Princess Celestia, LEGO and Bald Barbie

In this blog I’m discussing three petitions that appear on Change.org all of which are toys for girls or toys that are friendly for both sexes. The first one is for Hasbro’s My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic “Talking Princess Celestia”. The petition classifies the My Little Pony as being “a conceited, girly-girl stereotype” that is programmed to say things like “I’m a princess! Are you a princess, too?” The petition asks not only for the programmed lines to be changed to more girl-centric lines like “I’m a princess! I rule my country with wisdom.” The petition is also looking for stereotypical pink of the pony to be changed to something obviously less stereotypical. It’s makes me sad because I remember having a My Little Pony when I was a girl. I remember spending hours imagining different journeys for my pony to go and being perfectly fine with the fact that she was not pink. I feel sad to see that My Little Pony has been condensed to some Disney princess storyline like plenty of other toys aimed at girls.

Here is a YouTube video featuring each of Princess Celestia’s programmed lines:

            The second petition is for LEGO, which decided to develop a pink line of LEGO for young girls. LEGO CEO Jorgan Vig Knudstorp describes the decision to market pink LEGO to girls, as “We want to reach the other 50% of the world’s population.” Again this product buys into the stereotype that girls can only play with pink toys and that it must involve princesses, the kitchen or food, or looking in a mirror while putting on makeup or brushing your hair. The author of the petition describes how LEGO use to be different from other toys “In the 1950’s LEGO burst on the American scene with TV commercials inviting girls and boys to build and create. In 1981, LEGO’s ad, “What it is, is beautiful,” invited girls to play with LEGO in a way that didn’t appeal to the lowest common denominator version of girlhood.” So what has changed? I myself remember playing with LEGO toys as a kid and it never made a difference what color they were. It was the experience of building and being creative. I could not imagine liking LEGO more because they are pink. Much like the My Little Pony discussed earlier, this is completely stereotypical and is about pushing girls and boys further into a box, trying to push them into their proper gender roles!

The third petition is for a bald Barbie doll that will honor girls fighting cancer. The goal is have “a portion of proceeds from the sales of this Barbie go to St. Jude’s Children Hospital.” This is the only toy in this group that is aimed at girls that I would actually be willing to buy for my daughter (if I had one). Though it is still a Barbie doll it goes against the cultural norm of what Barbie and girls/women should look like.

Girls Make Media author Mary Celeste Kearney describes the situation as “feminist scholars who want to analyze the specific nature of female youth culture have ‘plunge[d], head-on at times, into the seething morass of capital flows, emerging with a proliferation of critiques of the commodities which pattern the fabric of girls lives: advertising images, fashionable clothes, mass magazines, popular fiction.” That’s the thing feminist need to continue to look at these ideals that are invading girl’s lives. There is no need for pink and princess stereotypical toys, girls and children in general need toys that are not specific to their sex. It is sad to say it but at least Barbie manufacturers Mattel are at least doing something different.

   Each of theses petitions can be found on Change.org.