Things I learned today: Ms. Monopoly has actually been available since November 2019, but no one is buying this version of the game.
Maybe because we’ve never heard of it? That seems to have been Hasbro’s thinking, because they made her a commercial!
If you’re thinking this is going to be a great, feminist version of your family’s classic favorite board game, think again, my friends.
First up, the commercial.
It begins with the statistic that “women hold just 10 percent of all patented inventions,” then moves into footage of three young women – inventors and innovators – working hard to change that statistic. Over a minute-and-a-half into the commercial we learn that we’re actually being sold a “female empowerment” version of Monopoly.
“Female players receive $1900 at the beginning of the game, compared with $1500 for male players. Girls also get $240 each time they pass ‘Go’ on the board, while boys get $200. Instead of a real-estate mogul Mrs. Monopoly invests in female entrepreneurs.”
Yeahhhhhhhh, I’m all for empowering female innovators, but this? This is not that.
The solution to the gender pay gap isn’t simply to give women more money, and none of these odd choices address the root of the real-life struggles women who foray into traditional men’s worlds face on a daily basis.
Not to mention, we want to play a game, not be beat over the head with the reality we live every morning when we wake up.
Other notes: Hasbro calls Ms. Monopoly a “self-made woman,” but she’s Mr. Monopoly’s niece and received her startup capital from him.
The original Monopoly was designed by a woman in an attempt to showcase the perils of unchecked capitalism…and the idea was stolen from her, no royalties offered, after it became a success.
Basically…it’s just a big ol’ mess, and now that the internet has found it, there’s no going back to quiet obscurity.
Which honestly, if you miss the mark this badly, you probably deserve. Sorry, Hasbro. Put some women on your team next time.
