Althouse: Are you happy now?

August 4, 2014

Are you happy now?

Really happy?

Lego offers satisfaction to the women who've been complaining about the incomplete representation of women in science in the Legosphere.

62 comments:

The Crack Emcee said...: ROTFLMAO!!!!!

Really - a belly laugh in the morning with tears.

Good one, Ann,...; 8/4/14, 7:07 AM
John henry said...: What was Silvio's comment some years back about a problematic woman? Oh, yeah:

"Now that's woman who isn't getting laid enough."

She does look seriously frustrated.

Perhaps she needs an anatomically correct male scientist.

John Henry; 8/4/14, 7:13 AM
Fritz said...: She was my technician for years!; 8/4/14, 7:31 AM
Tibore said...: Because superficial gestures are important!; 8/4/14, 7:47 AM
pm317 said...: She is the research scientist whose tenure was denied because of faulty process instituted by an incompetent department chair and a couple of other women playing politics with her future just because they could.; 8/4/14, 8:06 AM
MadisonMan said...: BRF.

(look it up).; 8/4/14, 8:12 AM
Anonymous said...: LEGO Scientist Woman says:

I get to wear a lab-coat like a REAL scientist. I carry test tubes to be cleaned, and then I make coffee for the REAL scientists. Some like their coffee black, some like varying amounts of creamer and sugar, it is almost like REAL science getting it correct for them. One day I will marry one of the REAL scientists and then I will wear a pretty dress and live like a princess.; 8/4/14, 8:19 AM
Rockeye said...: Looks like Sara Palin; 8/4/14, 8:19 AM
Unknown said...: All scientists wear this serious expression, even the girls. It's because science is hard.; 8/4/14, 8:19 AM
Anonymous said...: LEGO Scientist Woman says:

I went to school like a REAL scientist. I took classes that were very hard and had math and stuff. Thank goodness for extra-credit assignments or I never would have graduated. One of my extra-credit assignments was carrying test tubes to be cleaned, I was very good at that and it certainly has come in handy in my REAL SCIENCE profession.; 8/4/14, 8:22 AM
Anonymous said...: LEGO Scientist Woman says:

I appreciate when the REAL scientists speak extra-slow to me so that I can keep up with the conversation. Sometimes I actually can't keep up with the big words but I nod and smile and then get more coffee for everybody. It is a happy workplace.; 8/4/14, 8:25 AM
Sharkcutie said...: She has Bitchy Resting Face/Resting Bitchy Face . . . whatever!; 8/4/14, 8:27 AM
Anonymous said...: LEGO Scientist Woman says:

Some of the REAL scientists were upset when I got the promotion they all wanted, but I told them no worries: I would still get their coffee for them and carry test-tubes to clean for them just like before, except now I will be their boss. I want to be a friendly boss.; 8/4/14, 8:27 AM
David said...: Finally a female representation with a realistic body type.; 8/4/14, 8:31 AM
Unknown said...: A Hillary Lego?; 8/4/14, 8:33 AM
TML said...: That's Sarah Palin.; 8/4/14, 8:35 AM
Anonymous said...: LEGO Scientist Woman says:

I overheard some of the REAL scientists say I only got my promotion because I was a woman. I know they don't mean it, not really. They are just upset because I am on the cover of our Company Newsletter extolling the Value of Diversity in the Research Laboratories. I look pretty in the photograph.; 8/4/14, 8:36 AM
Anonymous said...: LEGO Scientist Woman says:

Today was so exciting! I gave my first job performance review to one of the REAL scientists. I told him he was doing very well at that research thing he was doing, and it was no doubt valuable whatever it is. My only criticism was that sometimes he used too much math and sciencey things when he explained what he was doing to others: he might not realize that others don't really understand all that stuff and it might make them uncomfortable.; 8/4/14, 8:43 AM
Anonymous said...: LEGO Scientist Woman says:

Wow! I have only been here six months and I have been promoted again! This is so exciting! One of the REAL scientists joked that they wouldn't stop promoting me until I was a Vice-President! I giggled, of course: it seems like only yesterday I was carrying test-tubes to be cleaned and making coffee. Things change fast in the Real World!; 8/4/14, 8:46 AM
Anonymous said...: LEGO Scientist Woman says:

I had a bit of a sad today: I wondered if maybe I really didn't deserve all the good things that have happened to me at the Company. One of the Vice-Presidents was very kind, though: he said he really didn't understand much of this REAL SCIENCE stuff, either, and that made me feel better. Tomorrow is a New Day!; 8/4/14, 8:49 AM
Deirdre Mundy said...: My kids want this. My boys are complaining, however, since most of the prominent MALE lego scientists are actually MAD scientists.

