Disturbed by dolls for little girls...

[Jenny_A]

Ugh! Who is buying this stuff? I read the thread in the lounge yesterday on why our children are growing up too fast. Someone posted a picture of a Bratz doll that was just shocking.

The thread really got my attention. I was in Target today just browsing at the toys and on the end isle I saw this doll that looked just like a Barbie but I don't think it was a Barbie brand. The doll looked like a Dominatrix (spelling?). She had on a black leather bathing suit that wrapped around and tied at her waist. I tried to find a link but couldn't. There's also a new line of Barbie called Barbie on the Scene or something like that. The dolls literally look like hookers.

I loved Barbie growing up. I would spend hours pretending and dressing her. I never thought twice about her body style. She was just Barbie. But I don't remember the clothes looking like that! Most of my Barbies came in ballgowns.

I'm just floored and my eyes have been opened. I'm definitely looking into the Only Hearts Club if DD ever shows any interest. What are we teaching our little girls with these dolls?!

Thanks for listening. Just had to vent on this one!

Jenny

Mom to Caroline 01/06

[jennifer_r]

I'm actually the one that started the thread a couple of days ago but I was shocked to see how bad Bratz dolls were. The whole thing is sooo disgusting. The baby bratz doll (the toddler doll wearing makeup and dressed like a hooker) is marketed to kids 4 and up. With our society so concerned about child pornography and pedophiles, you would think that, maybe, dolls that portray toddlers as sexual was a bad thing.

I'm actually livid about this whole thing too and want to do something to make my voice heard. I think too many parents just think there is nothing they can do but I think if we get loud enough, then maybe someone will listen.

It's sad that Barbie has to succumb to the Bratz look - I guess toy companies really don't care about kids and are more interested in the mighty buck.

P.S., Bratz is supposed to be one of the hottest toys this holiday season - I too would like to know who is actually buying this toy. Everyone I know said they find the toys repulsive and would never purchase one.

Jennifer

Mom to:
Christopher 12/29/89
Adelaide 8/23/04
Bronwyn 11/9/05

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif[/img][/url] Woohoo! 1 year and counting . . .

[kijip]

Yeah, I wonder where the market is for stuff like this too! I posted the link to the Baby Bratz in that other thread and I am still peeved at how gross I find them. Glad to know I am not alone.

[Jenny_A]

I also wanted to ask but forgot to mention it above... What is wrong with the Disney Princess dolls? In the lounge thread a lot of people mentioned they were staying away from those too. I don't see anything obviously wrong with those. What am I missing?

Thanks!

Jenny

[blueeyedb]

I find the Bratz dolls disturbing on so many levels. Who wants their child to play with that? Yuck, yuck, yuck.

[ellies mom]

The Bratz dolls are very offensive. Some people buy them for their kids because other people buy them for their kids. My neighbor bought them for her girls because she felt they had more realistic multi-cultural features than Barbie. At first, that made a bit of sense but then one day at the store I compared the two brands. Uh no. The Bratz does do not have more realistic features. Every dolls face is the same. So basically, they took a very stereotypical set of features and stuck them on every doll. The Barbies on the other hand do have realistic features on their multi-cultural dolls, even if the hair is almost never curly.

But the Bratz... I agree, what are we teaching our girls and as the mother of a bi-racial daughter, I have to ask what messages are we giving our girls of colour?

As for the Princess dolls, that really is more of a reaction to the way Princesses are portrayed in a lot of stories. Kind of passive "women" waiting around to be rescued. I have to admit Disney's Cinderella really makes me cringe but I also recognized that a lot of that reaction is me as an adult and feminist putting things on to the movie that I know I never paid attention to as a child. So I try to keep that in perspective and I would let DD get a Cinderella doll if she asked for one.

[KentuckyRK]

We in the retail business had a word for all of the clothing, dolls, styles, etc... that they are putting out for little girls these days...

it's called
"prosti-tots"

Is this truly what we are aspiring for our daughters to become? I have seen more, obnoxious dolls (bratz tops the list), high heeled boots and shoes and trashy clothes for little girls that make them look like they belong on a street corner somewhere than I care to think of...

