I have bought Bratz dolls for my niece because they are some of the only cute Latina dolls you can find, at least in my area. As for the clothes and make-up, geeze, I didn’t think it was anything much more than Barbie except these girls have bigger eyes. I just didn’t see getting her a white doll with blond hair. She’s kind of out grown Dora.

I see it as basically the same thing as your No thank you to rape post, just because someone chooses to wear makeup/ let thier kids play with dolls that do does not an open invitation to rape/sexism make. My kiddo plays with them, and I get no end of hell for it, but you know what, If people think a small child playing with dolls is going to turn her into a “whore”as one mom so colourfully told me, they should move to Iran and don a burka.

I think that the difference between Bratz and Barbie is that Bratz are supposed to be pre-teens (teens? I don’t know, I’m not that familiar with them) and Barbie is supposed to be an adult. So Barbie is modeling adult behavior/dress and the Bratz are modeling pre-teen behavior/dress. I suppose either one has to be taken with a grain of salt. Fortunately I don’t have any kids so I don’t have to worry about either!

I would only buy them for my daughter, age 7, if she REALLY wanted one. This is because I have found that making a big deal about this kind of stuff — ie saying NO repeatedly, explaining why not, etc, only makes her want it MORE. It adds this sort of rebeliousness to the toy, which acheives the opposite of what u want. So I keep my mouth shut about the TOY- and instead am sure to instill my values in other ways, and ignore the toy. Eventually, it gets thrown out or forgotten about!

I think sometimes it can be a double edge sword. On the one hand, you give your young girl these dolls and some say she is going to turn into a whore. On the other hand, you give them “wholesome” role-playing toys and for girls that’s cooking and housecleaning toys, baby dolls…all the things that teach them how to be a good housewife. I think rather than parents blaming how their child grows up based on toys, parents should be looking at their parenting skills. If you give your girl a Bratz doll to play with, but at the same time teach her how to dress and act appropriately or give her a play kitchen, but teach her how to be an independant young woman, she’s not going to grow up to be a stereotype based on her toys. Toys do not raise children.

Bratz dolls are a symptom of a larger trend in our society for girls to grow up faster and to see their bodies as measured by their sex appeal rather than health and strength. I think if my daughter wanted a bratz doll I’d probably buy her one and pay attention to how she played with it - what did it tell me about her own self-image, fears and dreams - and then try to engage her conversations about those root issues.

I’d focus on the core issues (if any) and let the symptoms take care of themselves.

This is a great blog and all your responses are so inspiring. however to add my voice…I don’t believe the Brats doll is any diferent than the romance novels we read. Young teens read them, believe that romance should live happily ever after so we get caught in bad relationships, compromising ourselves hoping its Prince Charming. There’s a new Author called Trillion McKnight whose book every woman should read - The Vanishing Kind.

update - okay, I hadn’t given any thought to Bratz dolls (ever) until I read this post yesterday. But now with your question still floating somewhere in the back of my mind I happened upon some posts for 4 $15,000 scholarships being issued by Lionsgate entertainment associated with the recently released Bratz movie (which I had also been unaware of).

But due to your post, I was curious. After watching the trailer - he message of the movie appears to be - be yourself, don’t succumb to peer pressure, be loyal to your friends - which all seems positive.

And the scholarship is being awarded to kids who answer the question, “What are you most passionate about in life and how would you use this scholarship to help you grow?”

So now I’m thinking of changing my answer (perhaps they are changing their image) but I’m in favor of anything that helps girls tap into their passion, their sense of self and their ability to make a difference in the world.

I don’t like Bratz dolls because they look so inhuman. Barbie doesn’t really look human either but at least her facial features aren’t totally cartoonish, and you don’t have to unscrew her feet to change her shoes - that’s just weird. And Barbie’s body has gotten a little more realistic in recent years; she has something of a midsection now.
I do, however, rather like what’s termed “fashion dolls.” I had Barbie and Cindy and some others as a kid and they got me fantasizing about being an independent adult with my own stuff. They’re not baby piss-n-poo mommy trainers, and they’re about the only children’s media in which the “Smurfette Principle” is reversed and girls are the central characters. One thing I like about Barbie in particular is that she’s been in several different careers, many of which are traditionally male-centric. That said, I could do without all the pink (you can make a kick-ass non-pink Barbie house decorated to your own liking out of an old set of bookshelves).

