the others because they have accomplished in finding their inner child and finding the peace within themselves. From my social life, I also see that women enjoy viewing what I've done rather than building with me. This is what I think.

-Yankı

[Graynar]

I don't know what to type really.

I'm sure people here think I'm imature because my threads and posts keep getting locked and deleted.

But I have no idea why that many girls don't post in the mighty CC.

Graynar

I apolisgize for being an idiot.

[mister_e]

Are you implying Fans of LEGO are immature?

No, of course not. I'd be calling myself immature. Although I see how one could think that's what I'm saying

What I MEANT was "mature" in the sense of worrying about more "grown-up" things. Notice I put grown-up in quotes because I do not mean to imply one is childish for liking Lego but I seem to keep talking myself into corners. You know what I mean right? Just mature like what we're told maturity is when we're growing up....savvy?

Also, I realize there are adult female fans of Lego but, let's face it, we (males) outnumber them greatly.

[ottoatm]

I think there are a lot of great female LEGO builders out there, but not as many who join these online communities compared to the guys. Some of the best MOCs I've seen have been huge, detailed creations by women, but I believe these women shy away from forums.

Just my guess.

[rogue27]

Which brings me to my point; why do you think women (speaking in general, of course not all women) lose their fascination with things such as Lego? Is it because they truly are more mature than us boys (most likely)

Are you implying Fans of LEGO are immature? If so, I have to highly object.

A fascinating tidbit about geeks is that they tend to get very defensive if they feel that their hobby (or favorite football team) is being criticized. (Or if they feel that they are being criticized because of their hobby.)


WRT women and LEGO... I don't know. There are also very few women at a typical Magic: the Gathering tournament, Role-playing gaming group, Computer Science classroom, LAN Party, or any of a number of geek-related activities.

I'm sure there's some fundamental difference in the minds of men and women that causes this, but I don't have the background to begin trying to understand or explain it. What I do know is that you aren't likely to meet many women in geek activity groups. They apparently like to do other things, and I have no clue where they are or what they do.

[Bluesecrets]

Well seeing as I am one of the females being discussed in this thread, I think I need to add a few things.

No generalization here, but women tend to enjoy shopping, gossiping and caring about themselves more than Lego

First, while this may be true for a FEW females, I really do not like the generalization made in this statement. Please remember, making all sweeping statements is never a good thing. For all it takes is one example to prove you wrong. *cough, cough, COUGH* Besides, it is highly insulting and offensive.

Secondly, woman have been historically repressed in their education. They were not allowed to learn, or do anything that is "mans" work. This does include using their minds for anything analytical, mathematical or scientific. LEGO and building falls into those specific categories.

Thirdly, this is a predominantly male community and that fact can make it a little intimidating for a female.

And finally my most important point, people are individuals, what they choose to enjoy and do in their spare time is as complex as what they like to eat. Therefore, I believe that any generalization one makes on this topic is invalid.

[JPinoy]

Ah.... this question has to do more with gender psychology than things like "immaturity".

Women in general tend to communicate more, can do several tasks at once, and resolve problems by talking about it with other people. They prefer sharing their emotions through verbal bonding with others.

Men in general tend to be very focused on a single task, and communicate less due to the focus and concentration and they resolve problems by working them out themselves. They prefer hiding their emotions from others and solve that issue on their own.

This is just a small gist of what goes on in our minds. But I think you should be able to see why Lego is predominantly male because Lego collecting, construction and etc. all require you to:

1) focus on your task of MOC building
2) it requires problem solving that uses techniques
3) a very hands on activity
4) can gather ideas visually and analyze the new idea
5) you can be alone while doing this, enabling you to concentrate on the task at hand (and you'd hate it when someone wants to talk to you while your busy) and you'd say "Not now!"

So you can see the task of Lego itself is quite male oriented.

[Graynar]

Maybe girls aren't patient enough to sit down and spend weeks building a single LEGO moc. And I don't think girls would like it if someone saw them building LEGO. It just doesn't look right.

My apoligises kind females of CC, but I'm to stupid to stop typing nonsense. Besides, someone will probally delete this post anyway.

Graynar

[Bloody Jay]

I don't think it should be deleted, it's a valid question, and there's no denying that there are some basic mentality differences between the sexes. I find it interesting to read.

[plums_deify]

Yes. But one thing I've noticed in excess are stereotypes about women.

I know very few women who like to shop.

I know very few women who like to talk on the phone excessively.

One thing that also has not been discussed are LUGs. There are quite a few women in SEALUG. I'd imagine the same is true for a few of the LUGs across the world. They're still involved with lego--but not all who enjoy Lego post on forums. So how are we do decide how many women enjoy this hobby when the hobby is offline, and we base our assumptions on an online community?

[LadyWen]

My $0.02...

I agree with Darkie about women in LUGs. I was pleasantly surprised at Brickfest to find quite a few women Lego fans there (I was not expecting that with the low number of women you typically find on a Lego forum).

In my personal opinion, I think it is social pressures that seem to keep women from the hobby. I know in my personal experience (starting when I was 5, and I'm 17) that it was not "easy" to be a girl TFOL. Starting when I was about 13, whenever I would have any girl friends over at my house they would see my Lego and instantly become a joke. 13 year old girls (that I knew at least) just didn't seem to understand why I had thousands of "plastic brick toys." My parents still think I ought not have Lego, they feel that girls should not "play with toys."

It also seems as though you are not accepted amongst most girls unless you like what they consider "normal." I personally have 2 girl friends and mostly guy friends. I know for a fact I could probably have more friends without Lego, but I decided a while back that my friends would have to accept me for who I already am and not change my interests so I could become friends.
Again, just my personal experience.
-Wendy

[The Brick Rat]

Are you implying Fans of LEGO are immature?

No, of course not. I'd be calling myself immature. Although I see how one could think that's what I'm saying

I understood what you were saying, but as you note, the way you wrote it could be easily misconstrued.

What I MEANT was "mature" in the sense of worrying about more "grown-up" things. Notice I put grown-up in quotes because I do not mean to imply one is childish for liking Lego but I seem to keep talking myself into corners. You know what I mean right? Just mature like what we're told maturity is when we're growing up....savvy?

This puts me in mind of a C. S. Lewis quote (based upon the words of St. Paul):

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: But when I became a man, I put away childish things."
- I Corinthians 13:11

"When I was ten, I read Fairy Tales in secret. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."
- C. S. Lewis

Also, I realize there are adult female fans of Lego but, let's face it, we (males) outnumber them greatly.

As others have pointed out, female AFoLs are more numerous than online forums would suggest. However, male AFoLs clearly outnumber them. Why does LEGO appeal more to boys than girls (and men than women)? That's a question TLC has wanted an answer to for a long time. They recently have had success in the girl market with the Clikits line, but getting girls more widely interested in 'System' building is a nut they have never cracked.

I don't have an answer either, but I have wondered if something like a minifig based 'Storyteller' theme would appeal to girls. i.e. sets based on fairy tales or classic childrens' books like, "The Wizard of Oz" or "Peter Pan".

Ken