It's disgusting really.

This is an excellent article on just this topic
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/turning-girls-into-eye-candy/2006/02/17/1140151818732.html

[Ceepa]

This is the Barbie that literally stopped me and DH in our tracks at TRU:

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/36706.jpg

It's Bling Bling Barbie from the My Scene BArbie line, and the mesh top is even more risque IRL.

-Ceepa

[Moneypenny]

OMG! I don't even have any words for that!

Susan
mama to my cutie pie, Avery
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_sapphire_24m.gif[/img][/url]

[ellies mom]

And remember the My Scene Barbies aren't as bad as the Bratz.

[elliput]

It's the Britney Spears Barbie!

[jennifer_r]

What I noticed about this Barbie is that it looks almost anorexic - look at it's arms and legs. At least the old Barbie, while it had an unattainable figure, was healthy looking.

Jennifer

Mom to:
Christopher 12/29/89
Adelaide 8/23/04
Bronwyn 11/9/05

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif[/img][/url] Woohoo! 1 year and counting . . .

[zuzu]

This week's New Yorker had an interesting article on the Bratz dolls, and went into Bratz v. Barbie. The article is called "Little Hotties: The rise of Bratz dolls" but I don't think they have the full article on their site.

[lisams]

Oh my goodness. What's with the sedated/druged/come hither (you choose!) looking eyes?

Yuck, yuck, yuck!

[oliviasmomma]

So undies are not included, huh?

[elliput]

That's right, no undies with this one.

[megs4413]

I'm freaking sick of this. I'm unbelievably disturbed by all of this. Here's what I just found out through the official "bratz" website...MGA entertainment is the parent co. and they manufacture other toys including....LITTLE TIKES! i am officially boycotting Little Tikes products. DD won't be getting a little tikes kitchen this year, as she was supposed to....i'm going with a company that doesn't actively participate in the sexualizing of children.

who's with me on that?

[elliput]

I am definitely joining in, though I wish I would have known this a couple weeks ago when I bought our first ever LT item. DRAT!x(
FWIW, Little Tikes was just aquired by MGA Entertainment this month (Nov 2006) according to the LT website. http://www.littletikes.com/aboutlittletikes/default.aspx?SitePages_ID=16&SiteContent_ID=184

[MissyAg94]

My mouth just literally fell open when I saw that pic! If anyone wants to come live in the commune that we are starting for our innocent daughter, you are more than welcome. :)

[megs4413]

i saw that....bad move for Little Tikes!

[bisous]

I have to admit Disney's Cinderella really makes me cringe

That is so interesting! I don't have a daughter but if I've always thought of Cinderella as an excellent role model for girls. I never looked at it as a rescue issue to be honest. I saw it as a person in a dire situation who makes the best of things by living virtuously, making friends of the animals and mice and in the end being rewarded for their goodness!

Snow white is a little saccharin sweet but I don't see that as a bad thing necessarily. Sleeping Beauty, however, has no personality at all. All she does in the movie is act controlled by other people. I find that a little offensive.

The worst of all, bar none, for me is Ariel. Can you say brat? The whole song, "I wnnt more" makes me cringe. I hate that she disobeys her father at the drop of the hat, crushes on a guy after not even speaking with him and causes tremendous havoc for her father, her friends, and until Eric rescues her at the end essentially all of the sea because of her selfishness. And in the end, she gets everything she ever wanted. Now that is offensive to me.

Sorry to go off on a tangent there. I find it interesting (and valid) what you have observed about the Disney princesses and it is fun to see how widely varying opinions can be. :)

[MonicaH]

I'm with you, no Little Tikes for us.

I thought this quote from the website was right on, although perhaps not in the way the writers meant it: "MGA Entertainment is a leader in the revolution of family entertainment." Yep, leading the way so that your daughters will dress like Bratz dolls and you will find it entertaining...where's that puking smilie??