You can choose to bring Ken into the mix, or not. You can also choose kid-friendly clothes for Barbie. Every outfit I’ve seen for Bratz has been overly vampy - all feather boas and low-riders. My concern isn’t that Bratz “teach girls to dress like sluts.” My concern is that they imply that, if you’re a girl, sexxay is paramount over everything else you could be. Girls get too much of that message as it is.

BTW, not to sound like a Mattel spokesperson, but they have African American and Latina Barbies, and they have ethnic facial features. Asian Barbie is still conspicuously absent though.

Bratz are absolutely not welcome in my house. I threw a huge fit when my daughters soccer team was named Bratz last year. They (commissioners) refused to change the name so I had to listen to “Go Bratz Go” all season. I signed up to be the coach this season and changed the name to Happy Feet.

Sends much better message.

http://traceesioux.blogspot.com/search?q=go+bratz+go

I think the issue with the Bratz dolls stems from the cartoon television show. Although there is a message about being yourself, and “girl power” the enemies on the show are other women. The Bratz feed into the perception that women are always going to be against other women. Bratz succeed because they are clever, but also because they are more fashionable and attractive. To me they send a negative message which they try to cover up with the silly mantra of “girl power.”

I find certain things in society more worrying than a Bratz doll… beauty pageants for girls aged 5/6+ looking like the reincarnation of Barbie…
Living painted babies! To a lot of people that seems normal, now that’s scary.

Barbie did a lot damage to girls. I like the Bratz because they look so cartoonish and most girls know they are not real. So they are just looking at girls who look cute and alien like. I love the concept.
Yall just don’t get it. The problem is white women have a hard time with Black features being considered beautiful. LIKE BIG LIPS BIG EYES and big butts.

I see a lot of people who look like Bratz, I look more like a Bratz doll than I ever would a Barbie. My little girl is still small but DNA will suggest she will look more like me than Heidi Klum I want her to feel like the world sees her as pretty inside and out too! I hated being told that Barbie was pretty, implying I was not. I love the ways my kid plays with the Bratz, they are funy and cute and a lot of play animals get rescued and a pretend magazine is being “published”- when she had Barbies is was Princess whatever waiting for her Price to save her. Bratz are welcome her anytime- better a Bratzy girl than a Bimbo Babs

Let the kids play with the Bratz. They are cute dolls. I have 2 girls who love playing with them. Isn’t it up to the parents to say how much makeup they should put on or how they should dress. It’s just a doll. Look how Barbie turned out. Didn’t she turn into a biker chick and had tattoo’s Did the parents stop buying them because of that. Let the kids be kids.

I used to go back and forth as to my feelings on the Bratz dollz. My sister played with them, and while I thought they were UGLY, I didn’t really see any problem with it…

Until I bought her one for her birthday. It was a cheerleading doll of some kind. Anyway, my sister read the back of the package outlod and the last lines were something to the effect of, “Bratz are showing you that it doesn’t matter how you play–but how good you look when you win!”

What!? I was awe-stricken! How did I manage to buy a doll for my little sister that teaches her that kind of horrible message!?

Furthermore, I am disturbed that their other lines of dolls, Bratz Kidz and Bratz Babiez, are just as sexualized, with croptops and pouty lips, as the teen dolls. Can you say gross?

If a “doll” can make or break your child, then I think you have bigger things to worry about! As for the person who made the make-up comment…the actual Bratz come across as high school aged. Check out Bratz kids designed for the younger generation and they do not have the make-up the older Bratz do. Go to your local high school and you will see the majority of the girls are wearing make-up (heck these days a lot of the guys do also). Bratz gave this scholarship out to kids who wrote an essay. One is a 2nd grader who is an amazing piano player who wants to give free lessons to kids who can’t afford it. Another one is 11 who at the age of just 7 started a non-profit that has gained national recognition and sends care packages to deployed troops. Her website is http://www.HeroHugs.org. If you google the little girl’s name which is Bailey Reese I think you will be amazed at what this CHILD has accomplished. Clearly playing with Bratz in no way negatively influenced these kids and clearly the scholarship they were just awarded will only help make them better! Who would want to knock that?!!

