Resources for:
  • Future Students
  • Current Students
  • Faculty & Staff
  • Directory
  • News Center
UCI School of Education
  • About Us
    • Dean's Suite
    • Strategic Plan
    • Faculty Interviews
  • Programs
    • PhD in Education 2018
    • MAT +Credential
    • Undergraduate Programs
    • CalTeach Program
    • Professional Dev Programs
    • UCI Writing Project
    • Center for Afterschool & Summer Excellence (CASE)
    • Center for Educational Partnerships
    • Student Advising
  • Faculty and Research
  • Admissions
  • Make a Gift

"Constructing Difference: Lego® Set Narratives Promote Stereotypic Gender Roles and Play"

12/1/2017

 
Associate Professor Stephanie Reich has published with colleagues Rebecca Black and Tammie Foliaki in Sex Roles: "Constructing Difference: Lego® Set Narratives Promote Stereotypic Gender Roles and Play".

Abstract

LEGO® construction sets are a staple in many children’s lives. Given worldwide distribution, generations of children have grown up playing with these brightly colored, interlocking plastic bricks. Historically marketed to all children, the LEGO® Group has begun targeting male and female
consumers differentially with the introduction of product lines such as LEGO® City and LEGO® Friends. Although the packaging, marketing, brick colors, and characters have changed, little is known about whether these product series encourage differences in the way boys and girls play. This
content analysis compared the play narratives of sets marketed to boys (LEGO® City) and girls (LEGO® Friends). Our analysis found distinct gendered messages that encourage boys to enact various skilled professions, heroism, and expertise, whereas girls are encouraged to focus on having hobbies, being domestic, caring for others, socializing, being amateurs, and appreciating and striving for beauty. Although LEGO® City and Friends sets offer opportunities for construction, they also promote stereotyped gender roles for enacting femininity and masculinity in play. Parents, educators, and practitioners often focus on the educational affordances of LEGO® construction. We recommend that they also consider the other
lessons, both explicit and implicit, being taught through gender-specific LEGO® sets.

Reich, S. M., Black, R. W., & Foliaki, T. (2017). Constructing difference: Lego® set narratives promote stereotypic gender roles and play. Sex Roles.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0868-2


Comments are closed.
Quick Links:

Fall 2018 Magazine
Strategic Plan​
​Faculty & Research
Faculty Interviews
Directory
Admissions
​Make a Gift
​News Center
Spotlights
Employment
Programs:
​
PhD in Education
MAT
Major in Edu Science
Minor in Edu Studies
CalTeach
CASE
Resources for:
​

Future Students
​Current Students​
Faculty & Staff
© ​2019 UC Regents 
Picture
  • About Us
    • Dean's Suite
    • Strategic Plan
    • Faculty Interviews
  • Programs
    • PhD in Education 2018
    • MAT +Credential
    • Undergraduate Programs
    • CalTeach Program
    • Professional Dev Programs
    • UCI Writing Project
    • Center for Afterschool & Summer Excellence (CASE)
    • Center for Educational Partnerships
    • Student Advising
  • Faculty and Research
  • Admissions
  • Make a Gift
  • Resources For:
  • Future Students
  • Current Students
  • Faculty & Staff

  • Directory
  • News Center