Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Note: This is another
entry for my line of posts about the difficulties of raising little girls. For
more, click here and here.
Little girls have a lot working against them when it comes
to developing self-esteem and a healthy body image. Unfortunately there are a
lot of toys out there that do not encourage girls to love their bodies the way
they are, and perpetuate a type of beauty and body shape that is both
unrealistic and unattainable. Many of the most popular ones also don’t
represent the many different ethnicities and differences between faces and bodies
from woman to woman and girl to girl around the globe.
In this post, I would like to focus on two lines of dolls
for little girls that have swept the country - Bratz and Monster High. They are
two of the most popular toys for little girls, almost surpassing Barbie, who currently
still holds the record as the best-selling doll, if just barely.
I should preface this (as I do with all my posts) by saying
that I don’t have a problem with dolls in general. Honestly, I don’t. And I am
definitely not claiming that I will never buy my daughter these if she
expressed sincere interest in owning them later on. This post was written
simply to point out and acknowledge a common issue we have with dolls that
promote the idea that beauty is of paramount importance in life. What is especially
troubling are those that have TV shows and movies centered around the dolls,
that bring them to life and propel the characters into a kind of role model for
little girls who watch.
I’ll start with some of the reasons I hate Bratz dolls. They
seemed to pioneer the idea of representing the “modern girl”, who in the start
of the 21st century didn’t relate as well to Barbie as previous
generations. What supposedly makes these dolls different are their oversized
heads and diva-like makeup, outfits and interests that are supposed to reflect
what young girls these days are into.
My problem with Bratz dolls starts with their faces. They
all have the same heart-shaped faces, no difference in any of the dolls,
regardless of what ethnicity they are supposed to reflect.
They all have huge, upward slanting, heavily lidded eyes
with a ton of makeup on. One other thing I noticed is that they all have bedroom
eyes; a “come hither” look that suggests they are trying to seduce someone.
Next, notice their tiny noses. People have tiny noses, but
compared to the rest of their face, the thing is almost nonexistent. Our
culture finds large noses rather unappealing; many strive to make it look as
small as possible, whether with makeup tricks or plastic surgery, so it is not
surprising that dolls reflect this beauty ideal, but their noses are so small
you can barely even see them.
Then we have the lips. If it were a typical woman, she very
likely would need to have her lips artificially plumped to be that exact size
and shape.
One selling point for Bratz is their multi-ethnicity
options, but I noticed little to no difference in the facial features of
different Bratz dolls aside from their skin tones. The same shaped eyes, tiny
nose and huge, collagen-infused lips. What about other cultures who have
features that are more/less pronounced than the women these Bratz dolls reflect?
They are selling a very limited idea of beauty here that almost no woman can
achieve. Except for the real-life Barbie. Heard of her? Ukranian model Valeria Lukyanova. Here’s a picture:
And here is a great quote from her in GQ on interracial
marriages being the cause of people’s obsession with plastic surgery, (which by
the way, she’s undergone to get the Barbie look):
‘Ethnicities are mixing
now, so there’s degeneration, and it didn’t used to be like that. Remember how
many beautiful women there were in the 1950s and 1960s, without any surgery?
And now, thanks to degeneration, we have this. A Russian marries an Armenian, they
have a kid, a cute girl, but she has her dad’s nose. She goes and files it down
a little, and it’s all good.’
WTF, Barbie? What is this saying to little girls who have noses that aren’t the size of a fingernail? Perhaps that they aren’t conventionally attractive, since there are no dolls in the Bratz line who have different sized or shaped facial features. Beauty is one size fits all.
I almost feel like I don’t need to go into the size and
shape of their bodies; they clearly aren’t going for anything realistic with
the ridiculous size of those heads, but notice the miniscule torsos and
outrageously long legs. Not to mention how thin they are to boot.
That being said, Bratz dolls aren’t currently being sold in
stores, as they are being redesigned and released again in 2015. They don’t
seem to be selling as well as the early 00’s, and one of the likely reasons is
the outrageously successful Monster High dolls that were released in 2010.
