May 30, 2008
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The Slutty Bratz Doll and Unrealistic Barbie
I posted yesterday about Bratz and Barbie dolls.
I received a bunch of comments referring to the Bratz dolls as “slutty” or “hookers.” It is funny to me that growing up that the Barbie doll was considered bad for the self-image of girls. But yesterday in the comments people preferred Barbie because they grew up with her. (This is your first sign you are getting old when you like something of your generation and hate something from the next generation).
Now these dolls have makeup and more of an edge to them and everyone wants to call them slutty.
I guess the only thing I can relate it to is guns for boys. I was not allowed to have a fake gun. Yet I heard a parent say one time that if a boy doesn’t have a gun, he just makes one out of his finger or a stick and starts shooting. I am not sure that fake guns would have impacted me one way or the other.
Now most of you are at the age where you can look back and see what impact Barbie had on you.
Do you think these dolls are having a really great influence on what a girl wants to become in life?
Comments (154)
i think it contributes, much like the media, to the idea that women have to look a certain way to be considered beautiful. its a shame really.
Barbies had zero influence on what I wanted to become. They had cool clothes and were fun to play with. I prefer them over Bratz because I have trunks full of Barbie clothes to pass down to future generations.
no – they were played with using our own imaginations – so how can they impact on our lives? anyway – barbie dolls were boring – it was almost frustrating brushing her hair so it would be perfect – but then with the number of strokes it would frizz upwards and i would sit there brushing and brushing….
I never could get into Barbie… I hated “pretending” they had a life when I could be out rollerskating, jumping rope, or reading a book where I could be the lead charector…
Back in the day, she inspired me to follow every dream I had – considering she was like everything in the world, she did all kinds of different jobs and was successful. And somehow, that has still followed me to where I am now, which is following my dreams and even making some come true!
No way man. My sister and I would end up giving them horrible makeovers by chopping off most of their hair. Then when we’d get angry with each other, we’d rip an arm or leg off of a Barbie that belonged to each other.
I mean gee, Dan, they’re just dolls….
Bratz..on the other hand…are slutty icons for young girls….
i think it somewhat contributes- most of my class looks like them and I wear enough makeup to be like them to even if it is unintentional- as far as Barbie goes- Barbie throughout her career played many rolls as a mom, sister, cousin, doctor, dog sitter but she had big boobs, was skinny and had a big butt..i kind of feel like matell felt girls were idolizing her and made Bratz because 1) she’s getting too old 2) not every girl can have big boobs and a big butt like barbie – Bratz dont really encourage girls to achieve for higher stands like Doctor Barbie but push towards vanity so I guess but suck in their own way
It might explain the desire many women have for breast implants!
To be truthful, I hated Barbies. I hate them now. They are just too “perfect” whatever that word means. Barbies just add to the media’s version of a what a girl should be like.
Growing up with Barbie had no influence on how I wanted to look so much that it hurt my health. I will admit that I wished I could look that way, but it did not make me take drastic measures to make the wish come true like so many other girls did, sadly. But I do think that the Bratz dolls are influencing girls more so than Barbie has/will, and it’s very disappointing.
Barbie was a good influence on me. In a sence, Barbie was successful, and pretty. If I had been born 3 or 4 years later, I would have grown up with Bratz dolls, and htat would have been bad. I would have wanted to dress likethem, look like them, act like the people who looked like them. Bratz send out a bad image to young girls. Let’s stick with Barbie and throw Bratz in the trash
No….my daughter is 11 and gave up her Barbies years ago. I wouldn’t allow her to have Bratz – they ARE slutty. Her friend got one as a birthday gift and it was wearing a thong!
I will never let Kayla have a Bratz doll. Not not, not ever.
This is an interesting discussion. I guess everyone’s seen what Barbie’s measurements would be if she were real, the fact that she probably wouldn’t be able to walk well and that she wouldn’t menstruate because of her low body fat. I think I heard that she’s gotten a breast reduction in recent years.
I don’t know much about Bratz (my daughters are pretty much beyond the doll stage), but they don’t seem to have much redeeming value. Like sexydevilgirl said ^^^^ at least Barbie did positive things with her “life”. Bratz just seems to encourage materialism.
I’m not defending Barbie though. They were verboten in our house at one point, and although my girls ended up with 7,000 of them, I never really liked them much.
I honestly gave up girl toys when I was 8 b/c they didn’t do anything. My brother’s toys, and the science and art type toys my parents replaced them with when they realized I didn’t like dolls, were so much more fun. I gave my (remaining) barbies to the dog after I cut off all their hair and blew several of them up with fire crackers.
But at least Barbie had a car and had jobs. I remember there being a Dr. Barbie and stuff like that. I don’t know if it was Barbie’s influence or what, but as a child, I was firmly convinced that girls were smarter than boys and that girls could do whatever they wanted when they grew up. In 3rd grade I regularly told my teachers I wanted to be an electrical engineer or a computer technician. I’m a chemical engineer now, which I guess is pretty close.
I’d say Barbie was part of a universe of influences… I was a child in the feminist 80s when I was taught that a woman, even Barbie, could be anything, like a businessperson, a doctor, etc. Those were the kinds of Barbies I had. Although honestly, they often wound up naked.
Even so, ultimately Barbie was a toy that reflected more what I was interested in and what was going on in my own mind (both dark and benign) than me being influenced by the toy.
Frankly, I don’t see what’s so terrible about Bratz. They’re just dolls with a different style and emphasis than Barbie. They seem a bit more “girl like” and playful than Barbie because they seem modeled on younger adults and teens while Barbie is really a full grown woman. I don’t think they are really that slutty, I think they reflect the emphasis of society on teens and young adults over older adults.