Women use their brains to better the human condition. Men use science as a WMD.

Thanks, Lego, for discouraging my sons!; 8/4/14, 8:52 AM
carrie said...: Looks a lot like Michelle O.; 8/4/14, 8:58 AM
madAsHell said...: In January, the company was criticized by a girl who said all its female characters were "boring."

One of her mommies made her do it.; 8/4/14, 8:59 AM
Brando said...: What young girl wouldn't want to grow up to be an angry scientician?; 8/4/14, 8:59 AM
Anonymous said...: LEGO Scientist Woman says:

After I was promoted - Twice! - they still hadn't got around to replacing me in the lab. The REAL SCIENTISTS say it really isn't necessary, but I know they are just saying that to be kind. I looked at lots of candidates and almost all of them could talk with the big math and science words, but there was a young woman who reminded me of when I started. And look how I turned out! So of course I hired her. She says she has carried a lot of test tubes to be cleaned, too!; 8/4/14, 9:05 AM
Anonymous said...: LEGO Scientist Woman says:

I had to fire one of the REAL SCIENTISTS today, and that was super sad. The Vice Presidents said that since our recent promotions and hires we could no longer afford one of the higher-paid REAL SCIENTISTS. He was shocked, but I told him he would be Okay, a woman would marry him with or without a job. He didn't believe me; in fact, he said "I don't believe you."; 8/4/14, 9:10 AM
Anonymous said...: LEGO Scientist Woman says:

Sometimes I don't understand people. Today when I came to work it seems someone had Pooped in the Hall. Who would do such a thing?; 8/4/14, 9:12 AM
Anonymous said...: LEGO Scientist Woman says:

I wrote an important memo today reminding people not to poop in the hall but to use the restrooms instead. Maybe someone was so caught up in their project they just forgot where they were: REAL SCIENTISTS can be funny in that absent-minded way. Still, pooping in the hall is not acceptable, people.; 8/4/14, 9:15 AM
Nonapod said...: What happened with Legos?; 8/4/14, 9:16 AM
Anonymous said...: LEGO Scientist Woman says:

I came into work today and someone had pooped in the hall again: I don't know if it was the same person, or someone else. Needless to say, I had to write a second important memo. If this behavior is to continue we will have to have a seminar on not pooping in hallways and everyone will have to sign a paper indicating that they attended the seminar. I hope it doesn't come to this.; 8/4/14, 9:17 AM
SGT Ted said...: When AREN'T such women complaining about something? What makes their complaints any more special than a mans?

If a feminist complains alone in a forest, do the trees give a shit?; 8/4/14, 9:17 AM
Wince said...: Great eyes, and a severity to her look that is surprisingly... sexy.; 8/4/14, 9:18 AM
Anonymous said...: LEGO Scientist Woman says:

When I started my career in REAL SCIENCE I never thought that I'd be promoted - Twice! -- and then have to write memos reminding people not to poop in the halls. REAL SCIENCE is hard, but I am a Big Girl, and if memos need to be written, well then, I will rise to the occasion and write them.; 8/4/14, 9:26 AM
lemondog said...: Cramps.; 8/4/14, 9:27 AM
Anonymous said...: LEGO Scientist Woman says:

The head of the janitors tells me his people will no longer clean up poop in the hallway. This is rapidly becoming a CRISIS situation.; 8/4/14, 9:28 AM
Anonymous said...: LEGO Scientist Woman says:

I held an EMERGENCY MEETING with the REAL SCIENTISTS to emphasize that pooping in the hallway could result in a written reprimand. I have to admit: I cried a little when speaking to them, but that was only because I had to be so stern.; 8/4/14, 9:29 AM
lemondog said...: The boy astronomer has a maniacal look.

