Lego children's magazine slammed as 'sexist' for implying girls can't be scientists

19 December 2019, 11:59 | Updated: 19 December 2019, 12:39

The cartoon section of the magazine has not impressed a lot of parents, with many accusing it of being sexist.

Lego Magazine has come under fire after a cartoon in one of the recent issues said that "a group of girls" would "stick out like sore thumbs" among researchers.

The company has already apologised for any offence caused after the brand published the questionable cartoon storyline.

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In the scene, two characters are having a conversation about going into a meeting they're not supposed to be in, with one saying "I think we should secretly go to the meeting too, just in case Carter tries something sneaky."

The other character responds to her friend saying: "You’re right, but we won’t be able to just walk right in.

"A group of girls among researchers – we’ll stick out like sore thumbs."

As if this in itself wasn't iffy enough, the girls eventually decided to dress up as bakers and give out muffins as "nobody will suspect a thing".

Parents on Twitter highlighted that it was a bit problematic that they'd stated science was boring (or "boooooring!" as they said in the cartoon) and that they'd said women baking made more sense.

Tweeting both Lego and the group Let Toys Be Toys, who campaign to challenge gender stereotypes in toy marketing, one woman said: "Both my children love Lego, and this makes me want to run in the opposite direction.

"Sort out your magazines, this is an embarrassment to your brand."

The Tweet gained over 3,400 likes and nearly 1,000 retweets, and tonnes of unhappy replies demanding that Lego "sort it out".

Plenty of other parents were not impressed by the magazine and some said that messages like this discouraged girls from getting involved in science.

One commented: "Wow, this is horrific! Sort this out Lego. This is NOT the message I want for my daughter. Or my son!"

Another added: "Horrifying. What century are these writers stuck in? Have they ever been in a room with researchers????!!!!"

However, plenty of other parents highlighted that the standing out amongst researchers comment was due to them being children, and the researchers being adults.

In fact, one parent posted a picture of the full cartoon, and the head researcher was actually a female, Dr Alvah.

A spokesperson for Lego said: "We believe that LEGO play is for everyone and our magazines should reflect that.

"With this story, we were trying to show that girls have lots of different interests and passions including science and STEM but we appreciate that some of the language we used missed the mark this time and we apologise.

"We will certainly learn from this and do better in future."