Bratz are designed to be more on the kids level while Barbie are more on the level of aspiration, but kids will make of them what they will. Kids project their own image onto their dolls. Barbie and Bratz don’t warp kids minds. Kids are a bit more creative and imaginative than most of us give them credit for.
Barbie may not have been the best influence when it comes to body image, but she was miss independent, and a total career woman! She did everything and she took care of herself, and I think that was a good thing. Bratz dolls don’t represent grown women conquering the world, they represent 18-25 year old girls who go clubbing every night and spend their days buying makeup and fighting over boys.
I think society has a great influence on what they want to become. And I think that society aproves of these dolls.
I don’t think writing a law would change societies approval of them.
I think that by focusing on the dolls themselves, opponents are fighting the wrong battle.
I don’t think that it’s so much about who they want to become but who they are in that moment. Barbie had dreams and ambitions and we saw her do everything, she was a doctor, a vet, an astronaut, fashionista but she did things that made you think hey she did it why can’t I. She had it all the car the man the big house, I never really thought about her looks.
Bratz on the other hand are just about the clothes, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Bratz Doctor or vet. They’re about style and I think that may perpetuate an image that we don’t want little girls to have. To me the dolls just seem to have attitude.
bring up the American Girl dolls and bam! everyone would think they’re better than bratz and barbie. except they steal the most money of the 3 -_-
No.
But i still think they go a little to far. =/
No, I don’t think so. As far as I know, playing with Barbie didn’t impact who I’ve become. I agree with much of what is being said here… Barbie is generally a woman with a career or hobby. Bratz is more fashion-minded. I guess it all comes down to the parent’s preference.
Not really. I loved my Barbies, they were fun to play with, but they didn’t have any real lasting impact on me. I credit mainstream media with damaging girls’ perception of reality and confidence a lot more than dolls. I don’t think we’ll have legions of girls from the Bratz generation working the poles because of them.
Hah, I didn’t have a toy gun until I was like 8. Before that me and my brothers just used sticks shaped like guns. Now I have lots of toy guns.
Do you think these dolls are having a really great influence on what a girl wants to become in life?
Absolutely! All boys who played with G.I. Joes eventually joined the army. Guys who owned Transformers grew up to become Mechanical Engineers. Likewise, girls with My Little Pony lunch pails all grew up to become veterinarians or horse riders.
By this token, girls with Barbies will inevitabally dye their hairs blonde; and Bratz girls will beome promiscuous little creatures.
I think that *MAKERS* of Bratz want to focus on something a little different than what Barbie did. And there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s a lot of influence in our society on the same few professions which are alone considered acceptable and respectable… like doctors n lawyers n so forth. The Bratz Dolls are a rock band or something. What’s wrong with that? Why shouldn’t girls aspire to be singers n like to wear nice clothes. Makeup and girly stuff aren’t sin, ya know? Character is built by the environment a child lives in, not solely by the toys they play with.
And parents are there to keep kids in check anyway. If your daughter comes out of her room in some coochie-cutters and some hooker boots (and she probably is going to try something like that at some point in
her life regardless of what you do because kids wanna try something for themselves sometimes), you send her back upstairs immediately to change and tell her why. That’s your job. And Bratz dolls are not the only place she could’ve gotten that idea. Raising a child to know what’s good for him or her is a chore, but it has to be done. And if it’s done right, the image of a doll versus an entire teachings of an upbringing shouldn’t get in the way of that.
Plus, I agree with squeakysoul^
I used to put my Barbies in my Tonka Dump Trucks and Jeeps and take them 4 wheelin’ and Muddin’. I was never the one to make Barbie play house. I also used sticks as swords and guns and pretend to fight mystical creatures in the woods around my house. As an adult, I still love going 4 wheelin’ and muddin’. As an adult I’m a gun enthusiast and own them. So do Barbies and/or Bratz influence a child to what they want to be in the future? Or does each one of us have a wonderful imagination and a free will?
@SunshineOnARainyDays - I totally agree. One of mine ended up with a green mohawk.
Bratz doll just look slutty. At least Barbie had a career. Barbie had no impact on my life at all and I doubt that Bratz dolls will impact the lives of the girls that play with them. If your daughter is looking to a doll for inspiration beyond the age of 8, face it, something is wrong with her.
let me know if my email made it thru.
i honestly remember having barbie and ken make out all the time.. mahhh
I played with cars & dug in the dirt. I had Barbies, but all I did with them was dressed them up & made clothes for them. Though I think that Barbie’s body image is extremely distorted, I think that in the long run they are the better choice.
They affect girls in positive ways. Barbie has a multitude of jobs available to her, so a girl who has a certain desire to be in a certain career has the choice of getting that Barbie doll with her accessories.
Bratz? Yeah, they got nothin’.
Not necessarily what they want to become, besides spoiled, but how they want to present themselves. Maybe aspiring to that would eventually fade once they made the transition between playing with dolls and playing outside with other kids or electronic toys, but if the parents enable their children to dress inappropriately for their age they are way more likely to become the slutty little things that we don’t want to raise. And people can blame dolls and television and video games all they want, but when it gets right down to it the way kids come out can be attributed to parenting.
i know a little girl who points bottles in your direction and makes gun sounds. … she’s in a daycare class full of boys. peer group ‘trends’ affect children so much more than what parents try.
I thought Barbie had an awesome house and car. Her clothes were nice and I’ve never compared myself to Barbie. Dude, its a doll.
However, I think its inappropriate for a 3 year old to have a Bratz doll that’s dressed with a short skirt, thigh highs and knee high boots.
