Introduction
Lego minifigures are available in both traditionally masculine and feminine appearances; however, the latter was available much later according to results from Bricklink. After specifying the inventory for female heads, the earliest feminine design was released in 1989 while minifigures in general were first released in 1975. To differentiate masculine and feminine minifigure designs, I found examples of both on Bricklink released this year to define what we mean more clearly in terms of presentation and appearance.
Figure 1. Image of a masculine minifigure head taken from Bricklink released in 2023
This minifigure head is an example of a masculine design, as features including facial hair are included to differentiate the male and female heads.
Figure 2. Image of a feminine minifigure head taken from Bricklink released in 2023
This minifigure head is an example of a feminine design, as features including longer or more defined eyelashes and lipstick are used for female heads.
Updated Figure on Total Male and Female Minifigure Heads
Now that we have examples of both masculine and feminine designs, I updated the count comparing the total number of female heads with all minifigure heads released to include Lego products released up to mid-July this year. Previously, WBI interns compared the count of female heads to all minifigures up to May 2020; however, we wanted to see if Lego has made progress in releasing more feminine heads over the last few years.
Figure 3. Barplot comparing the total number of minifigure heads versus female heads released from 1975 to May 2020
Overall, the number of feminine heads has historically always been underrepresented compared to the total number of minifigure heads across all the years. However, the number of female heads released peaked in 2018 though the count noticeably dropped after especially in 2020.
Figure 3. Barplot comparing the total number of minifigure heads versus female heads released from 1989 to July 2023
Female heads were first released in 1989, so the updated visual reflected that by emphasizing that there were long periods of time such as from 1993 to 1997 where no feminine head designs were released at all. Likewise, the count of female heads reached a new peak in 2022 in comparison to the previous case in 2018. Though the figure only measures data from halfway through 2023, it is fair to assume that there has been a positive trend in female heads released over the past few years.
There are many female builders in the Lego community who unfortunately have fewer options in terms of finding minifigure heads that represent them with a lack of variety in feminine heads. It is also important to note that women of color builders have a smaller number of feminine heads available along with a lack of darker shades as well. Thus, Lego should recognize that the fewer number of feminine heads available makes it harder for female builders to participate in the community as seen in the disparity of minifigures released over the years.