Monica

[Joolsplus2]

Uuuuugh...marketers have no soul. I've read it's just great for kids to at least still be playing with 'toys', but gee, I don't think so, if this is what they are playing with!
Don't ever, ever allow your kids to watch the Bratz cartoon, it's absolutely rank... (Barbie at least is trying to be artsy and doing the ballets, we like the barbie movies).

We have a couple of Bratz, but they don't get much playtime...dd's 7 and FAR prefers littlest pet shop toys, thank god. She wants a barbie bling bling styling head for xmas, though.

Prostitots... in their kinderwhore apparel... what are we doing to our babies in this country.. :(
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[sarahsthreads]

I really find all of these dolls disturbing too. And yet, whenever I tell people (especially those who might be buying DD gifts for birthdays/holidays) that I will never allow Bratz dolls in the house, would prefer to avoid Barbie, and will be avoiding princesses as long as possible, I get "just wait, she's going to want all these things and then you'll have to eat your words" types of responses.

Well, sure, she can want these things. (Although since she doesn't watch commercial TV I don't see where she'd learn about them at this point.) I still don't have to allow them in my house!

I was really shocked when I went looking for a pair of plain black patent leather mary janes for DD for the dressy holiday things we're going to and they *all* had heels. DD is TWO. Who puts a two-year-old in heels? I mean, aside from making her look like - well, something I won't compare my little girl to - isn't it a safety issue as well? But obviously people buy these for their daughters, because they were that way in every. single. store.

Sarah :)

[amp]

What about when she is given one at her birthday party?

I'm just saying that it's much easier to say how you will handle things before you are faced with a child who wants them.

[emilyf]

I was surprised to see a friend's 5 year old coming out of church in heels-that's insane to me. I still don't wear heels, but certainly wasn't wearing them when I was little.
Emily mom of Charlie born 11/02 and Zoe born 9/05

[KBecks]

I think it will help your case if you write to the company to let them know you are boycotting LT and WHY.

[Joolsplus2]

My dd has given up asking me for any kind of heel or tall clog... she knows i'll say no...I mean, she falls down when she wears sneakers, i can't imagine what she'd do to her poor ankles in those things (of course, she wears heelys, I'm not perfect, lol)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[KentuckyRK]

>What about when she is given one at her birthday party?
>
>I'm just saying that it's much easier to say how you will
>handle things before you are faced with a child who wants
>them.


There is a quite simple way to handle this actually... don't have huge parties where people who don't know you personally are buying your children gifts. I would have no problem telling my family and closest friends the things I don't allow my children to have.

[KentuckyRK]

Ugh... I went shopping today and as if the Bratz dolls weren't bad enough I see THIS for sale at Big Lots

http://www.biglots.com/Holiday/item.aspx?cid=17&scid=57&iid=494

A sushi bar???? For children to play with??? Really?
I mean it comes with a bartender and what it doesn't show in that picture are the drinks that look very much like alcholic beverages and the bigs mixers for the drinks for the bartender to serve them. This stuff is way out of hand!



As for boycotting L.T. I won't be doing that because I LOVE their products. I don't feel that the way to get rid of a product is by boycotting the entire company. The idea is to NEVER buy a Bratz doll or product... encourage your friends and family members to do the same. If you simply boycott a company they have no way of knowing where the problem lies. We don't want them to get rid of all of their products, just these hidious dolls.

[SpaceGal]

I always thought the Bratz dolls were odd and whore-like. Last year, my friend was looking for a Bratz doll for her niece...and I told her how i had seen some newer ones that she might look into...Bratz Baby at the time or something like that. When my friend saw it at the store she was so appalled! These Baby Bratz were wearing diapers that looked like lace thongs!

Ugh we just died and I was so thankful that I have a boy and don't have to deal with these things.