@huginn - hahaha
I wanted to be a doctor because of my doctor Barbie when I was young enough to play with them. Obviously, you can see that I am not a doctor nor have any aspirations to be one.
My 6 year old neice plays with Bratz and I hate that she does. The clothing they wear, the amount of makeup, and the suggestiveness of the dolls irk me in the same way that Barbies promote unhealthy body images.
the BRATZ style is more “updated” than barbie — i dont think they are slutty..i mean the makeup is a bit much. i know barbie was my thing b|c she could be anything and she was so beautiful, and if the bratz show case that too i dont see the big hurt!
umm… not for me… all my barbies looked like punk rockers… I’d cut their hair and colour it w/ markers…
There’s no problem in owning a Barbie or Bratz doll as long as the girl’s parents remind her that there’s higher goals in life to achieve than having the perfect figure, clothes and makeup.
@Rbynfairy - Did you give them breast reduction?
I think it’s the face, more than anything. Barbie has almost always looked kind of happily blank. But the Bratz dolls, well what does it look like they’re thinking about?
They say the eyes are the window to the soul, and I suspect that that’s why so many people have this gut reaction that the Bratz are slutty. They look like little girl bodies with hooker faces. That’s kind of creepy.
OH yeah it had a great impact on me. Especially culture-wise. I even wrote a poem about it in 6th grade. It went something like this……
I once had Barbies, yellow haired and blue eyes.
I got one for every Christmas and I always despised.
I longed for one that looked like me.
Because she represented what I could be.
My bestfriend was blonde haired and blue eyed.
Her parents bought her many Barbies, all shapes and sizes.
She also had an Asian Barbie and when we played I would be.
When I played with the Asian Barbie, she resembled me.
My hopes and dreams were played out by her.
Every Christmas I continued to receive the blonde-haired Barbies.
Ten of them in total for every year.
Then one day on Christmas Eve, there was a knock on at my door.
On my doorsteps in the snow, wrapped in newspapers, 12 inches in length.
“What is it? Yog dlaabtsi?” I thought to myself.
It was the Asian Barbie and now she was part of me.
Through her I lived my hopes, dreams of love and adventures.
Through this slanted eyed, brown-hair doll I found myself.
I never really thought about her proportions.
@huginn -
I believe the dolls do affect the girls’ lifetstyles. As a kid, girls love dressing up their dolls, playing with them with other kids, giving them dialougues, etc. At a young age, they get exposed to womanhood and aspire to be like the dolls they own. They want the same dress styles, colors, hair getup, etc. It is not the sole factor but I guess it does affect. Heck! I owned about 50+ Barbie Dolls when I was younger and we used to play Ms. Universe pageants (me and my relatives / neighbors). That really influenced us a lot too.
@wherethefishlives - no I was and always have been facinated w/ boobs…
I think those dolls do look slutty but I think we expose kids to worst things these days..
Barbie was and is so much more to a girl (or boy, I know some boys who played with them). Barbie could have different careers, Dr. to teacher, to mommy. And so a child was able try out different “hats” so to speak. I know I had different outfits, barbies and accessories for her different jobs and it was always fun to play different things. Bratz dolls are just dolls. I personally would not refer to them as “slutty” but definitely think that Barbie as a whole had so much going for her. Not to mention Barbie is generational, my grandma had Barbie, my aunt, my mom, etc. So Barbie was cool in that sense too.
YES!
If you play with a mini model of a human, at a young age it does affect you subconsciously. Barbie is career oriented therefore her dress- thought at times provocative was acceptable. Barbie had goals. Barbie had a house. Barbie had careers. What “do” brats do, beside being left over drag queens at a gay parade?
These brat dolls, at first glance, just the name “Brat” has a negative connotation. I don’t association with any “Brats” and dam sure don’t want to be friend one, more or less play with one.
Times have changed, true and so the toys reflect that. I never even knew toys wore thongs these days.
How can that not have a subliminally subconscious suggestion , if not conscious on a young impressionable mind? Children mimic life and that is how they learn.
What values are we teaching our children by allowing them to play with over sexualized toys?
I definitely think Barbies affected me. I am an African American and I rarely played with Barbies friends. I cut my one black dolls hair and never played with it again because I thought it was ugly. I only liked the blonde…
Other than topics relating to self image… I don’t think Barbie changed me muchAs for those life sized babies that cry and wet themselves in the stroller… that’s another idea..-adieu, stace
I don’t know.
I would like to say no, but that would be a poor lie. And I only ever tell good ones.
I think the interesting thing about it is how the dolls (that might or might not be the ideals for the kids) have changed from hour glass shaped to lollipop shaped.
Now, that can’t be good.
Those are incredibly conservative pictures of the Bratz dolls compared to the ones that first came out on the shelves. Barbies could promote eating disorders, if anything, and pre-program a preference for a tall blonde tan handsome man, but Bratz dolls just flat out disgust me.
Cabbage Patch dolls all the way.
@huginn -
Dammit you stole my answer!
Now I can’t talk about how I’ve dedicated myself to the army and fighting COBRA.
Yo joe!
Barbie is aimed at younger audience, where children that young simply see that as dolls, not something to look or be like. Bratz dolls are aimed at pre-teens who are looking for role-models and looking for anything to tell them what to look and act like. These dolls are supposed to be “hip and fashionable,” so the pre-teens who have them are going to base their ideas of what’s hip and fashionable off of them and therefore dress like them. I certainly don’t think that pre-teens should be dressing like these dolls, in their skimpy outfits and trying to be “bad” or “edgy” like the dolls.
No, I don’t. Seriously? Who bases their ideas of themselves on a doll?
@LifeMeansChange - Well said.
