IAmA 13 year old girl who started a petition to Hasbro regarding gender inequality in the Easy Bake Oven, and won. AMA

You know your drive, the spirit which made you start this petition against a HUGE company who might not have listened?

McKenna, please keep that for ever. Its people like you who change things for the better.

Hugs from England.

Yay, hugs are fun!

Hi, I wanted to mention that your grammar is impressive for your age and your writing poops on most of reddit's.

Do you read a lot of books?

I do, as a matter of fact. Bookworm forever! :D And thank you. c:

what are your favorite books? I'm an avid reader as well! :)

Definitely anything by Stephen King. :D

Do you have a favorite pony?

From Friendship is Magic? Pinky Pie, of course c:

Will you now get one Easy Bake Oven for free?

From Hasbro? Not sure. But we did get one of the current ones from when I was interviewed by Inside Edition.

I'm almost twice your age and you've accomplished much more than me in life already. That's cool.

Never too late to start accomplishing some awesome shiz!

How have people responded to this? Has it been overwhelmingly positive? Have you received any negitive feedback from people?

Also, I just wanted to thank you for this. Thank you for fighting dumb gender sterotypes in America.

I've gotten my fair share of negativity, but hey, there's always gonna be haters, right? c:

What was the negativity about? And in what form did you receive it?

Mostly about how I was either obviously some overreacting femnazi, or a girl with overzealous parents who are using me as an outlet to force their political propaganda on others. That upset me more than anything though; judge me all you want, but don't judge my family, or how they raised me.

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Well, Friendship is Magic, after all :D

if you message the mods with proof that you are who you say you are, you might get more people interested.

How do I do this? Been a reddit lurker for a while, but I'm kinda new to posting...

There are 13 year olds lurking Reddit?

That's horrifying! D:

The things I've seen... shudders

I saw this all over the news today -- congratulations to you and I sincerely hope this AMA takes off. What was the timeline of events in getting the change done from the time you decided to petition to the time you went to Hasbro's headquarters?

Also, I imagine this must have been quite an experience for you, can you walk us through some of the conversations you had while at their headquarters and with any of their executives?

After I started the petition, the thing basically exploded overnight. I appeared on many news stations and all over the interwebz. I finally got a reply from Hasbro about a week after the petition started, but it was a pretty generic response, that didn't really address anything I was talking about. However, a few days later, Bobby Flay and a multitude of other celebrity chefs got together and made a video for me and my brother, showing their support! Hasbro finally invited me on down a few days afterward, and Monday, there I was at headquarters!

As for your second question, while I don't remember specific conversations, Hasbro was awesome. They showed me how their toys are manufactured, how they do their market testing, and even how their commercials get made!

Wow, how did it feel to get a video from celebrities whom you've never met? I bet that would be a huge confidence booster.

It was awesome!

Did your mom/dad play a role in this or is this a pure McKenna's intiative?

I saw your interview on TV btw, you are very well spoken.

It was all me, to most people's surprise. A lot of people seem to think that my mom wrote and did everything and is just using me as her outlet, but that's actually not true at all. And thank you c:

Firstly congratulations, secondly I can't believe this AMA hasn't taken off.

What is the first thing your brother is going to bake?

The cupcakes c: He keeps talking about how delicious they look whenever the commercial comes on

I approve!

Woo to the hoo for cupcakes!

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Your welcome! And good luck with your Award! :D

Pretty neat to hear about this - as a sociology major at university, I've had to do reading about how toys are really gendered in how they are sold.

Question for you, do you think it's getting any easier for people your age and kids to break "gender rules" - or what people expect from boys and girls?

I think that it's definitely a whole lot easier for females to break gender rules than it is for boys; a girl plays with NERF guns and is called, at worst, a tomboy. However, if a boy wants a Baby Alive doll so he can prepare himself for eventual fatherhood? All hell breaks loose.

Did you know that Hasbro already had a boys version (The Queasy Bake Cookerator) and a gender neutral version (Real Meal Oven)? Your video seemed to make a lot of assumptions that Hasbro were gender biased, when in reality they were just profitability biased.

I was aware; however, they don't currently offer anything other than that marketed to girls, which is what I'm trying to get at.

I'd like to say that you're awesome and I appreciate the way you're helping to make things a little smoother for non-traditionally-gender-conforming individuals.

Sometimes, change is about starting on the little things and simply rolling with it when they suddenly grow and become bigger things. You're proof that everyone can create positive change by simply finding a problem and starting somewhere. Thank you!

Good job! =^.^=

~CedarWolf, /r/genderqueer mod

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P.S. Also, I'm sure the bronies and pegasisters on /r/mylittlepony would be interested to know if you got a glimpse of anything pony-related while you were chilling at Hasbro's offices.

Thank you so much! And of course I did, they gave me a Pinky Pie! :D

Ah; I got my first ever Twilight Sparkle this past week from the Secret Santa, which took me by pleasant surprise. I like Twilight; she's the first pony I identified with in Season 1 because she's a bookworm like me.

(I have to envy her a little bit because she lives in a library. Maybe someday I'll have a library of my own, too.)

I wish I could've done the Secret Santa. Unfortunately, I'm way too broke for shipping costs.

Is activism something you generally believe in? Or was this just one issue you wanted to fight? Do you plan to continue being an activist?

I believe strongly in activism; it's an amazing way to make social change, just as I did here. And yes, I will forever continue to fight for what's right c:

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I'm attempting to decide between three things that are pretty random... Either a defense lawyer, a large animal veterinarian, or a Broadway actress.

Become a Broadway actress and play a character who's a defense lawyer defending a large animal veterinarian who is accused of a murder most foul. Then she falls in love with her client after realizing she has a passion for helping sick large animals and becomes a large animal veterinarian defense lawyer with a pet rhinoceros.

That made me laugh way more than it should have.

Do you have a favorite Broadway show?

I guess RENT, cuz it was the first one I ever saw. However, it's probably really a 7 way tie between: RENT, Wicked, Sweeney Todd, Grease, Little Shop of Horrors, Avenue Q, and Spring Awakening. EDIT: Oh, and the Book of Mormon :D

How do you break a 7-way or 8-way tie?? I don't even think the NFL has a formula for that....

What can I say? I'm bad at decisions....

yess a fellow Book of Mormon fan :)

One of the funniest things ever... xD Although, what else would you expect from the geniuses who made South Park?

How are you going to top this feat ?

Not exactly sure, but I know I'll do something new after this one's... cooled down a little bit. However, I've only won one battle, and there's a thousand more that I can fight!

What did your friends and family think about your quest for gender equality? Do you know many others your age who share your opinions? I'm a big fan, by the way. :)

Thank you c: And everyone thinks it's pretty awesome. I've kind of become a bit of a celebrity around school. :D

Congrats on getting your voice heard, and even more congratulations for winning!

Kinda random, but... Why Broadway actress?

Is this something that you got an interest in thru your mom or Dad? Have you seen any shows there?

I've seen seven Broadway and off-Broadway shows. And my parents actually don't really like Broadway; they find my constant belting of "Defying Gravity" a little annoying after a while. xD I became interested in Broadway through seeing the movie version of RENT. As a matter of fact, Idina Menzel, a popular and amazing Broadway actress, is basically my idol.