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Gifts for girls

» The problems with current toys and the alternatives that are available

  

, Angela Espinoza
News Editor
Minews
@theotherpress.ca

5
N: matter how one

celebrates the holiday
season, purchasing gifts for
the modern girl has become
an issue. Whether you are
family, an educator, or even
a babysitter, getting gifts
for young girls nowadays is
more complicated than just
grabbing a Barbie off the
shelves.

have been dropping for the
past several years—this year
being particularly dismal—
the Mattel moneymaker

still remains the top-selling
doll in the world. Barbie’s
competition includes
American Girl, Monster High,
Bratz, and Disney’s own line
of princess dolls. Each line
remains popular with young
girls, but they’re poorly
marketed. Monster High and
Bratz dolls feature slender
(arguably anorexic) bodies,
large heads with big eyes and
pouty lips, often wearing
makeup and fashionable
clothes and almost always
including high-heeled shoes.
Some Disney dolls are more
comparable with Barbie,
with thin figures, big eyes
and big lips, although less so
compared to Monster High

more childlike and thus do

Girl dolls have more realistic
body proportions, although

: both brands continue to have
: big eyes. :
: While many of those dolls’ :
: appearances and lifestyles

: have negative impressionable
: effects, dolls are not solely

: responsible for damaging

: girls’ views of themselves. A

: somewhat larger issue involves :
: constant marketing to young
: girls that baking, sewing, and
: teaching are their only career
: options in life. Stylist, nurse,
: veterinarian, an association

: with candy, and a high-

: maintenance lifestyle are also
: often presented as career and

While sales of Barbie dolls life options for girls.

Despite the fact that Lego

: began as a gender-neutral

: creative toy for all, over

: time the blocks began being
: marketed towards boys, with
: ’80s commercials featuring

: “Zack the Lego-maniac,”

: informing the viewer that

: Lego was for boys only.

: As time went on, Lego “for :
: girls” began being introduced,
: with the ’7os offering

: “Homemaker,” a line marketed :
: towards girls that featured

: domestic and wedding

: sets. The ’80s featured the

: “Scala” line of Lego dolls

: that focussed on jewelry

: and fashion. “Paradisa” and

: “Belville” were introduced in

: the ‘gos, with Belville again

: offering Lego dolls, Paradisa

: offering female mini-figs

: with ponytails, eyelashes, and
: lipstick, and both promoting

and Bratz. American Girls and : lives of leisure. “Clikits” came

other types of Disney dolls are along in the 2000s, which
: : was a Lego brand where girls
not feature makeup. American : could customize fashion items :
: such as purses and jewelry.

: Currently Lego is running a

  
   
 
     

: line called “Friends,” which
: again promotes a life of leisure :

with Lego dolls and a world of

: fashion and pastel colours.

Earlier this year we also

saw the release of The Lego
: Movie which grossed over
: $460-million during its

theatrical run. The film was

: immediately popular due to

: its creative tone, hilarious

: writing, and entertaining

: story. Unfortunately, the film
: was also blatantly sexist,

: with stereotypical female

: characters, two of whom were
: emotionally unstable, andthe :
: incredible can-do powerhouse :
: female lead Wyldstyle

: (Elizabeth Banks) presented

: as insecure and dependent on
: a bad boyfriend.

: Building block alternatives :
: have popped up over time.

: The early 2000s featured the
: Ello Creation System with

: building materials marketed

towards girls and featuring

: pastel colours, experimenting
: with a wide variety of shapes

and sizes, offering a unique

: alternative albeit with poor
: marketing.

The recent Lite Brix,

: Lego-like blocks that light

: up, markets itself as a toy line
: for boys and girls. However,

: the toys are all marketed with
: stereotypical interests placed

: on children. Girls get to build
: party mansions and candy

: shops, while boys get to build
: vehicles and fire stations.

: Lite Brix does offer a doctor's

: office set for girls, although

: the blocks steer towards pastel :

colours such as pink and

: purple, while the boys’ blocks
: are often blue and red.

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Lammily, Miss Possible, and Goldie Blox

While young boys are
often marketed to with toys

that allow them to create

: virtually anything, girls are
: often limited to building

: mansions, salons, bakeries,
: and other buildings associated :
: with young girls’ supposed

: interests. The other downside

: is that just as girls feel

: excluded from “boy stuff” like

: police work, construction,

: and outer space, boys are

: excluded from “girl stuff” such
: as teaching, cooking, and

: medicinal work.

What are the best gift

: options for girls?

Today, toys are doing

better at keeping images of
: boys and girls off of their

boxes so as to avoid targeted

: labelling, but the constant
: use of the same career and life :
: options coupled with the use
: of specific colours maintains
: the negative stereotype effect.

For dolls, as long as

: there are other options, the

: existence of Barbie and dolls
: like her is not completely

: detrimental to a young girl’s
: psyche.

Alternative doll option

: Lammily was successfully
: crowd-funded earlier this year :
: on Tilt (formerly Crowdtilt),

: raising approximately

: $500,000. The doll was

: created by Nickolay Lamm as
: a “realistically proportioned

: average 19-year-old woman,”
: who is comparatively shorter,
: wider, and has flatter feet

: than Barbie. While it’s

: important to remember that
: many types of bodies exist,

: Lamm’s Lammily could be

theotherpress.ca

: the start of an entirely new

: line of dolls, with over 19,000

: being shipped out this holiday
: season.

The Lammily website

(lammily.com), which the doll

can be purchased through, also

: features clothes and a unique

: sticker pack. To create a more
: realistic doll for young girls,

: the sticker pack comes with

: glasses, acne, cellulite, tattoos,
: and bruises, amongst other

: options.

Miss Possible

: (bemisspossible.com) is

: another line of dolls that

: was successfully funded as

: of August this year through

: IndieGogo, raising over

: $88,000. The Miss Possible

: project presents dolls meant
: to inspire young girls, with

: the first line of three based

on chemist Marie Curie,

: aviator Bessie Coleman, and

: programmer Ada Lovelace.

: Co-creators Supriya Hobbs and
: Janna Eaves are also working

: on interactive games for kids

: that include the dolls virtually.

As for building materials,

: GoldieBlox (goldieblox.com)

: was successfully funded

: on Kickstarter with over

: $285,000 back in 2012. Created

by Debbie Sterling, each

: construction set toy comes

: witha book starring Goldie,

: a young girl interested in

: engineering and inventing.

: Most sets currently focus on

: carnival themes, while a Goldie
: doll is also available with a

: buildable zip line.

While Miss Possible dolls

aren't available yet, Lammily
: and GoldieBlox can be
: purchased now.