Since then, they have become a widespread phenomenon. Steve and I were lucky
enough to make a trip to Target without the kids, so we were able to browse the
doll aisle and check these things out for real.
Here’s a picture:
And another:
They’re different because they’re...not human? The Monster High brand’s official tagline is “Be yourself. Be unique. Be a monster.” Their packages denote which
monster they descend from so you can tell what their makeup or clothing
represents, because you can’t always tell by looking at them. Take this “Daughter
of the Zombies” for example:
I wouldn’t have been able to tell you what monster she descended
from. Her physical ancestry is eclipsed by those giant lace-up boots and three
feet of bumped blue hair. Adorbs.
In addition, there is a werewolf, skeleton, zombie, mummy, daughter
of Frankenstein, Dracula, a Chinese Dragon, a Sea Monster, a Genie and a whole bunch of other
shit that I couldn’t even describe to you. They market the fact that they’re proud of
being different and unique. Each doll has a backstory and a “freaky flaw” that
they are proud of, like Howleen Wolf. Her freaky flaw? “My hair. Sometimes it
does what I want, sometimes it does what it wants and sometimes it does things
that make both of us look bad.” Some others include lack of tact, accidentally setting
things on fire, being a perfectionist, claustrophobia, social anxiety, clumsiness,
and more.
I’m pretty creeped out by these dolls, I’m not going to lie.
That being said, I will admit that in my initial research, I found their
attempts at differentiating their personalities from that of other dolls was
encouraging. It certainly offers girls a lot of choices of what kind of
drop-dead gorgeous daughter of whatever monster they want to be. Unfortunately,
despite their unique backstories and attempts at differentiating themselves
from Bratz and Barbies, they still have many of the same issues I listed above.
First, while they may have different skin tones (Some are
blue and green!), they all still have similar facial structures and layouts of
their features. Like Bratz dolls, they all have oversized bedroom eyes with a
lot of makeup, small noses and big, pouty lips. I don’t have to tell you how
uncommon it is to find someone who looks like that outside of Hollywood. Their
differences only extend to what is still considered conventionally attractive
in our country’s culture.
Next, they are FRIGHTENINGLY skinny. No pun intended. Or
maybe? They are all eating disorder-thin. One may argue that being monsters,
their bodies should more closely resemble a corpse, but not all “monsters” are
skin and bone corpses. For example, a Chinese dragon? You’re telling me the
daughter of a Chinese dragon looks like she hasn’t eaten since she was nine?
The daughter of a GARGOYLE? I’m not buying it. Regardless of what sort of
monster they come from, these dolls still have little girls who idolize them,
and being that thin is not a message we should be sending about what’s
attractive and acceptable for high school girls.
Again I will mention the ridiculously long legs and
disproportionate torso on all of them. Despite which monster they represent,
they all have this same shape. This is likely because our country values skinny
women more than any other body type, and also because playing with the actual
body type of a human-Chinese dragon offspring would be fucking scary. Yes. Both
of those things.
Actually, no, I just Googled what a human-dragon hybrid would look like, and it's pretty awesome. But it doesn't have long beautiful blue hair and intellectual-looking glasses. So it probably wouldn't work in the Monster High line.
I also want to talk about the clothes they wear. As a raging
feminist, I will fight for the right for women to wear whatever the hell they
want, wherever they want without being persecuted. That being said, a lot of these
are clothes that would never be allowed on a middle or high school campus. Take
this for example:
Or this:
The clothing is revealing, and honestly, the jury is still
out on how I feel about revealing clothing for adolescents and teens. Because
you know, clothing like this is distracting, and boys/men just can’t help
themselves when we dress this way. We are telling little girls
that this sort of clothing is what is stylish and attractive, that they should
be proud to be unique and wear what they want to wear, and yet at the same time
warning them that if they wear it in public they should expect to be ogled,
groped or worse for tempting men with provocative dress. Let us not forget
these dolls are supposed to be in high school.
