Let’s Be Honest, The New Ms. Monopoly Game is Patronizing

Recently, someone at Hasbro had the bright idea to create a Monopoly for women. Yes, because that's what women all over the globe have been waiting for. The only thing that Hasbro did right was to not make the whole board pink. I remember when they made a pink Ouija board, which made a ridiculous board game (can you call it a board game?) even more ridiculous. The new Monopoly game called Ms. Monopoly features a new character, Mr. Monopoly's niece AKA Ms. Monopoly.

When I first read that Hasbro would be releasing a new version of Monopoly for girls, I was slightly confused, concerned, and curious. The three C's. I wasn't sure how I felt, whether I was excited or offended. That uncertainty lasted until I read more about the game, which brought me to my final decision. This game is just plain patronizing.

Let's start with the slogan which reads, "The first game where women make more than men."

via GIPHY

I feel like I have to make something perfectly clear here, women who protest for equal pay are looking for just that, EQUAL PAY. Unless I am getting something completely wrong here, I am under the impression that the fight for equal pay means that women want to be paid for their worth and not be paid less because of their gender. This does not mean they want to be paid more just because of their gender.

According to USA Today, "The banker doles out $1,900 in Monopoly Money to each female player and $1,500 to each male. The gap continues every time a player passes ['GO'] with women collecting $240 and men $200."

NO! A million times, no. This is the completely wrong way to go about shining a light on the wage gap between men and women. You cannot just throw money at someone to make a problem go away. I mean history would disagree with me here, but morally it's wrong.

This is telling little girls that they are not capable of winning without more money thrown at them. Could I be looking into this more than I should be or more than the average person? Perhaps, but that doesn't make me wrong.

The worst part about the slogan and the money rule for this game is that it takes away from what could have been a very cool game. Instead of properties, players invest money into female inventions. I wish they could've chosen better inventions rather than chocolate chip cookies and shapewear, but bulletproof vests and solar heating are in there.

If they had just stopped there, I would have been 100% on board with this new board game. However, they went too far and honestly pushed too hard on an agenda which in turn ruined the game.

The caricature of Ms. Monopoly is a woman in a green "Go" t-shirt, blazer, jeans, and heels. I have no reservations about the character herself. She looks like a modern-day female trailblazer.

The pieces in the game may raise a few eyebrows as well. Instead of the classic pieces, everyone knows and loves, this new game has a white top hat, a notebook and pen, a jet, a watch, a barbell, and a glass. Let me be more specific here by saying it's a wine glass... Nothing says family game night with the kids than a wine glass game piece.

The new Ms. Monopoly is available for pre-order for $19.99 and will be available starting Friday, September 13th.

Source: USA Today