The LEGO Group has responded to a complaint about the women minifigures in 10320 Eldorado Fortress, perfectly summing up why inclusion is important.
LEGO Icons 10320 Eldorado Fortress includes three women as minifigures, including two who, judging from the plumes on their hats, hold leadership positions within the navy on the brick-built island. The third woman is a swashbuckling pirate with long black hair, leading the way onto the island with a sword.
One person reviewing the set on the LEGO Group's public forum on the set's listing took umbrage with the inclusion of these three women, describing 10320 Eldorado Fortress as "another set with too many [women]"
"Come on guys, stop with the [women[ in sets that historically don't have them," they continued. "Sailors were not [women], naval leadership [were] not [women]. Stop with the lies."
However, the LEGO Group were quick to defend their inclusion of women on the high seas, writing back a day later: "Thanks for sharing your feedback about the Eldorado Fortress and the minifigures we've included. Representation in toys is incredibly important and play has a big impact on children. Sets such as this one are designed for play and aren't meant to be historically correct.
"Our goal is to inspire kids through playful learning—this is a responsibility we take very seriously. We’ll continue developing and inspiring the builders of tomorrow by making our toys more inclusive so that everyone playing can see themselves in their LEGO adventures."
It's no secret that the LEGO Group has made diversity and inclusion a central part of a number of sets recently. From a wide range of diverse minidolls across the LEGO Friends theme to unique elements to represent disability in themes like LEGO Marvel (to name but a few), more and more sets have featured a variety of skin tones, disabilities, genders, and more.
As the company's response to the complaint points out, LEGO sets are designed to inspire people's imaginations. If we're building a brick-built pirate island, it's important for girls and young women to see themselves represented as well.
When the complaint and its response were shared to reddit, other commenters also pointed out that saying women weren't involved in piracy or the navy is simply not true, naming a few examples such as Brittany pirate Jeanne de Clisson in the 14th Century and Chinese pirate Zheng Yi Sao in the 19th Century. Perhaps one of these famous figures could feature in some people's imagination with 10320 Eldorado Fortress, or other fictional pirates. Whatever the case, there's certainly no reason for female minifigures to be missing from LEGO sets based on earlier time periods.
Of all the other reviewers of 10320 Eldorado Fortress on LEGO.com, 96% would recommend the product, so clearly the inclusion of women isn't dampening the experience for other builders too harshly.
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