What are dolls telling young girls
Submitted from Black Entertainment USA
Ok, I saw something on the Cartoon Network and it upset me. I’m not talking about the Naruto marathon. I love anime, and Naruto is up there with Rurouni Kenshin, Cyborg 009, and Dragonball Z. Still there is a bit that isn’t as good as some of those others.
But let me not wax on about anime. Either you get it or not. The point is that there have been several commercials throughout the marathon. One particular commercial was far more disturbing to me than all the others. It’s not the endless Pokemon games, nor the super sugar bomb pop cereals. It’s a doll.
I want to specifically point out the Hi-Glam dolls. They are similar to the various, and idiotic, Bratz dolls. But these are worse. Basically they are a bunch of pipe cleaners with hair. I don’t know much about dolls, since my sisters out grew them decades ago. But I do notice the difference.
Barbie has had arguments about her proportions since the feminist movements in the 70’s. They finally changed her figure to more realistic proportions, on the basis that little girls would feel better about their own proportions. How the proportions on a doll can affect anyone I don’t know, but that is the argument. Then came the fact that there were no Black, Asian or Hispanic dolls.
After years, finally Barbie got some friends with color and other dolls were made featuring various cultures as well. That argument I can understand. I remember back when I was a child and my sister threw her doll she got for Christmas because it looked nothing like her and was of zero interest. So I can see that.
But these Hi-Glam dolls are different. Yes they have various races covered. No they don’t represent women as anything more important than objects to be looked at because of how they dress. Yes it’s good they are dressed more substantially than a music video hoochie. But they are all anorexic. Seriously, they are proportioned like twigs.