Also, let us not forget that no high schooler is playing
with Monster High dolls. I’m going to sound like a broken record when I say
this, but these dolls are hyper-feminine and over-sexualized for the ages they
are supposed to represent and for the ages they are marketed to. I know someone
who let their four year-old dress up as one of these characters for Halloween, and
if they commercialize and mass produce Monster High costumes in that small of a
size, it’s not an isolated incident, so I will never buy this BS that the
acceptable age for these dolls is 8 and up. It’s not realistic and it’s pretty
insulting.
Lastly, I would just like to point out that while I would
love to get on board with the “celebrate diversity” idea Monster High is trying
to pitch, being obsessed with shopping, boys, hair and clothes is still a main
theme underlying all these “unique” monsters, which makes them no better than
Barbie or Bratz. As long as you’re feminine, gorgeous and into boys and
clothes, it’s okay to be different! Yay!
Do you know any woman in your life that doesn’t fit all of
these characteristics? Well, you won’t find her here. Monster High is just more
of the same. Rich, beautiful, [mostly] white girls with diva-like clothing and
makeup – that’s what all the little girls in our society get to relate to and
admire. And that’s sad. I'm sad now.
Dolls are just dolls.People are people. you KNOW? 1 if you watch real bratz on the bratz Chanel you know what bratz means. 2 be yourself be Unique what is bad About to be yourself. And watch you saying Big Lips. Thats racism
ReplyDeleteI agree u act like a child....
ReplyDeleteWait kids don't act like u...
Dolls are made to be played with.
If the don't look fun what kid would play with them.
Worry about more important stuff that DOLLS.........
I have brazts,monster high dolls,Barbie,liv dolls,moxie dolls,LaDeDa dolls,Baby dolls,mlp dolls,celebrity dolls, and all the other ones.
Of course the won't look like a real person...
Look at Barbie big boobs, giant but.
I'm a kid but I still play with them.
If you're to dumb to not tell your kids there just toy and nobody looks like a doll than you're a bad parent and should be in jail.
And that ugly chick looks nothing like a Barbie.. she looks like thrash. Barbie doesn't have belly piercing and Barbie would weigh way more than that chick..
U r a stupid little good for nothing rotten apple.
What u said makes no sense.
Write about world peace or how black kids get killed just because their black and I bet you're a red neck
Thank you and Good day
And sorry for my spelling I had to get that out there.
DeleteUr kids will grow up to be hookers,sults and for what all because of u yes u
Because u won't let them play with a stinking doll
Lamo loser white red neck u should be in JAIL FOR LIFE
Bruh...bruh....bruh. You make no sense. I found myself agreeing a lot with this article. And, its kinda hard to take you seriously when you use words like "sults", " lamo", and "loser". At least have some decenty to respect the English language. Lol
DeleteBruh...bruh....bruh. You make no sense. I found myself agreeing a lot with this article. And, its kinda hard to take you seriously when you use words like "sults", " lamo", and "loser". At least have some decenty to respect the English language. Lol
DeleteSo I am disturbed by these dolls and almost all dolls for little girls. My daughter is only two but I'm already worried about bad influences that she will encounter. I am already combating sexism in her little life. Parents need to be aware that toys influence their kids and educate their children. I'm not judging other parents, but I wish I could find realistic role model dolls. Anyway, completely agree with you. Nice to see other women who think like me
ReplyDeleteI'm the person who wrote a comment on September 30
DeleteTwo words YOU DUMB
Now lets be real what dolls did u play with when u were my age many years ago lol
Barbie look at Barbie.
I just got a my life as doll from Wal-Mart I think that's a good doll for ur little child who wontm't care what kinda doll she has good day
I guess you might like to see what somebody did with those dolls.
DeleteI hope you can get as happy as I did when i saw this! :)
http://treechangedolls.tumblr.com/
So "person who commented on September 30" everything you have said was rude and rascist. This person cares about what their kids play with. Why get all worked up over it.
