Paradisa was one the many sub-themes of the prominent Lego
theme, Town itself introduced in 1978. Paradisa has been one of Lego’s many attempts
at including girls, or rather redirecting them away from ‘normal’ Lego to sets
that fitted within gender stereotypes. There were a total of 18 sets produced
between 1992 and 1997. The common feature of these sets was the large use of pink
and white coloured bricks. Although other coloured bricks did appear in sets,
the vast majority were pink, white, grey or green. A number of these bricks
were only available in the Paradisa sets.
In opposition to many of the other sub-themes of Town, this
theme primarily focused on leisure and vacations at the beach rather than
activities like airports, space, rescue, nautical, police and fire fighter sub-themes.
The main activities of these
Paradisa sets included windsurfing, sailing, horseback riding and lounging by
the pool.[1]
Unlike other sets released in the 1990s, there were more
female than male mini-figs in the Paradisa sub-theme. This carries through when
looking at the gender of mini-figs based on the total number of mini-figs in
the sets and the number of bricks in each set. This is shown in the charts
below. 
There is also relative gender equality in Paradisa sets when
looking at the gender of mini-figs based on the year the set was released. If
you have read any of my previous Pirate themed sets, the gender equality of the
Paradisa sets is a nice relief. Female mini-figs did exist during this time and
were the primary gender of mini-figs.
But what I do question is that in sets that were primarily
designed and built for boys, (so far this is primarily the pirate sets), there
are essentially no female mini-figs. Yet in sets that were promoted and sold to
girls, there is essentially gender equality, with only 7 more female mini-figs
than male mini-figs in all the Paradisa sets. Females don’t have to be part, or
even exist in any meaningful way in a ‘boys world’ but females need men in
their world.
Men also take up more active positions in these sets aimed at girls. I have decided
to measure whether a mini-fig has been put in an active role in part on the
accessories they are holding. Despite the ratio of 1:1.3 for male to female
mini-figs in the Paradisa sets, there are more male mini-figs given accessories
than female mini-figs. The only category where there are more female than male
mini-figs is where a mini-fig is given no accessory. In this case, half of the
female mini-figs (15) are not given any accessory whilst less than 15 per cent
of male mini-figs (3) do not have any accessories at all.
The second factor for whether a mini-fig has a primarily
position is the role they have been given by Lego. However, this factor is much
more subjective as what I perceive to be a mini-fig teaching maybe perceived by
someone else as two mini-figs simply undertaking the same activity together. To
assess whether a mini-fig is active or passive, I have looked at whether they
are doing something and if they are doing something like feeding an animal, sliding
down a slide or driving a boat or car, then I have classified them as active.
What is interesting is that although the number of active mini-figs is the same
regardless of gender, there are more passive female mini-figs than male. The
difference in overall male and female mini-figs in Paradisa sets is equal to
the difference in male and female passive mini-figs. So despite the presence of
more female mini-figs, they are all presented as passive.
I plan to look at the interaction between the Paradisa sets
and other Town sub-themes once I have analysed them more.
Lastly, with the introduction of more female mini-figs,
there was also the introduction of new female mini-face designs, hair styles
and torso pieces with strapped and strapless tops.[2]
Most of the female outfits were either pink or a shade of pink with flowers or
horses. This is in comparison to the male mini-figs whose outfits were more
diverse in both colour and design.
[1] Accessed 20
February, brickipedia
[2] Accessed 20 February, brickipedia
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