@Perfect_HindSight - I’m curious – because the preferred white doll phenomenon has been seen in psychological studies among children before – why do you think that you preferred the blonde dolls? Personally, I had Barbies, and I liked the ones that looked different (black, asian) because the white dolls were boring to me.
@LadyValkyrie37 - Maybe you were already inclined to tomboyish play, which is why you chose those activities as a child, and also why you continue to enjoy them as an adult.
@Fio92 - I actually think American Girl dolls are ugly.
I think Barbie at least had a human face. Bratz dolls are just scary looking, and their proportions are even crazier than Barbie’s.
Barbie didn’t have any effect on what I wanted to do in life, but that’s because I’ve wanted to do the same thing since I was about 3. I think they do have an effect on girls’ self-esteem, though.
Little girls should see dolls with normal, or even no curves depending on the age of the doll, and it wouldn’t be terrible if the doll’s face looked normal.
Realistically it never stops evolving. We were going to hell in a handbasket when my great-grandparents bumped uglies. Not much has changed.
THIZZLE OR DIE!
In all fairness though, I still want to be Wolverine. Though I don’t think I ever had a wolverine action figure…I think I pretended that one of my G.I. Joes was him.
Oh, and in case anyone is interested:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1302/1364989190_46f7d0c4f0.jpg?v=0
Bratz has longer leg-torso ratio, smaller waist-hip ratio, and smaller Waist-Bust ratio than Barbie, all independent of her abnormally large head. Bratz is more hourglass shaped!
I had guns when I was a kid. Lots of them. Real ones, fake ones… I have only killed 15 people in my entire life, but they were all homosexuals who couldn’t decorate. So I’m not a danger to society.
So I can’t see how slutty dolls can make a girl slutty. And even if they did, who cares?
Barbie made me thankful for my bendy feet. It always frustrated me that she couldn’t wear Skipper’s shoes. So, there… that was the biggest impact Barbie had on my life. I think that the combo of Barbie and not having a lot of money helped my imagination grow because I had to figure out how my bookshelf could double as a Barbie dream house.
Barbie seriously did fuck with my self-image.
I’m short and Mexican, and that hunk of plastic was America’s sweetheart.
My darker friends grew up trying to be whiter, lightening their hair, wearing colored contacts. Fuck
Barbie.
Well, I don’t think having a doll that is supposed to be a tween or child wearings GOBS of makeup and a THONG is really appropriate.
By all means, I am far from puritanical and am not raising a sheltered child. However, I do recognize what is appropriate for a child and not appropriate. Like rated R movies.
Just a matter of opinion, and I see your point how Barbies were scandalous back then, but I do think that Bratz are completely inappropriate and trashy.
I also would not buy my 12 year old a thong.
i hated barbie growing up. i was the left out one of the crew, haha. =)
the only barbie i had was one i got my birthday and it stayed in the package. before i cut off all its hair.
I didn’t really play with Barbie dolls too much. I preferred to be out walking my neighbor’s dog or sewing or reading or pulling weeds. What impacted me as far as my self image was concerned were my mom’s negative comments about other women’s bodies. I think some times that the media is blamed way too much for people’s issues. I don’t care what celebrities are wearing, they are not real people to me, not people that I seek to emulate any way.
I hated Barbie growing up…And I’m not too fond of these ho’s either…
What you play with as a child only mildly has an influence on you. I never really played with Barbies I was mostly a tree climber and book reader and got my degree in Art education…I think parents have a much bigger influence than toys do.
@El_Arntzen - I actually prefer Bratz facial features over Barbies. They look plenty human to me. My little sister, who loves Bratz, thinks curves and big lips and big eyes are normal too, maybe because she has big lips, big eyes, and curves right along with everyone else in my family. She’s 12, she is not overweight, and is has not been negatively influenced in any way by these dolls.
The definition of normal tends to change depending on the person…
@lotta_valdez - Fuck Barbie, huh??… hmmm… I like it
lol. I never liked that my Barbies never looked liked me either. I still played with them but they certainly didn’t affect my self image, I knew wasn’t no way I’d look like her so I didn’t really worry about it.
@LifeMeansChange - I know a lot of kids that aren’t affected by Barbies…I guess it really depends on the home environment. My home had really unrealistic expectations for me, so I intern put a lot of pressure on myself.
I really don’t know much about the Bratz Dolls. I grew up with barbie and I knew that she wasnt real. and that people didn’t look like her “in real life” Playing with barbie was just that PLAYING it was about driving the little pink car around and “going out” with Ken and then later taking barbie’s sister Skipper(I think thats right) to the zoo or where ever..
I have a daughter and when she is older (she is 9months right now)and she decides she whats to play with barbie or the Bratz dolls I will let her.
I did and I never had an eating disorder cause I “wanted to look like barbie” or anything.. and honestly when I started to care what I looked like (wanted to wear makeup and boy crazy) my barbies had long ago been packed up and put into storage. Looking like barbie wasn’t even an idea.
Mostly I wanted to look like the fit and strong girls I saw on tv while watching the olymics not the skinny girls one magazine covers or whatever.. And when my daughter gets to the age I will talk to her about looking and being heathy is better then just being skinny..
It’s been said that those girls that start caring about their weight and body build- wanting to diet and or not eat cause they want to be Skinny. is because they have important females around them (parents, anuts older sisters cousins) who they look up to- who talk about their weight and wanting to be skinny – skinnier. going on diets or they are seeing them skip meals…
The girls who watch females in their lives, eat right and exerices- who dont make it their life just a PART of thier life. Grow up to not have issues with thier body image.
@la_faerie_joyeuse - Maybe you were already inclined to tomboyish play, which is why you chose those activities as a child, and also why you continue to enjoy them as an adult.