DeleteHello I am ten years old and am a big fan of bratz see the cartoon show and the movies the plot is awesome mostly I never much bothered what their wearing the plot was interesting personally if your daughter ask for a bratz doll do what my parents did they bought me fully clothed bratz dolls one with pants and appropriate ones thank you.
ReplyDeleteGreat someone like me
DeleteHello, I am a young adult monster high doll collector. I agree that the monster high doll series is really stupid.....fashion and guys.....running around in 6 inch heels is unrealistic. But I only enjoy the dolls......they are better than Bratz and Barbie (in my opinion)
ReplyDeleteAnd as a little girl, my mom did not call me a princess or buy me pink things. I had a choice . I was a tomboy all my life. I did not care about body image until middle school and dolls did not inspire me to want to be pretty. It was all the slim girls at school. Going through puberty made me bigger than all the other girls. But I learned to love my self.
I never was attached on dolls as role models, although I do know girls that do.
But I only see dolls as fantasy and something to put on a shelf and look at.....not to be like them.
Monster high dolls are too thin but whatever......their fashion looks interesting.
And its kinda stupid that you were targeting only the dragon mh girl. She was one of the best dolls created in mh series so far.
Me again
ReplyDeleteShe is not a dragon she is a gorgyle sorry if I didn't spell it right.
U know those stone things like in the wizard of oz
Not a dragon.
Monster high is not boy crazy all girls like boys.
Good day
Feel free to say something I check back every Monday
Not all girls like boys. Some girls like girls. Some girls don't like girls or boys. Don't generalize all people. But not all of the Monster High characters are boy crazy- Clawdeen told Draculaura she didn't want a boyfriend when Draculaura tried to set her up with someone. And plenty of characters have no boyfriend, and there's nothing wrong with that.
DeleteThank you everyone for your comments, I have really enjoyed reading them! I appreciate you checking out my blog. :)
ReplyDeleteDear Amanda,
ReplyDeleteI think you and other women who worry about this kind of disturbing image these dolls have might enjoy this:
http://treechangedolls.tumblr.com/
The responses from people are just amazing as they can relate to the new images in the dolls.
I got so excited that got a second hand one just to try it! :)
I know I'm a little late on commenting, but I noticed a few things that I had to point out. I'm going to be a junior in high school this upcoming school year, and I have over 80 Monster High dolls. I have struggled with eating disorders for many years, but I have not once used my dolls as Thinspo. I've never looked at them and thought "I wish I was that thin" or "I wish I looked like her." And I've never met a little girl who plays with these dolls and thinks that way. They are all happy, confident little girls. Next, many high schools in my area don't have dress codes, and I see girls on a daily basis at my school who dress in more revealing clothing than any Monster High doll, and it's not because of DOLLS, it's because of the media. And coming from someone who is familiar with every single Monster High character, I believe there is quite a bit of diversity, and not all of them are conventionally attractive in my opinion. Gigi Grant has a "butt chin," and I've never met anyone who has admitted to finding that attractive. Twyla has HUGE eyes and her head is too big for her short little body, and she looks very tired. When I first saw Ghoulia Yelps, I HATED her and thought she was hideous (however, she has grown on me). But think about it- who would buy an ugly doll?? The company isn't going to waste the money to make a doll that no one will buy. And they are all the same or similar sizes so girls can mix and match they're clothing. If they were all different sizes, that would be very difficult. I also find it interesting that you call yourself a "raging feminist," yet say that men can't control themselves around young girls who dress like this. Wow! If that's what it means to be a raging feminist, count me out! They are HUMANS, not ANIMALS or MONSTERS, and they CAN control themselves. Butts, boobs and legs are NOT sexual organs and were NOT made for sex. Men don't have "instincts" to be distracted by boobs or butts, that's ridiculous and very "un-feministic" of you to say. Lastly, there is one movie in the series that comes to mind when I read your second to last paragraph. Clawdeen Wolf is being pushed to get a boyfriend, and one of her friends sets up "interviews" to see who would be best for her. Clawdeen tells her friend that she doesn't need or want a boyfriend. There are plenty of characters who have no significant other. And the reason all of them like fashion and shopping and clothes is because they are FASHION DOLLS. That's what they were created as, of course they all like clothes and shopping.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteA while ago I was very ill and depressed.About a year ago I discovered the Monster High Dolls, I found them very unique and poseable.I took up doll photography learned to make my own clothes for them and I am currently learning to repurpose/repaint them.My photos are G rated and I'm quite proud of them.I don't think of them as human dolls so the whole body image thing has never come into play.I guess Im just trying to say that im grateful for the discovery.It has helped me keep up the good fight. Thanks for reading Rhonda
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry for the trolling you received for this post. I thank you for your well-considered article.