As for me when I give gifts to friends/family that have little girls. It's either a Barbie (preferably from the fairy/mermaid lines just because I am not a big princess type person), My Little Ponies, Strawberry Shortcake, and other more wholesome unslutty toys.

[shishamo]

Oh, I'm SO with you.

FYI, New Yorker this week has a very interesting article by
Margaret Talbot about how Bratz dolls are getting more popular. It's not on their website unfortunately so I can't link but really a good read. She also discusses Groovy Girls and American Girls, too.

Very timely for me since I just bought Only Hearts Club doll at Target for my 4 year old. I also loved Barbie when growing up so this is a good compromise for me.

[holliam]

It's very easy to boycott all of these toys! I think the most commercial product we have in the house is a Mr. Potato Head and DD doesn't like him so he's going away soon I think.

Otherwise, all our toys are from companies like Lego, Brio, Melissa & Doug, Selecta, Haba, Folkmanis, Schylling, Ryan's Room, Alex, etc.... all companies that don't advertise on TV nor feel the need to exploit children to sell their products.

Holli

[BeachBum]

"She also discusses Groovy Girls and American Girls, too."

What does she have to say about these dolls? I would love a quick summary if you have a minute.

[jeniferrlynne]

I just emailed them and I don't have a girl. I too believe it is important to let them know. Though they are not THE monster, I think you have to start somewhere if you want to help make a difference rather than think we can't make a change.
Does anyone know Oprah? ;)

[ellies mom]

Sorry, I missed this earlier. Cinderella is very sweet but she is also passive. She is rescued by the fairy godmother and by the mice. She doesn't actually do anything for herself. So it is possible to take away from it the idea that all you have to be is good and sweet and wait to be rescued. Now granted, as I mentioned, I know that part of this is me projecting my grown-up thoughts back on the movie. As a kid, I thought the mice wearing clothes, singing and sewing was just cool. So I don't know that I really internalized much of anything else. We haven't watched too many of the Disney movies so I don't remember much of most of them. Snow White and Sleeping Beauty would both be examples of Princesses-in-Need-of-Rescue. Belle from Beauty and the Beast seems to have more spirit. And I haven't seen Mulan but she seems to be a strong character from the back of the DVD case.

If you've got a few minutes in a bookstore. Check out the Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch and our personal favorite, The Princess Knight by Corniella Funke. There are a few others. Now those are "princesses not in need of rescue".

[chlobo]

I picked up a book at the Library that was too funny. It was called Princess Smartypants. It was about a princess whose parents want to marry her off. Only she has magical powers. So all the princes have to do these "reality show" type challenges and fail. Then comes Prince Swashbuckle. He easily does *all* the tasks the others fail at. Facing a bleak future the Princess turns him into a toad. Then goes on and lives a happy life. I love it.

: ) Carren

[luvsviola]

I had an American Girl Molly doll as a child and really like the historical context that their dolls (except the look-alike doll) have. It used to be about the history more than it is now, which is sad, but mass-marketing sells. I had lots of the books and we read them together, and talked about their stories. We had the cookbook and made the food, and did some of the crafts.

When people gave me Barbies as a kid, they would "disappear" and we couldn't find them at night after a few days. Mom never mentioned it to the people giving me the dolls. If I asked, she told me she didn't know where they were. She just put them away a few days after my b-day or other holiday. I never really noticed at the time.

My daughter will have some baby dolls. And until she's old enough for American Girl, that's all I want her to have. I am not opposed to the princesses...I think they are cute in moderation. But I don't see a need for such commercialization to young kids. It sends the wrong message to me.

[luv_my_girl]

I read that New Yorker article and it was very interesting, mostly focusing on Bratz and Barbie. AG and Groovy Girls were mentioned only in passing, but they got a thumbs up as being more wholesome alternatives.

ITA, Bratz are gross! I never used to like Barbie, but Bratz are far worse.