Well, then according to that train of thought, maybe the little girls that play with “House” with Barbies are inclined to do so and therefore once they are adults will become Stay At Home Mothers or “Career Mothers” that try and please their husbands by getting outragious plastic surgeries to obtain that “perfect woman” image? Or maybe the little girls that play “fashion show” or “Party Time” with Bratz are inclined to do so and therefore once they are adults will become materialistic party animals? Like I said before we all have great imaginations as children and we have free will once we come of age. Dolls no matter what “brand” they are do not “mold” what a person becomes as an adult.
considering the fact that regardless of whether all little girls played with barbies they were still hailed as the be-all/end-all of female (physical) perfection, I think it’s safe to say that as long as society believes the Bratz dolls are taking the place of barbies for this new generation, then they too will be put on a pedestal and revered–or criticized, as it may be–for their qualities. That being said, little girls of this generation will look up to them as iconic images of what successful ladies look like and decide from there whether they want to be mainstream women, or women on the edge; in this case, if Bratz are what this new generation is marketing as lady-like and usual, let’s hope that majority of the girls growing up with them will want to be as far from mainstream as can be attained by them.
I don’t know. Not on all kids. Some I think so. It’s possible. Honestly, I miss Barbie. I never had any hard feelings about the doll. She’s not that bad. Preggo Barbie was kinda funny.
I see Bratz dolls and I see a prostitute doll. That’s what they look like to me.
I never really played with barbies.
I prefered guns and trucks.
Still do.
@lotta_valdez - How old are you? Are you like 50 or 60? You do know that there are black and hispanic looking Barbies nowadays don’t you?
@la_faerie_joyeuse - LOL. You’d be surprised. Some little girls get obsessed with the image of their dolls. Think about how they want to be that when they grow up. Or look like that. I don’t think the majority is like that though. Most kids don’t give a damn. They see a toy. They probably like it because all their friends do. They are too young to see any different. Kids really don’t care.
BUT some do.
Kinda like MUSIC these days. Kids listen to crazy music. To most it’s just another cool crazy song. To others it’s an inspiration to their rage.
Heh
@LadyValkyrie37 - I live in West Virigina where black and hispanic barbies are not easy to come by. It’s not quite as simple as the damn things existing…
@LifeMeansChange - I’m originally from souther West Virginia… Fayette County… a little town called Oak Hill… near the New River Gorge Bridge. I understand all too well how backwards West Virginia is.
This is a good topic.
But with the media today, the littlest things can set off a child.
Most images on T.V are that of perfection and beauty.
Then the kids have to be subjected to dolls with overly worn makeup and barely any clothes unless you get the winter edition??
I say, kids should play with legos =)
As far as the unrealistic bit goes, I only started looking at Barbie’s waist after I already had an eating disorder.
I remember playing with Barbies and making them have orgies and also killing them all off. It was like a more explicit version of Hamlet, but I think I probably turned out fairly normal, considering.
I guess dolls are just a vehicle for social exploration.
@LadyValkyrie37 - I
agree with you, that we make our own decisions. But I think you may
misunderstand me – I don’t in any manner think that what you choose to
do as a child forces you
to behave that way as an adult. I just think there’s a fair amount of
personality constancy as we age, so it’s a fairly good indicator of
where we might tend later in life.
@LifeMeansChange - This is why we have the internet. Also, many toy stores might be able to order such a doll for you, especially if you find the manager and claim discrimination. Actually, that would make an interesting case…
Random question: often, “black” Barbies are criticized for having “white” features. However, there is the threat of “black” features also being called racist. Would you rather see “black” Barbies with “black” features? What is the line at which the features become too stereotypically pronounced (racist)? (Hair? Lips? Nose? Body type? Unnatural over-exaggeration?) Or does it even matter?
barbie has always been a slut so whatever
yes!
Well, I was one of those girls who made paper clothes for my Barbies (and cloth clothes when I could sneak a sock or two from the rag bin). Maybe that is the reason I am going into the fashion business. But I never had a self-image problem due to Barbie. Self-image issues come from the rest of society, not a piece of plastic. Girls who want to look like Barbie have influences from other places that make them think they aren’t good enough. Trust me, I know….
No, I think that is pure, unadulterated crap.
I do.
Barbie was older. An adult. And not a whore. She could do everything and had every job possible. It was impressive.
Bratz are the same age as the kids buying (and playing with) them. It’s sad.
<33
ha.. yeha i think that bratz are just having an impact on girls….. they see how they dress with tht edge and smaller girls want to dress just like them…. if the bratz doll is showing a lot of skin.. what do u think that is doing for the smaller child who wants to be just like her… yes barbie did show some skin once and a while.. but barbie is much more…… mature i guess is how u would put it.
bottom line:
Bratz:not a good influence (in my opinion)
Barbie:better influence than Bratz….way better
Bratz dolls are designed with the fun side of fashion in mind. I do admit that they are a bit risque for the group of girls ages that they are aimed at, yet it’s up to the parents to teach children what is acceptable and unacceptable dress in social society. Barbie fashions helped me think of career choices in fashion design, nursing, etc.. She had a subtle message for childrens’ future endeavours. (But that’s just my opinion).
why would you post about barbies
it’s weird, but i had more interests in lego blocks than barbie dolls.
Those dolls promote no useful service. They teach girls to achieve happiness through clothes, makeup and annoying pets. At least Barbie had careers.
I am not sure.. I think that Barbies could have encouraged girls into a unhealthy self image, but I think the Bratz could encourage girls into a unhealthy self image AND a unhealthy sexuality.