Does Lego dislike kids?; 8/4/14, 9:34 AM
Anonymous said...: LEGO Scientist Woman says:

There is a fresh pile of poop on top of the poop from yesterday that the janitors wouldn't clean up. No doubt there will be fresh poop tomorrow on top of the first two poops. Are my memos not enough? I am looking up articles on LEADERSHIP FOR WOMEN on the internet: surely I will find the proper advice for such a situation.; 8/4/14, 9:34 AM
Anonymous said...: LEGO Scientist Woman says:

If my day of dealing with poop in the hall wasn't bad enough: as I walk to my bus stop there is a homeless guy yelling that he is Harvey Keitel and masturbating. Can't people do the private things in private anymore?; 8/4/14, 10:00 AM
mccullough said...: Lego needs to work on her mien; 8/4/14, 10:06 AM
W.Cook said...: In fairness, this is part of the Lego Ideas project, and the proposal did get 10,000 votes, which is the threshold for a project to be considered for production:

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/15401

So it's not like they didn't have some inkling that this would be profitable. Who can blame them? Why is it "superficial" for them to commercialize an idea that got so much support, especially if they think it will sell? Or are they supposed to ignore that because reverse political correctness, or something?; 8/4/14, 10:14 AM
MathMom said...: Rockeye and TML -

Sarah Palin doesn't have BRF. Glasses, but not BRF.; 8/4/14, 10:21 AM
Todd said...: betamax3000 said...
LEGO Scientist Woman says:

:); 8/4/14, 10:23 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: She looks like she got the job by having an H1B visa.; 8/4/14, 10:31 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: I like that one. It looks like a friend of mine.; 8/4/14, 10:37 AM
Dave D said...: Makes me recall and ad I saw in an old Chemical and Engineering news for chemistry sets:

1) A blue on for those who want to be scientists.

2) A PINK one for those who want to be lab technicians.

Never could actually see the contents, but you have to wonder if the latter featured experiments like "cleaning up a mess" or "making good coffee"?????; 8/4/14, 11:17 AM
Rocketeer said...: Lego needs to work on her mien.

Oh, please. She needs a mien like a fish needs a bicycle.; 8/4/14, 11:36 AM
ALP said...: Why doesn't the Lego company ship kits with neutral gender pieces which can be assigned a gender by the child as they please? Its a modular system to begin with; that way, kids could change the characters once the novelty of the original characters wears off.

Its just a few more pieces of cheap plastic - how hard could it be to ship a few extra heads with each kit?; 8/4/14, 1:16 PM
Polynices said...: It's worth noting that sets like this come with reversible heads -- there's a different expression on each side and the hairpiece covers up the one not being used. I was going to say that the other expression is probably a smile but then I looked up the exact part and it's actually a look of terror on the other side. They reused a head from one of the LEGO Movie sets.

Check out the main picture at http://brickset.com/sets/70812-1/Creative-Ambush. The minifigure in the foreground is showing what the other side of that head looks like. One of the other two heads also has a scared side: http://brickset.com/sets/70806-1/Castle-Cavalry.

Thought I'd share this for the non-LEGO fanatics reading here.; 8/4/14, 1:29 PM
Birches said...: I find the idea that there are "girl" Lego sets and "Boy" lego sets dumb. My girls play with legos all the time. I don't think they ever realized they were playing with "boy" stuff. But there are some girls who aren't interested in making a spaceship or a digger---those girls buy Lego Friends and there is nothing wrong with that.; 8/4/14, 1:40 PM
Anonymous said...: For ten years or more I wrote about regional poker tournaments for the premier poker magazine of the time, owned by a woman who ate, slept, and drank poker. We used to run articles about how abusive the male players were to female players and that if that stopped then women would rocket to the top alongside their male counterparts. Well, with tremendous pressure put on the casinos hosting the tournaments, like the World Series of Poker, and a uniform rules of poker written by the Tournament Director's Association abuse of women players and dealers of both sexes became a thing of the past.

This was more than ten years ago but women haven't improved in the standings and worse, mostly young geeky men have skyrocketed to the top of most money lists. My ex-publisher still has just one World Series Bracelet won in an event that almost no one plays. Any woman who makes it into the top forty in the Big Event ($10,000 No Limit Hold'em) are immediately newsworthy. Heck, the top 100 is a big deal.

Could it be that women are simply not suited to play poker? Should there be a woman's handicap applied?; 8/4/14, 2:15 PM
John henry said...: Someone mentioned pink and blue chemistry sets.