ReplyDeleteI second that. I'm truly appalled by most of these comments. You would have to be a moron to have read your article and interpreted it as "if you buy this doll your child will be horrible". Goodness people! The doll's an example of society's sexualization of children. You just need to look a girl Halloween costumes for sale to know that's true.
DeleteI'm 10 and I like bratz dolls and I was wondering why people don't like them I found this blog.and I don't think that little girls try to look like a bratz doll. I have the 2001 bratz dolls and I think that the are better then the 2015 because the are a bit fatter like there not fat but just more big the the new ones I still like the new ones though. Anyway my mom lets me play with them and she doesn't think that they are inappropriate good day byeeeee
ReplyDeleteTo me i dont find monster high a feminist doll. Hey boys like monsters and girls dont like monsters back then but now since the dolla are made as monsters then we're beating the fact that we can play with toys that boys usually likes. Barbie is a feminist doll cause she kiss ass and goodie two shoes little miss perfect. Bratz isnt feminist because they talk about rebellion and not like the cleaning up goodie goodie type like barbie. But i hate feminists like you have to spoiled what girls have to do. Girls are human beings and they can do what they want.
ReplyDeletewhy you claims to be a feminist in support of women wearing whatever they want, then in the same breath, call their outfits inappropriate and too revealing? credits to alexbabs12345 for the quote hehe
ReplyDeleteI luv bratz and monster high i'm still myself
ReplyDeletewhile I can understand where you are coming from, I think that, at least in the case of monster high dolls (I've never been fond of Bratz mostly because the whole feet popping off to change shoes things always weirded me out). Yes, at first glance, they are really thin (especially the skeleton), but if you actually examine one of the dolls in person, you realize that they actually included something of a belly, hips and thighs in the doll sculpt, which is highly unusual for a line of fashion dolls (for example, Barbie has no curves besides her very large breasts). Also, they are clearly meant to be cartoonish in appearance, with their larger heads and exaggerated proportions. I can't help but feel that a thin but clearly unrealistic doll is better than a subtly unrealistic (but equally physically impossible) doll, such as, well, Barbie. As for the faces, I didn't learn this until after I had worked on repainting a few, but each doll has a unique facial mold. While from a promotional picture or a glance in the toy isle you might not notice, if you compare the actual dolls side by side you notice that their face shapes are different, some have larger noses, some have cleft chins, some have dimples or high cheekbones or smaller lips.
ReplyDeleteWhile I can understand where you are coming from, I think that, at least in the case of monster high dolls (I've never been fond of Bratz mostly because the whole feet popping off to change shoes things always weirded me out). Yes, at first glance, they are really thin (especially the skeleton), but if you actually examine one of the dolls in person, you realize that they actually included something of a belly, hips and thighs in the doll sculpt, which is highly unusual for a line of fashion dolls (for example, Barbie has no curves besides her very large breasts). Also, they are clearly meant to be cartoonish in appearance, with their larger heads and exaggerated proportions. Furthermore, i can't help but feel that a thin but clearly unrealistic doll is better than a subtly unrealistic (but equally physically impossible) doll, such as, well, Barbie. As for the faces, I didn't learn this until after I had worked on repainting a few, but each doll has a unique facial mold. While from a promotional picture or a glance in the toy isle you might not notice, if you compare the actual dolls side by side you notice that their face shapes are different, some have larger noses, some have cleft chins, some have dimples or high cheekbones or smaller lips.
