TIL that in January 2014, a seven-year-old girl named Charlotte Benjamin wrote a letter to Lego, pointing out the lack of female characters compared to male ones. A few months later, in June 2014, Lego introduced a “Research Institute” set showcasing female scientists, which quickly sold out.
That wasn’t an issue when I was a kid and they all looked like this:
Is that a man chef? A lady chef? Who knows? They all have the vacant smiley face. Even the astronaut one after you throw his (or her) space ship against the wall.
That said, they weren’t “minifigures” at the time, they were Lego men. Even the obvious female ones were Lego men. This is a lady Lego Man:
…although it could be a hippy man Lego man.
It’s important that we make sure girls know they have to wear dresses and have long hair and boobs.