A couple years ago I saw some pink 5 drawer tool chests with pink rollaround base.

I saw it in Sears and was thinking they were Craftsman but the way Sears is these days it could have been another brand.

I am not sure how I felt about it. One the one hand, I like the idea that women can be every bit as competent mechanics as men. On the other, setting women apart with a pink toolbox seems segregating somehow.

I guess I am OK if a woman buys her own pink toolchest.

http://pinkprops.com/pink/pink-tool-boxes/

I don't think I would ever buy one for my daughter or granddaughter. Stainless steel seems pretty unisex to me.

John Henry; 8/4/14, 2:38 PM
Fritz said...: "poker1one said...
For ten years or more I wrote about regional poker tournaments for the premier poker magazine of the time, owned by a woman who ate, slept, and drank poker. We used to run articles about how abusive the male players were to female players and that if that stopped then women would rocket to the top alongside their male counterparts. Well, with tremendous pressure put on the casinos hosting the tournaments, like the World Series of Poker, and a uniform rules of poker written by the Tournament Director's Association abuse of women players and dealers of both sexes became a thing of the past.

This was more than ten years ago but women haven't improved in the standings and worse, mostly young geeky men have skyrocketed to the top of most money lists. My ex-publisher still has just one World Series Bracelet won in an event that almost no one plays. Any woman who makes it into the top forty in the Big Event ($10,000 No Limit Hold'em) are immediately newsworthy. Heck, the top 100 is a big deal.

Could it be that women are simply not suited to play poker? Should there be a woman's handicap applied?"

If you believe, as Larry Summers did, much to his regret, that men are over-represented at both ends of the bell curve, this would make sense. The top poker players are the outliers in the bell curve.; 8/4/14, 3:53 PM
Sam L. said...: Feminist Face LEGO.; 8/4/14, 4:20 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: The girls and boys designations are useful. When I was a kid, I could usually assume that I wouldn't want anything from the girls' toy section. For other girls, it was the opposite. People know what those labels indicate. As a consumer, it makes narrowing down easier.

Related: My standard gift for a child, boy or girl, in the 5-8 range is a Lego bucket or Lego Creator set. Once a father thanked me after a birthday party for giving his daughter the only toy that was not pink.; 8/4/14, 4:26 PM
MathMom said...: John -

Ann Barnhardt has a pink AR-15. It doesn't have Hello Kitty on it, though...; 8/4/14, 4:35 PM
ron winkleheimer said...: Damn it betamax3000, snorting beer through your nose HURTS.; 8/4/14, 5:11 PM
Static Ping said...: "Really happy?"

Damn straight. I will forever associate that Lego set with a semi-obscure actor wannabe self-pleasuring to a mini-figure. I may have to buy one of those for every room. Increases the happy of any situation by 10%.

"Why doesn't the Lego company ship kits with neutral gender pieces which can be assigned a gender by the child as they please? Its a modular system to begin with; that way, kids could change the characters once the novelty of the original characters wears off."

At least at some Lego stores, you can make your own minifigs. So, yeah, go buy yourself some new heads. You want a female scientist with pink hair? You got it. Want a hobbit with a power suit carrying a barbell? Go for it. Want to stick Jar-Jar Binks head on an orange inmate shirt top and a thong set of legs? Ah, the betamax3000 class photo special. You may have to pay royalties on that one. I'm sure the fee is reasonable.; 8/4/14, 7:49 PM
wildswan said...: I went to Amazon to order Lego Scientist woman but I can't find her. There are some rather boring scientist ladies who got their lipstick on right (or else they aren't wearing it) and whose hair does not resemble Darth Vader's helmet. What; 8/4/14, 8:03 PM
LordSomber said...: That women are complaining and not girls tells me all I need to know about this "issue."; 8/4/14, 8:56 PM
John henry said...: A bit off topic but we were speaking of pink stuff:

Here is a picture of Kerry, while the middle east is turning to shit. John (who served in Vietnam) Kerry is peddling around Nantucket on a pink bicycle.

John Henry; 8/5/14, 8:26 AM
TDP said...: "Tibore said...

Because superficial gestures are important!

8/4/14, 7:47 AM"

And because superfluous problems demand superficial gestures.; 8/5/14, 4:56 PM