ReplyDeleteYou also raised an issue with their clothing, but I think it's worth noting that not all of the dolls actually wear revealing clothing. At least one of the images you referenced comes directly from their Ballet class line. So, yes. Those clothes would not be appropriate for school. A leotard would, however, be fine for ballet class. Also, one reason the skirts/shorts are often short on the dolls is that a number of them actually have tails or fins or vines sticking out at odd places which makes fitting into longer pants difficult. That being said, many DO wear pants and leggings. There is a sport line that features an adorable tennis dress for their ghost that is about what you would expect from a monster themed tennis outfit. The package also refers to the character as being a dominant player, which is kind of a great phrase to see used on a toy for little girls. There is also a baseball playing werewolf in pants that do, in fact cover the knee.
As for the freaky flaws... I'm personally tired of people complaining about Clawdeen's shaving. I have always been hairy. I had a lot of dark hair everywhere. I got teased in grade school and middle school and high school. And yes. I started shaving around the 6th grade. And then got teased for shaving so young. All of my fair haired friends did not have this problem. Even as adults they can go days without shaving and no one will notice. I can't. I have to shave every day, preferably twice if I really want to not look like, well, a werewolf. And it's really nice to see a doll that acknowledges that such things can be a problem. If you don't have a body covered in fast growing dark hair that you get teased for mercilessly, that's fine, but please don't complain when a company lists that as a character's freaky flaw. It's not for you. And it makes the people who do have that problem feel better. Like we aren't alone. And she's not the only one with a freaky flaw that kids can identify with. Ghoulia, for example, has a speech impediment yet is described as being the top student and also pretty, rather than be stereotyped as an idiot due to the speech problem or be weird and plain due to her intelligence. Those are kind of great things to include in a doll line.
ReplyDeleteAnd lastly, read through all of the monsters listed sometime. It's really interesting. Yes, you see characters you expect, Frankenstein's monster (in the shows very clearly not Frankenstein) vampires, werewolves, zombies.... But then you have ones like the golden hind. When was the last time you thought about the stories of the golden hind? The character bios are filled with literary references and, at least to me, anything that encourages kids to read is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I'm very sorry for the trolling you reviewed and the hostile and incoherent responses you received. While I disagree with your opinion for the reasons stated above, it is, in fact, your opinion.
And on a different note: this spring Mattel is supposed to be releasing a line of superhero high dolls. These are based off of DC female heroes and villains and designed with young girls in mind. The promotional images show modest versions of their adult comic book costumes, full articulation and, most importantly, body sculpts based off of young female athletes, so the proportions are much more realistic and healthy.
Some men are gay hun so you don't need to blame ALL men for looking at a woman in a skimpy outfit... also ever heard of a lesbian ? smh
ReplyDeleteAs a person who use to work at a Toys R Us (especially during Christmas season), I would have to agree about the misunderstanding of the way the Monster High dolls looked. I didn't understand it and personally, I thought they were strange and odd looking BUT I did look further into them and they aren't that bad. If you go by the overall message, both BRATZ and Monster High dolls tell girls to be themselves in their own unique way and embrace your flaws or "Freaky Flaws". If you go by their design, it is unrealistic but you are forgetting that they are toys. You don't see little boys feeling insecure over Thor and Iron Man's six pack or the unrealistic Martial Arts of the Power Rangers. You teach your child how to view themselves. But at the end of the day, they are just toys. Toys that are going to be played with til they're out grown or broken. Kids are smarter than you think and it is going to take more than a doll to alter the way a child views him or herself.
ReplyDelete