I think Barbie is a good role model because she had every job under the sun which shows she was talented, determined, ambitious and hardworking, which is a good example for girls [and boys]. when times get tough, I like to ask myself “WWBD?” [What Would Barbie Do?]
or maybe she got fired from every job because she had Borderline Personality Disorder and didn’t know what she wanted to do in life. I don’t know. I prefer to think of her as a career woman.
Um, no, I grew up with the barbie, and there are halloween costumes that look like that for teen girls, they aren’t that slutty anymore; that’s just the basic for halloween. Barbies too old fashioned now.
i honestly don’t get why people say dolls have an impact on what younger girls choose to make out of themselves. i mean, i found them fun to play with. what affects me most as a girl is probably media related stuff (i.e. movies, fashion magazines, etc. sometimes positively, other times negatively). and i am sure that dolls don’t fit into the mass media category.
I don’t know… I used to love barbie and as a kid I certainly didn’t compare myself or anyone else to my toys. I don’t think they are supposed to be particularly realistic. Bratz just look like your standard cartoons, little stick bodies, big heads and massive eyes. these proportions aren’t supposed to be envied by children I’m sure. I wouldn’t go as far as to call them sluts! that is pretty inappropiate, they’re just a toy afterall, they’re fun. I don’t think children take them this seriously
xx
I grew up without Barbie. I got one when I was already too old for it.
Well, considering the fact that girls and tweens nowadays are more agressive with sexual things, yeah, I do think they have an impact.
I was a tomboy but I played with Barbies like crazy. They didn’t really have an influence on me. Lol.
I am grateful to see kids playing with dolls and not out doing dope.
barbies and disney princesses made me believe that the only way to be beautiful was to be caucasian, skinny, and to have big boobs, long hair, and long legs. when i was little, i wished that i was all white instead of just half.
yeah i ripped my sister’s barbie dolls up
i’m still a tomboy
I’m agreeing with the fact that the Bratz dolls are giving younger girls the impression that they’re suppose to look like that now or even when they’re older. But isn’t that what Barbie did with my generation?
I really wish the toy companies would start making dolls that little girls could look up to. Make them career themed (and I don’t mean trophy wife or stripper) or political themed (like “going green” barbie). Children are very impressionable and we need to send them the message that they need to grow up and be someone, not that they can attract “Kens” with a skimpy wardrobe and good looks.
It’s a little absurd to say that dolls don’t give off some influence on how girls these days act. It may seem as a harmless doll, but look at the way they dress and the ton of make up they have on their faces. More and more I see little girls walking around with skirts a little to low or a little short, make-u when they look naturally beautiful.
I remember when Barbies in my day were just simple dolls. I didn’t even like them back them. Whatever happen to carefree days with playdough and crayons?
With Bratz, I object more to the name than the actual dolls. Girls are always going to like glamorous dolls, and every generation has its own idea of glamorous. I don’t mind that the Bratz girls wear makeup of funky outfits. But just the fact that they’re called Bratz…just the idea that being bratty is cool is what bugs me. Kids need to know that being bratty is annoying, not cool.
I had Barbies growing up, and I don’t think they influenced that much what I wanted to look like. I always thought her feet and head were too small. I always wanted waist length hair, but I think that was before I discovered Barbies. Must have been the Disney movies.
No, I played with Barbies
I wasn’t that eager to be like them
Yeah I thought they were “cute” & “fashionable” (or so I thought)
it wasn’t very realistic ..
Haha, when I was a kid, I used to be so jealous of Barbie for being pretty. I really wanted to look like her, but I got over that phase when I got older.
It seems every generation has some kind of keepsake that’s supposedly superior to the next gen’s.
Nooooo.
These dolls are a bad influence on little girls. Thanks to their example, it’s a hot trend among girls to have disproportionately large heads. This superdeformism must stop.
i think people are overly dramatic. my self-image has not been impacted by barbies, thank you very much.
When I was a child, my Barbie was blonde. This meant something to me because I was a brunette. I took a brown crayon and rubbed it against my Barbie’s hair until she was at least a little tawny headed. Then I felt better.
To this day, I have never bleached my hair. But I wouldn’t say that the Barbie doll impacted my life. I merely reacted to it.
I’m almost 20, there weren’t any Black or Hispanic Barbies when I was young enough to play with them. At least they weren’t widely available. And I grew up in a Hispanic neighborhood.
@la_faerie_joyeuse - I’d much rather see a black barbie with some type of black features. It’s like they refuse to acknowledge that everybody doesn’t have the same features. When it comes to lips n curves I don’t get offended unless I see black women portrayed as fat as hell and super ghetto.
I don’t buy barbies now but I know we didn’t have internet when I was playin with barbies.
One difference is that Barbie was a woman, or at least a teen old enough to drive. Bratz dolls are pre-teens and even baby dolls. Who wants to see a baby doll in diapers with lipstick and high heels? Yuck.
Barbie = too uptight to have fun
Bratz = too slutty not to have fun
Well, Bratz dolls have way more noticeable makeup on than Barbie dolls ever had, for one thing. Another thing is, everything about them is a disgrace to the word classy women. Short skirts, loads of makeup, misspellings on the name (ugh – don’t even let me begin with the whole coolness factor of adding -z’s to everything that’s plural), diva attitudes, lack of proper professions, absence of classiness, etc. In fact, their ensembles remind me of cheap designs and hoodlums. Honestly, cheap designs are okay, but the hoodlum factor always nudges me in the wrong spot because it’s telling youngsters today that it’s okay for them to dress that way too. What they need is a sophisticated model to look up to so that they may mimic the same style as they grow older. As we all know, what those dolls have on is completely inappropriate for kids their age to be playing them. We don’t need more girls dressed like hoodlums and sex objects on the streets!
