The end of the article:
The answer is yes, Disney, we do. We want it now, and we are willing to pay for it. Literally. There is, to paraphrase the wondrous Cindy Gallop, a lot of money to be made by taking Princess Leia seriously. Hurry the fuck up.
Not long ago, there was the episode where, after enormous popular demand, Lego released a set featuring scientists who were women, which immediately sold out. And it was a limited edition, and last I heard, there was no plan to make more.
So there’s clearly a demand for toys featuring women in active roles. In the case of Star Wars, there’s a history of such toys being made. In the case of Legos and Barbie, there have been active campaigns demanding such toys. And yet the manufacturers and distributors resist.
It’s hard to miss that toy manufacturers and distributors are losing money by refusing to make and sell toys that show women in non-sexist roles. So, the question this raises for me is whether they’re so blinded by sexist ideology that they can’t see this demand, or whether they’re so committed to upholding sexism that they’re willing to lose money to do it. I could believe either, or both, and I think the answer might say something important about the relationship of sexism to capitalism and how it has changed over time.
