Oh, GoldieBlox, you confuse me so. The wedding of girls and technology is a shiddach dear to my yenta heart. But the princessy vibe is a big buzzkill. A case could be made (and I'm guessing you've made it, somewhere) that this is meant to appeal to the mainstream, which means people who believe girls need pastels and prettiness to feel excited about things. But a case could also be made that this is just digging a counterproductive groove deeper. Then there's the small problem of your toy not being all that fun to play with.
I was still more than happy to get behind the brand when they produced a video that seemed to transcend their product and promote their mission. But then, I assumed they had permission. The world can (and should) go to bat for the idea that girls should be engineers. But I am not sure if it will go to bat for this toy after the founders have gone to battle with heroes of the parents they're selling to.
As the debates about fair use and fair-haired princesses smoldered on, I kept hearing pleas for a tech toy that embraces girls without pandering to stereotypes. And then I remembered that that toy already exists—albeit for a significantly older audience and at a significantly higher price point. It's called LittleBits, and it's a system of modular components for making things that actually work. And this is what it looks like.
What a Gender Neutral Engineering Toy For Kids Looks Like
also, there's this...
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