- End Rant –
@DrugInducedDuck - Haha, that’s what you call a sign of deprivation.
RYE: Well, I played with some, but in the end, I ended up… well, I dunno. Normal, I guess. No, I take that back. I’m actually a weird person. Meh. Anyway, the thing is, they fascinate me with their looks, but they bore me to death. Oh wait… I remember being obsessed with making their hair smooth. Now -that- influenced me. Back when my hair was really long, I’d brush it for hours. I don’t like having hair stuck in my brush. But now that I have short hair, I don’t even bother combing it, because no matter how messy it looks, I look rockin’! Hell yeah!
Eh, well. I don’t even think you read comments. Whatever.
@squeakysoul - My Barbies usually wound up naked on top of the ceiling fan as an unpleasant surprise for whoever came into the room next.
girls should look like barbie or bratz, i hate how people just let themselves go and become fatass slobs. its distguesting and a disgrace, if you have the opportunity to become skinny and look the best you can then you should take it, and not take the scapegoat that is “the media is making me look skinny”.
FACT: for all of history no man has been turned on by a fatass.
END OF STORY
interesting
It may not be a strong influence, but it is somewhat of an influence. Thanks to that movie (Bratz) and the dolls themselves, there is an ideal image of what these girls should resemble.
When I was growing up, I had a fascination with bulldozers. I was told by my mom that I slept with tonka trucks every night. On some occasions (at least the ones that I have little rememberance), I have played with barbies, and of course…they were naked and having sex. Where did I get that all from? That I don’t know. What I do know is that I knew stuff that I shouldn’t have known when I was that young. By the time I was 6 years old, I actually engaged in a sexual activity with someone else even though I was unaware that she was related to me. By the time I was 8 years old, I was introduced to pornography by one of my own friends. Even though I’ve been offered group sex, engaged in sexual activities, and knew about all that stuff when I was young, I’m still a virgin.
Because I’ve taken Psychology, I know that it’s all just biological and environmental. Just because some kid is exposed to a picture of naked women doesn’t mean he’s going to grow up abusing women and using them for sex. Your parents probably play the most role in determining your future.
Fuck no.
No, my Barbies’ frustrated the Hell out of me. Their hair would
always mat up and it was impossible to change some of their clothes and
I’d cuss them out for being nudists (my Mom’s an eyewitness to that
haha). My body image problems stemmed from peers, not from Barbie. I
never saw her as a ‘role model’, just a toy. Dr. Dolittle, Agent 99
(from Get Smart) and Melissa Jone Hart (as Clarissa from Clarissa
Explains It All) were more my type of role models haha.
lmao… wow… um ok. here is what i have to say. BARBIE DID NOT INFLUENCE ME AND MY LIFE IN ANY WAY!! and i don’t think these bratz dolls will do the same to other young girls lol. i grew up with barbie. i’m like 21 now. i thought barbie was just a cool toy. something to play dress and drive an awesome convertable pink car and ride a horse lol. yeah. it was nothin but pure entertainment for me. by the way, to some of you, barbie DID have make-up. always has lol. if theres no eye shadow she at least ALWAYS has that pink lipstick lol. besides, i think the bratz dolls are cool. they’re not slutty at all. if thats they way people think, then they might as well say what a slut barbie is too. THEY ARE JUST TOYS! oh yeah, and my little brother had guns as a kid. those didn’t influence him in any way either. he’s a straight A student and is on the honor roll lol.
I don’t know if Barbies had a strong effect on my self-image. I think that it’s hard to point out what really shaped my idea of what perfection was, but it bothers me to no end that we blame our social oppression on the media. It’s almost a joke that we blame the media ’cause the it’s at once everything and nothing, so we neither have power over it nor a real conception of it. It’s such an easy answer to blame the media because no one has to take responsibility for causing the problem.
On a completely unrelated note, Barbie dolls did give me an outlet to create intense love stories in which Barbie and Ken got naked and kissed each other – what I then understood as having sex. hahaha. XD Whoever said kids aren’t sexual beings was never a kid. I know we all try to deny it (and it really is hard to admit), but I don’t think it’s at all unusual to be curious about sex as a child.
I wonder if our sexual curiosity is promoted through Barbies, though? That’s a weird thought! Maybe young girls should play with more androgynous dolls that don’t promote ideas of sexual difference or sex at all; or perhaps they should play with dolls that are “young” like them. Then again, maybe sexuality and sexual difference isn’t anything to shelter kids from. Thoughts?
wow i read some of these comments… some people here should know…. barbie is career themed…. theres dr. barbie and vet barbie. and a bunch of others i can’t think of right now.
@xxnormalxx - hey now, you can criticize Barbie for all sorts of things but not for being career-less. That girl had so many jobs, it’s ridiculous! Hell, she even has a wikipedia entry for her careers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie%27s_careers
IM JUST WONDERING WHY THEIR EYES ARE SOOO HUGE!
@LifeMeansChange - I was reading an article that referenced the facial consistency among the different “colors” of Barbies. The author of the article said the manufacturers basically dip black Barbie in brown paint and call her black.
I guess it’s cheaper to simply give different hair and skin color to the different races, and it means Matell doesn’t have to confront the facial differences you mentioned. Right now there are 3 ethnicities represented by Barbie: white, black, & latino. And the fact that Asians aren’t represented is ridiculous! But the reason why is because Asians do have unmistakably different facial features. You can’t just give Barbie black hair and call her Asian; it wouldn’t fly. I think Mattel is probably just afraid of representing races through anything but color. Of course no Barbie will represent an entire race – I mean, c’mon, does white Barbie? But I think there should be at least some representation.
i had 1 barbie… she didn’t last long though. yeah preferred the water pistols and nerf guns. u know what i did have a couple of transformers (i am a girl and not a lesbian) and i ended up studying mech engineering… but i ended up dropping it.
