5.31.2005

bratz

young girls seem to be sexualized at so much of a younger age nowadays. case in point: bratz dolls. who the eff thought up these masochistic hyper-sexed images?

one of my coworkers was telling me about how she buys her daughter "everything bratz." bratz clothes, dolls, bedsheets.

um... i used to have my little pony bedsheets. what happened? what's wrong with strawberry shortcake or rainbow brite?

so much of what we feed our children mentally is insidiously teaching them the wrong ideals, the wrong stereotypes. my niece tiffany will go through children's books pointing out everything she likes. i like: that chair, that girl, that flower, that cat, that girl, that girl, that girl. always the girl is blonde haired. she will inevitably choose blondes, never the brunettes. i asked her, "don't you like dark hair?" she held up her own jet black asian hair, inspecting it critically. "no," she replied, shaking her head and making a scrunched up face of disgust.

who the fuck told my niece that only blondes are beautiful? that her hair color doesn't fall in the realm of the desirable?

sure, you can make the point that bratz girls are "ethnic." they are "diverse." even though barbies have been made more diverse (dark african american dolls, black haired korean dolls), the immediate image that comes to mind is a busty, heeled blonde with blue eyes and a plasticine smile to match her brain. but bratz are also sexed up with huge DSLs and proportions to rival their blonde counterpoint. (note that popped in my head: barbie looks older. she's the ideal that you want to be when you grow up. bratz dolls LOOK like freaking 9 year olds. like some urban child models. this is what kids want to be now.)

i want my children to see beauty in everyone. not just based on hair color, waist size, bust, or how much makeup someone wears. how do you do this? how the eff do you raise a child teaching them that practically everything that society and television and magazines and advertisements show them is wrong?

3 comments:

{STAR} said...

I completely agree with your opinions on this subject. I miss my smurf sheets and GI joes. I think I skipped the whole Barbie and Doll house craze. My parents gave me a skateboard and GI joe figures and trucks. I played softball and other team sports with women who have positive physical views. You have a good views. Im sure your parents helped in giving you these views. I fear that many of these children with poor views do not have parents that are involved in their lives. Thus they learn from the TV and peers.

Anonymous said...

You've struck a nerve. How would we teach our kids to not absorb what society pours relentlessly into their brains? I would start here: teach them to question, everything, including me; ask "why" a lot. (Why do I think this? Why does society want me to be like that?) Kids learn so much by example. I want to be that example by being cool with myself, by showing especially a daughter that I define me, that it's okay to reject society's demands, that it's okay if some people don't like you. I had a mother who tried so hard to shove me into society's mold, and I was blessed with a stubbornness that said "hell no" and clung fast to who I really am. I would be proud and moved to tears if I ever see that in my own kids. Ultimately I believe you don't teach kids, you show them.

GA Hill said...

This is a GREAT post.