ABOUT THE SPEAKER
McKenna Pope - Teen activist
When McKenna Pope was 13 she petitioned Hasbro to market its Easy-Bake Oven to boys as well as girls, and to make it available in gender-neutral colors. It worked.

Why you should listen

If anyone's still worried about today's teenagers melting their brains on the Internet, there's at least one who stands out against the crowd: teen activist McKenna Pope. In 2012 Pope's four-year-old brother, who had a passion for cooking, was beyond excited to ask for an Easy-Bake Oven for Christmas. But, confused by the pink and purple colors and the television ads that only featured girls using the toy, he became discouraged.

Pope, thirteen at the time, was indignant that her brother should think any less of himself as a boy who liked to cook. Naturally Pope turned to the Internet. She posted a video and written petition urging the CEO of Hasbro to change its marketing and packaging around the Easy-Bake Oven to make it appealing to boys as well as girls. Pope could hardly anticipate what came next: She received 45,000 signatures and a call from Hasbro, inviting her to their headquarters in Pawtucket, Rhode Island to show her their new unisex designs.

More profile about the speaker
McKenna Pope | Speaker | TED.com
TEDYouth 2013

McKenna Pope: Want to be an activist? Start with your toys

McKenna Pope: Quer ser um ativista? Comece com seus brinquedos

Filmed:
1,022,732 views

O irmão mais novo de McKenna Pope amava cozinhar, mas ficou preocupado quanto a usar um forno de brinquedo (Easy-Bake Oven), porque era um brinquedo para meninas. Então, com 13 anos, Pope começou uma petição online para que a empresa americana de brinquedos Hasbro mudasse o esquema de cores rosa-roxo do brinquedo clássico e incorporasse meninos nas propagandas de TV. Em uma animadora palestra, Pope fala sobre brinquedo de gênero neutro e faz um vibrante chamado de ação para as crianças que se sentem sem poder.
- Teen activist
When McKenna Pope was 13 she petitioned Hasbro to market its Easy-Bake Oven to boys as well as girls, and to make it available in gender-neutral colors. It worked. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
I'm McKenna Pope. I'm 14 years old,
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Eu sou McKenna Pope. Tenho 14 anos de idade
00:15
and when I was 13, I convinced
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e, quando tinha 13, eu convenci
00:17
one of the largest toy companies,
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uma das maiores companhias de brinquedos,
00:18
toymakers, in the world, Hasbro,
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fabricantes de brinquedos, no mundo, a Hasbro,
00:21
to change the way that they marketed
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a mudar a maneira pela qual
eles colocavam à venda
00:23
one of their most best-selling products.
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um dos produtos mais vendidos.
00:25
So allow me to tell you about it.
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Então, permitam-me contar sobre isso a vocês.
00:26
So I have a brother, Gavin.
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Então, eu tenho um irmão, Gavin.
00:28
When this whole shebang happened, he was four.
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Quando toda essa coisa aconteceu,
ele tinha quatro anos.
00:30
He loved to cook.
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Ele amava cozinhar.
00:32
He was always getting ingredients out of the fridge
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Ele estava sempre
pegando ingredientes da geladeira
00:34
and mixing them into these, needless to say,
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e fazendo, não preciso dizer,
00:36
uneatable concoctions,
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misturas intragáveis,
00:38
or making invisible macaroni and cheese.
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ou fazendo macarrão com queijo invisível.
00:41
He wanted to be a chef really badly.
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Ele queria muito ser um chefe de cozinha.
00:44
And so what better gift for a kid
who wanted to be a chef
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E, então, que melhor presente
para uma criança que queria ser um chefe
00:47
than an Easy-Bake Oven. Right?
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do que um forno de brinquedo? Certo?
00:49
I mean, we all had those when we were little.
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Quero dizer, todas nós tivemos um
quando éramos pequenas.
00:51
And he wanted one so badly.
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E ele queria muito um.
00:53
But then he started to realize something.
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Mas, então, ele começou a perceber uma coisa.
00:56
In the commercials, and on the
boxes for the Easy-Bake Ovens,
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Nos comerciais e nas caixas
dos fornos de brinquedo,
01:00
Hasbro marketed them specifically to girls.
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a Hasbro os vendia especificamente para meninas.
01:03
And the way that they did this
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E eles faziam isso
01:04
was they would only feature girls
on the boxes or in the commercials,
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mostrando somente meninas
nas caixas e nos comerciais,
01:07
and there would be flowery prints all over the ovens
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apenas desenhos florais por todo os fornos
01:10
and it would be in bright pink and purple,
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e ele era feito com as cores rosa e roxo brilhante,
01:13
very gender-specific colors to females, right?
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cores muito específicas
para o gênero feminino, certo?
01:16
So it kind of was sending a message
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Então, isso meio que estava
mandando uma mensagem
01:19
that only girls are supposed to cook; boys aren't.
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de que apenas meninas
deveriam cozinhar; meninos não.
01:22
And this discouraged my brother a lot.
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E isso desencorajou muito meu irmão.
01:23
He thought that he wasn't
supposed to want to be a chef,
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Ele pensou que não
poderia querer ser um chefe,
01:27
because that was something that girls did.
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porque isso era algo que as meninas faziam.
01:29
Girls cooked; boys didn't,
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Meninas cozinhavam; meninos não.
01:30
or so was the message that Hasbro was sending.
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Ao menos essa era a mensagem