@lovetakesmehighxx - I just realized I spelled Mattel wrong a lot of times! Whoops.
i missed the bratz craze but i did have barbie dolls and they were just a toy that i liked to play with its not like i was taking its measurements and thinking i want to grow up to look just like that.
The Bratz dolls give little girls the impression that it is desirable to dress like this. To top it off, they actually sell slutty looking clothes for little girls and there are actually parents who will buy them. I refuse to buy them.
girls always imitate and want to look like barbie dolls because dolls always look pretty for them.
I never wanted to participate in EITHER of them. A close friend however gave my girl a Barbie. So we participated for a short time. Of course she got others, and some accouterments. One rule: no naked barbies lying around. They must be groomed well, as people are, and taken care of. No trashing any toy or doll. The boys were a little older and were great policemen on this.
Glad when she got tired of them
LOVE American Girl. You can do that one much more cheaply than buying everything. GREAT concept to help girls appreciate the AGE THEY ARE, and not long to become….hmm…well, i think you said it.
No, but they normalize a certain type of dress and style that doesn’t seem appropriate to their target age group. Barbie was bad b/c of body size issues. Bratz take that one step further, I think. It also sends a message (subconscious, indirect, but there) that the parents buying these dolls approve of it– just as parents who buy toy guns for their kids approve of them playing with toy guns. Maybe it’s not a huge impact or something that will change the course of a kid’s life, but I’m sure it’s got some impact in there somewhere,
..yeah, i might prefer barbie just because it’s what i had.
but as i’ve been getting older, there’s been an increasing amount of focus on makeup. it’s all over magazines, all over the malls, and now it’s even on dolls [who are not only similar to the barbie image but also have makeup].
i think the dolls only contribute to the influences of their entire environment.
Not really. I loved American Girl much more.
But Barbie would influence alot more girls than Bratz.
After looking up Barbie’s occupations, I found this:
http://groups.msn.com/BarbiesSecret/barbiesmanycareers.msnw
i prefer barbie myself. yes- she was made incredibly unrealistic, but they still managed to make her a good role model. she had jobs like being an astronaut, a doctor, i think there was even a president barbie. what have bratz done? the only thing i have seen is sleepovers and dance parties. maybe if the company cleaned them up a little bit and gave them something that parents find positive it wouldn’t be as big of a deal.
I certainly thing that it could impact young girls. I mean, when I was a kid, they didn’t have all these movies and internet sites you could go visit to see the dolls. It’s easier for kids to get access to these types of things, even if a parent does forbid it.
I was talking to the girl who waxes my eye brows about it yesterday and she made the comment that the Bratz dolls wore more provocative clothing and wore all types of big heels and how their bodies were teeny tiny (skinny). She also said that they were really out of proportion with their big heads.
In reality, little girls want to grow up quicker these days and in my opinion, the Bratz dolls are really just encouraging it. The characters are only supposed to be in their early teens and look at the clothes they’re wearing. The next generation of children are full of prostitots and man whores.
And they said my generation was bad!
PS. I agree with the person above my first comment. I had an olympic runner Barbie.
I think that society influences the dolls, not the other way around. If the society didn’t like the kind of doll they’re selling, why bother produce them?
But I personally do think Barbies are better than Bratz. Barbie was actually successful and had some responsibilities, like taking care of her sister and all that. The Bratz though. For goodness sake they’re called BRATZ!
Yes, unfortunatly. Bratz make kids thing that’s what they are supposed to look like when they grow up. Slutty, basically. Plus…they’re pretty freaking ugly. When I have kids, I wouldn’t let my daughter play with Bratz. Oh, btw, I’m 17, so I don’t think me hating them is a sign of me getting old. Haha.
I never turned out like Barbie…
I enjoyed playing with my Barbies. they’re tough dolls. my favorite one survived being tied to a rocket and blast in the air, being blown up by fireworks, playing fetch with my dog, living at the bottom of the pool, and being burned at the stake after being tried as a witch. She finally met her end when I put the peices of her left in a bottle and tossed her to the ocean while my family went deep sea fishing.
I miss being a 9yr old. Them was Good times.
When i was young, I loved my barbie doll collection.
But honestly? Dress up was fun, and it still is fun. We girls choose how we want to dress them, and how we want their stories to go. I don’t think it can be considered a bad influence.
barbie didnt wear one inch skirts and have DD cups…Bratz are going to definitely alter the images of young girls today.
nah. i can’t say barbies had any real influence on me in terms of self-image and such.
Maybe for some, but I really don’t think so. My barbies did not have that kind of effect on me. And really are dolls supposed to be realistic looking? IT’S A FRIGGIN DOLL! they are plastic for crying out loud!!
The only thing Barbie had that I wanted was a killer wardrobe…I still dream of having a wardrobe like Barbie…it’s one of my life’s ambitions.
Barbie definitely had no influence on me. Barbie was just a doll that I made do pretend things that would really happen in life. I didn’t care that the average woman didn’t look like that. There were real people in my life to influence me. I had books, friends, parents, and siblings. I don’t think that a doll can influence how a girl wants to be or the way she acts.
I never really liked bratz but I played with barbie when I was young and it never change me. I knew it was a doll, just a doll and I didn’t want to become the doll because that was just stupid.
Though the next generation is pretty stupid and they want to be plastic. xD
I played with Barbies as a child, and I turned out nothing like her. I think it just kind of depends.
But those Bratz dolls… First of all, they call them Bratz. I don’t think I need to go on.