Well, it’s that time of year again when my feminist streak rises closer to the surface than I normally allow in my daily life. It’s that time when colorful slick ads and catalogues begin pouring down upon us from every conceivable outlet.
Children shopping their wish lists learn soon enough to easily distinguish which are the girl toys from the boy toys by the color coding system used by almost every toy brand, pink for girls and darker primary colors for boys. If the newest toys out there this year are any indication of what little girls, who still play with dolls, have as female models, I, as a shopping-for-girls grannie, have some real concerns.
For example, if a girl wants “Ever After High Royals & Rebels” dolls, among her choices of these big-eyed, big-headed creatures are ones that look like a vamp, a princess, an ingenue and what appears (from her tightly fi tted red and black outfit) to be a hooker. These ever-after lovelies are a spin-off idea for characters from fairy and fantasy tales, which should be our fi rst warning sign. They are a companionline to Monster High dolls that are the progeny or relatives of famous horror and sci-fi movie characters with names like Frankie Stein and Draculaura.
Aside from the obvious choices of these kinds of stories, character dolls don’t offend me too much.
It’s their physical structure, make-up and clothing that rankle. As long as Barbies and the annual output of other sex-object representations in toys are what we give girls to fantasize with, the longer it will take to get them and the society they live in to see them otherwise.
And women are their own worst enemies sometimes, willingly handing over these toys generation after generation.
And then there are the shoes! For example, depending on whatever make-believe scenarios a young girl creates with these newest fantasy playthings, she will need to make sure the females can carry out their roles while wearing stilettos.
I haven’t seen heels like these since I was about11, when my girlfriends smuggled a Fredericks of Hollywood catalogue into an adolescent slumber party, and we gasped and giggled at life’s fashion possibilities after we “fi lledout.” Actually the truth is I have seen heels like these in real life. I went to an event where 20- and 30-somethings were in large attendance, and the women were teetering about onfootwear so tall and chunky they were about to fall over. I wanted to challenge them to a race or at least relate the history of foot binding in China, but saved my old haggish breath. I wore spikes once upon a time, too. Fortunately I came down to earth before I ruined my feet, posture and leg muscles.
Toy companies are, I guess, in a creative bind to imagine girls could have interests beyond ponies, mermaids, pets, crafts, fashion dolls, baby dolls, and, of course, the requisite pink play kitchens. It has, however, dawned on Lego, after about 60 years, they could double their sales if the other half of the human species might like to build things, too. Of course, their new line of girlie pastel building sets, called “Friends,” feature idyllic homes, villages, princess castles, etc. and pink figures into their color scheme, too, but it’s a start.
Maybe. ( An article in Bloomberg Business, “Lego Is for Girls,” gives some background.)
I’m giving my business this year to “Goldie Blox,” a startup toy company with a terrific girl story behind it. This building toy is the brainchild ofDebbie Sterling, a Stanford graduate with a degree in mechanical engineering/ product design. “Bothered by how few women there were in her [engineering] program, Debbie became obsessed with the notion of ‘disrupting the pink aisle’ with a toy that would introduce girls to the joy of engineering at a young age,” explains www.
goldieblox.com. The site sums up Goldie’s goal: “By tapping into girls’ strong verbal skills, our story-plus construction set bolsters confidence in spatial skills while giving young inventors the tools they need to build and create amazing things.”
Debbie’s company had me when I read their slogan, “More than just a princess.” I do hope more for my granddaughters than an ever-after image requiring sexy clothes, maiming shoes, pounds of makeup, and a fantasy of dependence on someone other than themselves to save them from life’s challenges. Go Goldie!
FRAN ALEXANDER IS A FAYETTEVILLE RESIDENT WITH A LONGSTANDING INTEREST IN THE ENVIRONMENT AND AN OPINION ON ALMOST ANYTHING ELSE.
Opinion, Pages 13 on 11/24/2013