que a Hasbro estava transmitindo.
01:33
And this got me thinking,
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E isso me fez pensar:
01:35
God, I wish there was a way that I could change this,
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"Deus, queria que houvesse uma maneira
de eu mudar isso,
01:37
that could I have my voice heard by Hasbro
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que eu pudesse ter minha voz ouvida pela Hasbro
01:40
so I could ask them and tell them
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para que eu pudesse perguntar e contar a eles
01:42
what they were doing wrong
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o que eles estavam fazendo errado
01:43
and ask them to change it.
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e pedir que eles mudassem isso.
01:44
And that got me thinking about a website
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E isso me fez pensar sobre um site
01:46
that I had learned about a few months prior
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que eu havia conhecido alguns meses antes,
01:48
called Change.org.
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chamado Change.org.
01:49
Change.org is an online petition-sharing platform
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Change.org é uma plataforma online
de compartilhamento de petições,
01:53
where you can create a petition and share it
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onde você pode criar uma petição e compartilhá-la
01:55
across all of these social media networks,
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através de todas as redes e mídias sociais,
01:57
through Facebook, through Twitter,
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pelo Facebook, pelo Twitter,
01:59
through YouTube, through Reddit, through Tumblr,
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pelo YouTube, pelo Reddit, pelo Tumblr,
02:00
through whatever you can think of.
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por qualquer coisa que você possa imaginar.
02:02
And so I created a petition
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Então, eu criei uma petição,
02:04
along with the YouTube video
that I added to the petition
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junto com o vídeo do YouTube
que adicionei à petição,
02:07
basically asking Hasbro
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basicamente pedindo à Hasbro
02:09
to change the way that they marketed it,
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para mudar sua maneira de vender os fornos,
02:11
in featuring boys in the commercials, on the boxes,
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mostrando meninos nos comerciais, nas caixas
02:14
and most of all creating them
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e, mais que tudo, fabricando os fornos
02:16
in less gender-specific colors.
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com menos cores de um gênero específico.
02:19
So this petition started to take off --
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Então, essa petição começou a alçar voo
02:23
humongously fast, you have no idea.
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muitíssimo rápido, vocês não fazem ideia.
02:26
I was getting interviewed by
all these national news outlets
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Eu estava sendo entrevistada
por vários canais nacionais de notícias
02:29
and press outlets, and it was amazing.
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e canais de imprensa, e isso era chocante.
02:33
In three weeks, maybe three and a half,
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Em três semanas, talvez três e meia,
02:35
I had 46,000 signatures on this petition.
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eu tinha 46.000 assinaturas na petição.
02:40
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
02:42
Thank you.
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Obrigada.
02:44
So, needless to say, it was crazy.
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Então, não preciso dizer que foi uma loucura.
02:47
Eventually, Hasbro themselves
invited me to their headquarters
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Afinal, a própria Hasbro me convidou
para visitar sua sede
02:51
so they could go and unveil
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para que pudessem me mostrar
02:53
their new Easy-Bake Oven product to me
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o seu novo modelo de forno de brinquedo,
02:55
in black, silver and blue.
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em preto, prata e azul.
02:57
It was literally one of the best moments of my life.
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Esse foi, literalmente, um dos melhores
momentos da minha vida.
03:00
It was like "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."
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Foi como "A Fantástica Fábrica de Chocolates."
03:02
That thing was amazing.
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Foi maravilhoso.
03:04
What I didn't realize at the time, however,
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O que não percebi no momento, entretanto,
03:06
was that I had become an activist,
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era que eu tinha me tornado uma ativista,
03:08
I could change something,
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eu poderia mudar alguma coisa.
03:09
that even as a kid, or maybe
even especially as a kid,
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Mesmo sendo uma criança, ou mesmo
especialmente sendo uma criança,
03:12
my voice mattered, and your voice matters too.
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minha voz importava,
e suas vozes importam também.
03:15
I want to let you know it's not going to be easy,
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Eu quero dizer a vocês que não será fácil,
03:17
and it wasn't easy for me,
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e não foi fácil para mim,
03:18
because I faced a lot of obstacles.
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porque eu me deparei com muitos obstáculos.
03:21
People online, and sometimes even in real life,
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Pessoas pela internet e, às vezes, até na vida real
03:24
were disrespectful to me and my family,
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foram desrespeitosas comigo e com minha família,
03:27
and talked about how the whole
thing was a waste of time,
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e disseram que tudo isso
era perda de tempo
03:30
and it really discouraged me.
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e realmente me desencorajaram.
03:31
And actually, I have some examples,
because what's better revenge
