No

by Karla Aguirre

Created on: November 04, 2008   Last Updated: January 25, 2011

"Bratz" or "Bratz Kidz" it doesn't make a difference - neither toy line is appropriate for girls, period. Imagine you're at a toy store; your daughter walks up to you and asks for a Bratz doll. The doll is clad in skin-tight outfits, fishnet stockings, and knee-high, high-heel boots. Their lips resembling a Hollywood starlet with far too much collagen injected in, along with over-plucked-looking eyebrows. And what is the storyline behind the dolls themselves? Perhaps a rock band, but the main plot (or lack thereof) is shopping and boys. Is that the kind of thing that should be introduced to an impressionable young girl?

As harmless as it may seem, the story centers around materialism and promiscuity. Remember Doctor Barbie? Gymnast Barbie? Soccer Barbie? Teacher Barbie? Unlike Bratz, Barbie has offered girls a wide variety of settings and fantasies girls can imagine themselves in, even want to become that occupation. Bratz, on the other hand, really offers so little - only down to shopping and boys. It leads me to think; that the toy designers really believe the average girl only thinks only two things, thus stereotyping them. They neglect that a little girl is far more complex than they give credit for.

For the ladies that read this, remember when you, yourself were a little girl and what you wanted to grow up to be? Many of you enjoyed shopping and flirting with boys, but it wasn't your only goal during that period in your life. The message behind the Bratz dolls is "you're a girl you only shop and flirt. That's your purpose." Don't girls have a little more ambition than that? It is sadly common that girls are plagued with low-self esteem; don't feel like they are something of worth to society, because they do not fit with the image of perfection established by the media. Bratz, I believe, is just another fragment that adds to the problem whether it's the main Bratz, or their other line Bratz Kidz.

Yes, it is up to the parents to make sure that their daughter knows, a Bratz doll should not determine the kind of person they should be. But the big guys at the marketing table KNOW how to get into your child's mind. They research thoroughly, and use that information they gather to form tactics to make a child believe what they are portraying is acceptable and that if they don't mold themselves into that image, they are worthless. Children are painfully nave, and simply buying them such a toy just to please them, and keep them occupied should not be the answer.

And while the dolls are portraying their negative message, it is up to the parents to say "no". By giving in to a child's tantrums, it is allowing their minds to absorb the mentality that dressing like a cheap hooker is okay. Keeping up parental strength, will protect children from being part of the "sex sells" scheme. Would you let your daughter dress like a Bratz doll? If you won't let her dress as such, then why buy her something that dresses like a prostitute? It would be best to teach her values and self-worth and keep her from those so-called toys that only serve to encourage girls to dress and act in that manner.

That is why I believe the Bratz toy line, Kidz or otherwise are not appropriate for children. Surely, there are many creative more child-friendly ways of letting a girl enjoy the fun of fashion, without sinking down to the cheap, prostitute-like level of Bratz. One can even purchase a doll base at the arts and crafts store, and let their daughter design their own clothes, let her imagination run wild with designing, and an adult can sew the clothes themselves. Encourage her, to be her own person than just being a few more dollars in the Bratz creator's pocket.

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