Saturday, September 08, 2001
Is a Crab
Scene at the drive through at McDonald's:
She hands me the happy meal box. "Is the toy for a boy inside?" I ask.
"I don't know," she says. (What she actually said was "idoannoe," so that it rhymes with "Ivanhoe," but close enough.)
"Could I have a toy, please? For a boy." I feel that I will soon be trapped in a Dr. Suess-like hell of my own creation.)
"No girl toys. It's a crab." (Her completely charming accent rendered this "Ees a crrab.")
My confusion disappears. I now know that, if there is in fact a toy in the box, it's the desired Lego. I peek in and can just make out Onepu under the chicken nuggets. I bade the late-night window farewell.
The lesson is clear. Lego, even in Bionicle form, is not identified very closely with gender, at least in comparison with Mattel's "Micro-Divas," the unavailable girl's toy. But what Bionicles actually are supposed to be is not very apparent even when you're looking right at them. "Crab" is as good a guess as any.
She hands me the happy meal box. "Is the toy for a boy inside?" I ask.
"I don't know," she says. (What she actually said was "idoannoe," so that it rhymes with "Ivanhoe," but close enough.)
"Could I have a toy, please? For a boy." I feel that I will soon be trapped in a Dr. Suess-like hell of my own creation.)
"No girl toys. It's a crab." (Her completely charming accent rendered this "Ees a crrab.")
My confusion disappears. I now know that, if there is in fact a toy in the box, it's the desired Lego. I peek in and can just make out Onepu under the chicken nuggets. I bade the late-night window farewell.
The lesson is clear. Lego, even in Bionicle form, is not identified very closely with gender, at least in comparison with Mattel's "Micro-Divas," the unavailable girl's toy. But what Bionicles actually are supposed to be is not very apparent even when you're looking right at them. "Crab" is as good a guess as any.
