Rants & Rambles
Dolls Gone Wild: Are Bratz Too Provocative?
Growing up an only child, there was no shortage of Barbie dolls in my house. I used to spend hours wading through a Rubbermaid bin of clothes and accessories to get Barbie ready for work, parties, safaris, and camping trips with all her friends. When I grew tired of Barbie, I had a brief affair with Jem and the Holograms (who were, in fact, truly, truly, truly outrageous).
So, maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but after previewing the newly-released line of Bratz dolls, I’m a bit horrified. The bobble-headed, big-footed, mini-skirt-clad Bratz team has recently expanded to include the “Wild Life,” (shown here) “Cowgirlz” and “Dance Crewz” lines. As Barbie gets closer to life as a Golden Girl, these Pussycat Doll wannabes are poised to swoop in as the next generation of plastic fashionistas. And I, for one, am terrified.
Where Barbie was all class in her ball gowns and power suits, the Bratz girls are a little too revealing in curve-hugging denim jumpsuits and way too much animal print. And while Barbie has notoriously been criticized for her unrealistic proportions, the Bratz take it to the extreme. What’s the deal with the tiny bodies, giant feet, and super-collagen-enhanced lips, anyway? Not to mention the To Wong Foo-inspired makeup. Yikes.
In an era where little girls are bombarded with sexualized images of women everywhere they go, could Bratz be sending the wrong message? And really, does anyone want to buy a doll named after the very thing you pray your kids won’t turn out to be?
Am I just out of touch with current toy trends? Or are these dolls seriously offensive? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
—Alicia, CF’s web intern
Tags: Hot or Not?, Open Question, Toys
Ugh!! I thought these were put to an end!! I too was a huge fan of Barbie and Jem, and now with a little girl, I am even more terrified of Bratz. Yes, Barbie was unrealistic but at least she had a normal face, healthier curves (sorry, when did boobs become passe?), and did things besides dress like a day-shift hooker and party. Wild Life? Dance Crewz? What?! Where are the doctors, the teachers, or the astronaut Bratz? Oh, that’s right. It’s tough to get a job when you wear a micro-mini and drag queen makeup to the job interview.
As an aside: kids can’t spell as is, do we need to mispell toy names too?
The thing about Barbie was that even if you chopped all her hair off and dressed her in slutty clothes in the privacy of your own home, she came out of the box classy. And Jem dolls had a built in fantasy-world with awesome rock star clothes that could only have been pulled off in the 80’s and 90’s. But still. Jerrica (!) was a business owner, as well as a rock star.
My concern about Bratz is that appearance is front and centre, and there is little else. Lots of kids like to play dress-up with dolls, and they are going to want a pretty doll. Whatever. But what does it tell our kids when the only play options presented are back-up dancer and club-hopper?
Excellent topic…This all stems down to what we as parents and we as a society are teaching our kids. This is unexceptable! Things will go back, they’ll go way back!
I agree, I was appalled to find out that a child I had known since she was born has begun to wear full face makeup at the tender age of 11. This is a young girl who was described as a tom boy. Where is the innocence of childhood? It pains me to know that in this genertion of youngsters they lose it far too early and once it is gone they will never have that simple joy again. Barbie is overly modest compared to these dolls and SERIOUSLY what is with their heads?
Thank goodness there IS an alternative! Thinking parents are turning to a line of dolls called the Maplelea Girls–18 inch vinyl play dolls that represent 10 to 11 year old girls. They wear cute, age-appropriate clothes, like your daughter wears. And, they engage in healthy, fun, age-appropriate activities, such as soccer, figure skating, dance, crafts, volunteering, hiking, playing hockey, taking care of pets, making friends, writing in their journals, etc. They make great role models and as a bonus, they are Canadian-themed so the story lines enable girls to learn about Canada’s geography and heritage in a fun way. http://www.maplelea.com
I’m hoping to keep Barbie from our house and Bratz are definitely unwelcome. I think that I could make my piece with Barbie, since I understand that kids imagine what they’ll be like as adults (and Barbie is an adult) but we’ll have to discuss role models if Bratz come up and why they can’t come to our house.
I can’t believe how cheap those dolls look. I was also listening to the radio a couple of weeks ago and I heard they are also having “Dora The Explorer” grow up. That is absolutely ridiculous. Girls do not need any more sexualized idols to look up to. Everywhere the look there is sexual imagery. What they need are positive role models who teach them to honour themselves and their bodies.
[...] been a pretty awesome April Fool’s Day here at the office (aka in my living room). I ranted about Bratz, pitched some ideas, got a few new CDs to review AND did a happy dance when my U2 tickets came in [...]
Hey Alicia,
I would say you have hit the nail on the head, these dolls are sending the wrong message to our little girls and taking away their childhood….
[...] Dolls Gone Wild: Are Bratz Too Provocative? | Family Jewels … [...]
I love their outfits. But I’m also 21 and a club hopping, impressionable materialistic video hoe. (Not rally but you get the point.) Bratz fashions seems to be modeled after the fashion trends of girls MUCH older then their target demographic of tweens.
I use to play with barbie dolls all the time when I was a little girl. And when I did barbie never dressed slutty. And now I just think that bratz dolls are a bad influence on young girls and I think that they should be vanished! This could be a link conection to way there are so many young girls, starting at 10 years old, having sex and getting pregnant. And I think that the society needs to change and put an end to all this.
I understand your complaints but not all Bratz dolls clothes are ’slutty’ and ‘trashy’. For pretty much every short or revealing piece of clothing there is a covered up sensible bit of clothing e.g. http://collectdolls.about.com/od/bratzdolls/ss/bratzdollsphoto_2.htm. The newest bratz around are the Bratz Kidz who have totally appropriate clothing that nobody could complain about e.g. http://collectdolls.about.com/od/bratzdolls/ss/holidaybratz06_3.htm. I am thirteen and I love Bratz but I would never take after them in their clothing styles. I think it’s pretty much all down to the parent and how they dress, teach and influence their child. In the tv show and the movies the Bratz portray a good role model for children by making new friends, accepting people, doing schoolwork and classwork and standing up for what they think is right.
They are suuuuuuuuuuuper!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D
I am a boy and i think parents judge the bratz by the way they dress and the way they luk i think that they are preety but get sum times innapropriate but itz the way u teach your kidz n my sisters are 10 and 12 and they play with bratz and there not pregnant or slutty and they love them my mom n my whole family like them cuz they show you to be yourself and dnt let any tell you your not beautiful who gives a fuck about how big there heads are. whens the last time we seen a black barbie on a barbie commercial and dnt get me wrong i luv white people and every time a barbie comes out there is always a white barbie no mexican black japanese fuck barbies they are old and they scare me n ma fwendz are scared of them cause they stare at u and their glow in da dark and the sayin goer dnt judge a book by itz cover and i bet dat none of u parents seen any of their movies