In the article “Damsels in Discourse: Girls Consuming and Producing Identity Texts Through Disney Princess Play”, Karen Wolhwend discusses how toys and video games have preconceived identity narratives attached to them which “…communicate gendered expectations about what children should buy, how they should play, and who they should be.” (57). In addition to these damaging identity messages attached to toys, clothes, T.V, the internet, and in his article Toys, Roland Barthes states that pre-narrated toys, because of the heteronormative messages attached to them, produce children who are “imitators” and not “creators” (54). Consequently, it becomes harder for children to dream, imagine, build, make connections or develop into who they are and what they want to be, without these fixed, conventional narratives affecting them.
The toy I will be analyzing through a critical and feminist lens are the Bratz dolls. The Bratz dolls are a group of 10-inch American fashion dolls created by Carter Bryant and manufactured by MGA Entertainment. One of the previous Slogans of the dolls is “The (only) girls with a passion for fashion”. The predetermined messages attached to these dolls are numerous and dangerous, since the dolls are marketed to girls five years and older. The dolls are heavily made up, wear sexy and stylish clothing and have exaggerated physical characteristics, such as huge lips and eyes, tiny waists, long thick shiny hair, no ears and tiny noses. These dolls resemble a mix of Barbie and Japanese animated characters. The dolls are pushing sexist, stereotypical, heteronormative gender roles on girls. The Bratz dolls have implicit narratives attached to them, encouraging girls as young as five, that you need to be sexy, pretty, act and dress in a stereotypically feminine way, wear lots makeup and shop to be cool or normal as a girl or young woman in society. Anyone who does not identify, act or look like these dolls is real life could be made to feel different and an outsider. Bratz do not portray the diversity of girls in real life and encourages those who do not fit into this gender normative version of a girl to alter themselves or feel like an outsider. These dolls show an oversexualized version of a girl and emphasize physical and superficial characteristics, to the detriment of moral values and other positive characteristics associated with women.
Commercial companies and toys such as Bratz dolls and the media are pushing identity messages on youth and shaping who they are. There are, however, opportunities to create counter narratives within educational environments. These counter narratives can provide opportunities to critique these fixed identities and depict a more democratic and varied portrayal of girls and women. It is also important to note that youth today are already creating counter narratives independently. For example, in Karen Wolhwend’s article and study demonstrated that “…when girls played with Disney Princess dolls and repeatedly enacted the associated film texts, they rewrote plots they knew by heart and subtly altered character roles to take up more empowered identity positions in child-ruled imaginary spaces.” However, more opportunities for critiquing messages and images in the media are needed because it is so pervasive.
Barthes, Roland. Toys. Mythologies, 1957.
Wohlwend, Karen E. “Damsels in Discourse: Girls Consuming and Producing Identity Texts through Disney Princess Play.” Reading Research Quarterly, 44, 1, 2009, p. 57-83.