[shishamo]

Hi,

The article was mostly focused on how Bratz and Barbie, and how they succeed despite moms in general do not like them. Groovy Girls are not as popular as these two-but since it's an acceptable alternative for both parties (mom and child), still wearing cute outfits but it's a GIRL not an adult, it has its place. AG is a totally different game, mostly appealing to the upper-middle class, according to the author.

I(we) do not own any barbie dolls and bratz dolls, and I hope we can stay that way. However, as my child gets older, it is getting increasingly complicated. We do not let the kids watch TV other than selected videos, and that helps a lot. We've been doing no-gifts please birthday parties. But once schools starts and she starts having her own social circle and having playdates, it gets harder. And honestly, at the end, it's her toys: if she doesn't play with it, then really, who is it for? I would probably draw a line at Bratz dolls but if she really really wants a Barbie, then I might just go ahead and buy her one. To me, it's all about compromises.

[funda62]

>What about when she is given one at her birthday party?
>
>I'm just saying that it's much easier to say how you will
>handle things before you are faced with a child who wants
>them.

Well, I say "Thank you so much" and as soon as the guests leave I throw it in the trash. I wouldn't even donate these things.

[funda62]

>What about when she is given one at her birthday party?
>
>I'm just saying that it's much easier to say how you will
>handle things before you are faced with a child who wants
>them.

Well, I say "Thank you so much" and as soon as the guests leave I throw it in the trash. I wouldn't even donate these things.

[amp]

>>What about when she is given one at her birthday party?
>>
>>I'm just saying that it's much easier to say how you will
>>handle things before you are faced with a child who wants
>>them.
>
>Well, I say "Thank you so much" and as soon as the guests
>leave I throw it in the trash. I wouldn't even donate these
>things.


Assuming your child hasn't already torn it open.

[sdbc]

I don't get it? What's wrong with a sushi bar? They serve raw fish, tea and edamame. It's not the type of bar that serves mixed drinks, etc. Are you sure you are talking about the item in this photo?

I do agree with your post about not buying Bratz dolls, though.


Sue, mommy to Aurora (Rory) born 5/13/04

[sdbc]

DH just made the observation that the My Scene Barbies are out-competing the Bratz in the sluttiness department. We're OK with regular barbies if DD wants them later on, though.

Usually we shop at an independent toy store (or Learning Expresss) that doesn't carry either of these. We were in TRU this weekend looking for something that our toy store was out of, and we saw the My Scene Barbies--just a notch trashier than Bratz...

Sue, mommy to Aurora (Rory) born 5/13/04

[katydid1971]

I have only seen clips on The Soup but The Bratz has a TV show that talks about how important it is to look cute for your boy friend and other values that I think are bring down the American culture. I use to teach first grade in a low income school. All the little girls in my class had bratz but the dolls dressed very much like there 23 year old mothers (6 year old children, you do the math.) The mothers had no problem with the Bratz and infact I heard a conversation between two at a field trip about how cute a certain bratz doll was. There are parents out there that let their first grade children watch r rated movies. Unfortunately I know most of the people on this board aren't the ones who buy these things. The ones who do do it because its easier to give in and buy the doll than to have a conversation with their child about why these aren't good dolls. As a friend of mine recently said, "I miss Barbie, at least she had a real job." Don't worry there are great furtures for the girls who get these dolls for christmas in a Girls Gone Wild video in about 13 years.

[KentuckyRK]

It's not so much that anything's wrong with the sushi bar itself... I just don't get it at all though... I didn't even know what sushi was when I was the age to play with Barbies. What I saw at the Big Lots was what was called a "Sushi Bar" it wasn't exactly the same as in the photo, but similar. It had the big mixers with the bartender and what looked to me like alcohol (martini style glasses with a little olive in there) and other colorful drinks

Now maybe it wasn't "supposed" to be mixed drinks, but that's what it looked like to me. And the kid looking at it beside me (who granted was a little older, about 12 or 13) even told her mom "Look mom, it's a brats bar!"
There just aren't too many pre teens who've heard of sushi bars... most of them however have heard of bars. I just don't think we should be encouraging any of it for our kids.