I have generally been the woman who works harder/more than the man in the relationship, in pretty much all my relationships I've been since I was 21. (Before that, I was in some not so awesome ones where I depended solely on a guy to provide for me, and thus got to reap the "rewards" of sacrificing every bit of my independence to someone else. It's always fun when the person who pays for everything decides that they don't want any more of your "backtalking" and kicks you out on the curb with nothing. I learned pretty damn quick that "control your own money"="control your own life/stability". It's a harsh lesson to get at 18-19.)
I think everyone should have a choice- parents, kids, women, men, whoever. If a boy wants to play with dolls, he should be able to; if a girl wants trucks and construction toys, she should have them. I have so many male friends who were denied toys they wanted as kids because the toys weren't "manly" or were "for girls", and that's just as fucked up as denying a girl toy dinosaurs or GI Joes or Star Wars men. (Not even really girly toys- things like Wonder Woman action figures or She-Ra! Since the characters were girls, they were "dolls", and thus, Not For Boys.)
My biggest beef with this toy is that a life of domestic drudgery is anything but imaginative! Lord knows I don't exactly dream of doing dishes, laundry or cleaning the catboxes. And yes, it's not the only toy being made for girls, but I see a ridiculous number of toy commercials every day (we tend to leave cartoon channels on while we work for background noise), and the "girl toys" are just getting ridiculous. I'm not talking Barbies, she's sort of a staple (and imaginative girls usually find creative ways to give her "makeovers"...), but the Bratz line is basically like a line of gold digging sluts- they have a passion for fashion, and apparently do nothing more strenuous than go shopping and night-clubbing. The Bratz Babiez are even creepier- babies in sexy makeup and tarty clothes! It's gross. And this stuff is being marketed at six year olds. Everything in the girls' aisles at the toy stores is, without fail, pink or purple now. There are no other choices for girls these days. I'm actually hoping the poorly considered Disney Fairies toy lines take off, because at least then little girls will be able to have toys in other color schemes. (And each of the fairies has a thing she loves to do, like paint or write or dance or something. Even Tinkerbell is retroactively getting a task- she's a tinker and makes things.)
I am probably one of the girliest girls I know- I love pink, I love glitter, I have been obsessed with fashion and fashion history since I was a kid, and I don't even have a problem with Barbie (I used to collect them). But some of this marketing is so pervasive- there are little girls now who believe their only goal in life is to look hot, wear makeup, get married and shop like crazy. It's a terrible message to send, that their entire self-worth and value as a person is based 100% on their appearance or their ability to clean house. It'd be nice if there were some other options with the same kind of marketing push as this kind of thing. Heck, they've even made Dora the Explorer into a princess now. It's too much.
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I think everyone should have a choice- parents, kids, women, men, whoever. If a boy wants to play with dolls, he should be able to; if a girl wants trucks and construction toys, she should have them. I have so many male friends who were denied toys they wanted as kids because the toys weren't "manly" or were "for girls", and that's just as fucked up as denying a girl toy dinosaurs or GI Joes or Star Wars men. (Not even really girly toys- things like Wonder Woman action figures or She-Ra! Since the characters were girls, they were "dolls", and thus, Not For Boys.)
My biggest beef with this toy is that a life of domestic drudgery is anything but imaginative! Lord knows I don't exactly dream of doing dishes, laundry or cleaning the catboxes. And yes, it's not the only toy being made for girls, but I see a ridiculous number of toy commercials every day (we tend to leave cartoon channels on while we work for background noise), and the "girl toys" are just getting ridiculous. I'm not talking Barbies, she's sort of a staple (and imaginative girls usually find creative ways to give her "makeovers"...), but the Bratz line is basically like a line of gold digging sluts- they have a passion for fashion, and apparently do nothing more strenuous than go shopping and night-clubbing. The Bratz Babiez are even creepier- babies in sexy makeup and tarty clothes! It's gross. And this stuff is being marketed at six year olds. Everything in the girls' aisles at the toy stores is, without fail, pink or purple now. There are no other choices for girls these days. I'm actually hoping the poorly considered Disney Fairies toy lines take off, because at least then little girls will be able to have toys in other color schemes. (And each of the fairies has a thing she loves to do, like paint or write or dance or something. Even Tinkerbell is retroactively getting a task- she's a tinker and makes things.)
I am probably one of the girliest girls I know- I love pink, I love glitter, I have been obsessed with fashion and fashion history since I was a kid, and I don't even have a problem with Barbie (I used to collect them). But some of this marketing is so pervasive- there are little girls now who believe their only goal in life is to look hot, wear makeup, get married and shop like crazy. It's a terrible message to send, that their entire self-worth and value as a person is based 100% on their appearance or their ability to clean house. It'd be nice if there were some other options with the same kind of marketing push as this kind of thing. Heck, they've even made Dora the Explorer into a princess now. It's too much.