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Na verdade, eu tenho alguns exemplos,
porque que melhor vingança
03:35
than displaying their idiocy?
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do que revelar a estupidez deles?
03:37
So, let's see.
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Então, vamos ver.
03:39
From user name Liquidsore29 --
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Do usuário Liquidsore29 --
03:42
interesting user names we have here—
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temos nomes de usuários interessantes aqui:
03:44
"Disgusting liberal moms making their sons gay."
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"Repugnantes mães liberais,
tornando seus filhos gays."
03:50
Liquidsore29, really? Really? Okay.
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Liquidsore29, sério? Sério? Ok.
03:52
How about from Whiteboy77AGS:
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Mas que tal a do Whiteboy77AGS:
03:56
"People always need something
to (female dog) about."
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"As pessoas sempre precisam de algo
para incomodar."
04:00
From Jeffrey Gutierrez:
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De Jeffrey Gutierrez:
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"OMG, shut up. You just want money and attention."
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"Ai, meu Deus, cale a boca.
Você quer apenas dinheiro e atenção."
04:06
So it was comments like these
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Então, foram comentários como esses
04:08
that really discouraged me from
wanting to make change in the future
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que realmente me desencorajaram
a querer promover mudanças no futuro,
04:11
because I thought, people don't care,
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porque eu pensei: "As pessoas não se importam,
04:13
people think it's a waste of time,
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elas pensam que é uma perda de tempo,
04:16
and people are going to be disrespectful
to me and my family.
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e vão ser desrespeitosas comigo
e com minha família."
04:19
It hurt me, and it made me think,
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Isso me machucou e me fez pensar:
04:22
what's the point of making change in the future?
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"Qual é o propósito de fazer mudanças no futuro?"
04:24
But then I started to realize something.
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Mas, então, eu comecei a perceber uma coisa.
04:27
Haters gonna hate.
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Odiadores odiarão.
04:29
Come on, say it with me. One, two, three:
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Vamos, digam isso comigo. Um, dois, três:
04:31
Haters gonna hate.
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Odiadores odiarão.
04:34
So let your haters hate,
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Então, deixe seus odiadores odiarem,
04:36
you know what, and make your change,
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sabe, e faça sua mudança,
04:37
because I know you can.
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porque eu sei que você pode.
04:39
I look out into this crowd,
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Eu olho para essa multidão
04:40
and I see 400 people
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e vejo 400 pessoas
04:43
who came out because they wanted to know
how they could make a change,
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que vieram porque queriam saber
como fazer uma mudança,
04:46
and I know that you can, and all
of you watching at home can too
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e eu sei que você pode, e todos vocês
que estão assistindo em casa podem também,
04:49
because you have so much that you
can do and that you believe in,
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porque há muita coisa que você
pode fazer e em que você acredita,
04:52
and you can trade it across all these social media,
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e você pode espalhar isso
por todas as mídias sociais,
04:55
through Facebook, through Twitter, through
YouTube, through Reddit, through Tumblr,
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pelo Facebook, pelo Twitter, pelo YouTube,
pelo Reddit, pelo Tumblr,
04:58
through whatever else you can think of.
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por qualquer lugar que você possa imaginar.
05:00
And you can make that change.
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E você pode fazer essa mudança.
05:01
You can take what you believe in
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Você pode pegar aquilo em que acredita,
05:03
and turn it into a cause and change it.
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transformar isso em uma causa e gerar mudança.
05:05
And that spark that you've been
hearing about all day today,
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E aquela faísca sobre a qual
você ouviu falar hoje, o dia todo,
05:08
you can use that spark that you have within you
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você pode usá-la para o que
você tem dentro de si
05:11
and turn it into a fire.
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e transformá-la em uma chama.
05:12
Thank you.
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Obrigada.
05:14
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
Translated by Leonardo Leidens
Reviewed by Victor Righetti

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
McKenna Pope - Teen activist
When McKenna Pope was 13 she petitioned Hasbro to market its Easy-Bake Oven to boys as well as girls, and to make it available in gender-neutral colors. It worked.

Why you should listen

If anyone's still worried about today's teenagers melting their brains on the Internet, there's at least one who stands out against the crowd: teen activist McKenna Pope. In 2012 Pope's four-year-old brother, who had a passion for cooking, was beyond excited to ask for an Easy-Bake Oven for Christmas. But, confused by the pink and purple colors and the television ads that only featured girls using the toy, he became discouraged.

Pope, thirteen at the time, was indignant that her brother should think any less of himself as a boy who liked to cook. Naturally Pope turned to the Internet. She posted a video and written petition urging the CEO of Hasbro to change its marketing and packaging around the Easy-Bake Oven to make it appealing to boys as well as girls. Pope could hardly anticipate what came next: She received 45,000 signatures and a call from Hasbro, inviting her to their headquarters in Pawtucket, Rhode Island to show her their new unisex designs.

More profile about the speaker
McKenna Pope | Speaker | TED.com