5
FEATURE PJ Pringle, age five, plays Legos with two year old sister Isabella Suzanne-Marie Pringle.
Sveri May / Guest Photographer Three generations of the Ramirez family with donations for the Loy Norrix 2011 Food Drive. The family was able able to donate 7,500 items out of the total contribution of 11,049.
Niambi Pringle / Guest Photographer P.J. Pringle, age five, plays with sister, Isabella Suzanne-Marie Pringle, age two. The two enjoy playing together with their new Lego table they received for Christmas.
Lox Norrix Students Give Christmas to Everyone
“Lego Friends”
Roberto Cevallos Knight Life News Life is about decisions and every second of it someone is making the wrong one. But almost all the time our decisions are made thinking about ourselves. There are not too many people that when they make decisions think of the rest of the people before themselves. Loy Norrix freshman Esperanza Ramirez and the youngest sister of the Ramirez family cancelled her own Quinceanera party. This is a party that people from Mexico and some places from South America hold for their daughters when they turn 15. They dance and have a big dinner with all the family and all the friends, but in this case Esperanza cancelled hers to use that money for the Loy Norrix canned Food Drive. The Ramirez family has dedicated their own money and storage space in their home throughout the year to the Loy Norrix Food Drive since 1997. The holidays are the perfect time to show generosity and feel happy for the joy of loved ones. Seeing the smile in one of these people who does not have much is what moves the Ramirez family to give food. Seeing this makes you know that there is so much that is going on around you, the thing is that we often don’t want to see it. So Christmas is the best time to take a look around and see who needs help. The Ramirez family is one that never loses the essence of charity. From the youngest Ramirez to the oldest member, they want to help and give part of themselves to make someone smile. They are able to stop thinking about their own problems and think about other’s problems just to find a way to help. “Every year Ramirez family wants to break a record of food cans,”
said Loy Norrix freshman Esperanza Ramirez. Josefina the oldest sister of the family who has been diagnosed with cancer and is receiving chemotherapy treatments said, “This year we brought 7000 cans [the final total was 7,500] and everyone wants to help. Even my little son of 4 years old that has cancer was helping and we do this because we know how it feels and is our way to say thank you to all the people that helped us when we were there,” referencing a time when her own family experienced financial difficulties. People have different ways to help and this is the way the Ramirez family tries to send a message to society, a society where everything is about money. Josefina used to have a car that she really liked. This car meant a lot to her, but when one of her neighbors was sent back to Mexico and they didn’t have way to get there, Josefina gave them her car and some food for their trip. “We are giving to people that really appreciate it, and also thank you very much to Ms. May for everything she do for us and every smile she took from us,” said Josefina.
Can Drive Statistics Year
Loy Norrix
Ramirez Family
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
6,880 5,490 6,210 7,776 6,115 11,049
1,324 1,633 2,594 3,126 2,608 7,500
New “Girl-Centric” Spark Controversy Aubrey Butts Knight Life News The term “Legos” typically sparks an image of brightly colored, plastic building blocks. Sparking an interest in design at a gender-neutral level, the original Legos were a great gift for a boy or a girl (take that, Slinky). But since the early years of the 21st century, Legos have taken on a distinctively “male” flair. The originally gender-neutral toy took a turn to the blue, often leaving out the pink side of its consumers. Lego Group has recently tried to combat this gender-gap by developing new sets of these building toys, “Lego Friends”. “Lego Friends” (even the logo is “girl-ified) is the outcome of many years of research done by Lego Group and were released December 26th, 2011. Research showed that girls disliked the tiny Lego figurines and favored more detail-orientated, creative play with a focus on beauty. The “Lego Friends” present a slender, curvy figurine instead of the previously shapeless figures. The new girl-centric sets feature Ladyfigs, which are the girl versions of Lego’s usual minifigs. Each Ladyfig comes with her own story (or label). Mia is the town animal and environment lover, Emma is the local beautician, Andrea is the artsy one, Stephanie is the social butterfly, and Olivia is the scientist and inventor. In 1947, Danish carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen, developed the first Lego play set called “Town Plan.” This play set taught children traffic safety. This gender-neutral play toy has changed since, reflecting the change in the toy industry. During the fifties, leading psychologists began to study gender development. At this time, toy company Mattel developed the Barbie doll, arguably the first toy to highly influence girl gender roles. Pringle believed this change of non-gender neutral toys occurred due to society emphasizing a women’s place. “If you had a daughter, you’re not going to have a doll that has a CEO suit,” Pringle said. Lego has claimed that cultural research is backing its new design of female Legos. Jorgen Vig Knudstrop, the present CEO of Lego Group, conducted an anthropological field research where teams shadowed and interviewed girls and families in places such as
the United States and the United Kingdom. The study showed that girls hated the shapeless Lego figurine and preferred role-play and building, rebuilding, and storytelling (whereas boys preferred linear building.) Phillip Johnson, a former Loy Norrix student and current Anthropology major at Western Michigan University, brings up the point that toys in general can be seen as society’s way to prepare a child for future “gender roles”. “In groups in which labor is sexually divided, it stands to reason that each gender will develop certain themes associated with its playthings, i.e. dolls for girls and wooden swords for boys,” said Johnson. “There is hardly a rationale for a need for separate toys, simply explanations for why certain toys would become associated with a gender, or any other group for that matter.” This concept brings up an argument against Lego Group’s claim to be answering a demand. Perhaps it is therefore not the gender that asks for different toys, but society that assigns different toys to different genders. Niambi Pringle, Social Studies teacher at Loy Norrix and a mother of both a young son and daughter, does not believe that Legos need to be gender specific. “I just bought my son and daughter a Lego table to play with together. I wouldn’t buy a separate set for my son than for my daughter,” said Pringle. This brings up another point. At the end of the day, Lego Group is a business, not a social justice organization. The goal of “Lego Friends” is to make more money by targeting the girl market, not to influence societal changes to girls and gender roles. see LEGO page 13