There isn’t a huge deal to say on the Construction sub-theme
of Lego Town. There were a total of 20 sets released over 17 years between 1980
and 1997. The majority of these sets included only a single mini-fig. There
were only three sets that included more than one mini-fig.
18 of the 23 mini-figs in the Construction sets were all
wearing a hard hat as would be appropriate in most construction settings. There
were only seven mini-figs that had accessories other than a hard hat. These included
jack hammers, shovels, brooms, spanners and road signs or cones.
I have determined that all these mini-figs are male. This is
a rather arbitrary decision on my part which I plan on explaining in this post.
But I am happy to be proven wrong, particularly if it can be proven that some
of these mini-figs can actually be considered female.
First off, a number of mini-figs have facial hair. This
makes it quite easy to determine that they are male. These male mini-figs have
moustaches such as the mini-fig shown. I determined that there are three
mini-figs with face hair in the Town sub-theme Construction.
That leaves 20 mini-figs left to explain why I consider them
to be male.
Secondly, the inclusion of hair pieces sends the message
that mini-figs in the Construction sub-theme are male. Not that hair pieces are
automatically represent a male, they represent a male when the hair style is
moulded in a way that represents a typical male hair style. This is also not to
ignore or say that women cannot have short hair, it is simply saying that on
average, males have short hair styles which is reflected in Lego mini-figs.
Further this also fits into the typical male / female hair styles that were
developing during the time Constructions sets were being produced and released.
There are only two mini-figs with these male hair styles in the Town sub-theme
Construction.
This leaves 17 mini-figs, the vast majority left to explain
why I consider them to be male.
The mini-fig torso print is the third way to determine
whether the mini-fig is male or female. Admittedly, this is a more abstract
approach to determining whether a mini-fig is male or female, but I think that
it is an appropriate option as during this time Lego were printing torso
prints, and facial prints, to distinguish between male and female mini-figs. 
Typically, the torso prints reflected male outfits and work
uniforms. When Lego included female mini-figs in the late 1980s and 1990s, the
features of the mini-fig were distinct. They were clearly identifiable as female
as a result of the curve of the torso print to signify cleavage. They also used
more feminine
When looking at the wider community, the ABS provides that
in 2011-12, there was significantly more Australian males between the age of 20
and 79 employed than females in the same ages employed in the construction
industry. [1]Although
Lego may be mirroring Australian society, I do question why this is still the
case. Previously, it made sense for more males to be employed in this area due
to the strength and physical exertion required in this industry. But given the
rapid changes to society and the introduction of more sophisticated equipment,
this needn’t be the case anymore. I will be interested to compare the gender
breakdown between the construction sets released as a sub-theme to City.
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