So, just because two children are doing well even though they play with Bratz, we can conclude that all children that play with them are unaffected? Hmm.

I’d like to hear of just ONE child who was actually because she or he played with a Bratz doll. It is a doll….not a role model! If a DOLL is able to affect who or what your daughter becomes, then maybe you need to be evaluating your parenting skills. My brothers and I played cops and robbers when we were kids and wow I am 40 and suprisingly haven’t robbed any banks! I guess my parents must have done something right!!

Never, I wouldn’t buy my daughter a “B*tch” doll either - there is a lot in a name historically, and that is where my problem with these dolls starts. Not enough space to get into all the things wrong with them, but I also wouldn’t buy a Barbie for my daughter - there are other toys on the market - who says girls have to play with dolls in the first place and if they want to - you can find alternatives to some of these preposterous dolls.

I use to play with Barbies. I use to love them to death, but the upgrade to Bratz was the best one yet! Barbie to me seems boring. Yeah yeah yeah, she’s a vet, she’s a doctor, she’s an airplane attendant; but bratz go to tokyo, snowboard, and dress up for halloween. Basically, what kids want to see. They wear tiny clothes because they have tiny “figures”. Who wants to play with a fat doll with baggy clothing?

If you ask me, (which i’m not saying anyone did) bratz are more fun. they do stuff, and they’re more “teenagery”.

I’m sure if i was a mother my views would be different. I’m only an aunt though, to a 11 month old baby that only chews on stuff like this. What she sees now won’t effect her.

I guess in all honesty i’m just mad that my use to be favorite doll is now banned. Even though i don’t play with them anymore, it was still fun to see the new editions, or upgrades (whatever you call them). This controversy that’s now brought them off the shelves makes me want to play with them again, oddly enough.

I won’t though. I still have one or two left that i’m sure i’ll save for someone who want’s them, or never got the chance to play with them because of retarded people that decided they were a bad influence. (:

@Caitlin,

You sound like you’re too immature to know what’s a good influence and what’s not. Your comment “who wants to play with fat barbies” sort of proves my point.

PS- I’m not retarded, and Bratz haven’t been banned. I don’t know where you’re shopping.

obviously the internet isn’t exactly YOUR thing, now is it?
google it. bratz were ordered to be taken off shelves due to barbie controversy.

and i’m quite mature for my age, thank you.
you’re probably only saying that because YOU’RE fat, or your children are.
(:

I have to admit that I laugh to myself when I hear yet another mother claim that her daughter isn’t allowed to play with Bratz dolls. My neice played with them for 5 years straight, and is now a wonderful, composed, and intelligent 13 yr old girl. The dolls certainly don’t seem to have ‘damaged’ her for life.
I was an avid doll fan as a child. I played with my Barbie dolls until the hair fell out of their plugs from being overbrushed. I recall having rocker dolls with pink hair, Malibu dolls in Bikinis, Pregnant dolls, and even a Skipper doll that grew a larger ‘ahem’ chest when you turned her arm around. I can honestly say that I never once desired to have Barbies body, her blonde hair, or any of the outfits she was wearing. Even as a child, I totally ‘got’ that she was a toy and I was human and the two just weren’t connected. I do recall very vividly asking my mom to perm my hair like Alyssa Milano’s when I was 12 yrs old, and I remember dieting for the first time at 13 because I wanted to have a body like a teen model I saw in a teen fashion magazine.
My point is, I think at the end of the day, a doll is what you make of it using your imagination. The parents think way too much about what these dolls are representing than our kids ever will. When it comes to my kids, I worry much more about the HUMAN influences they come across in life. The Britney’s and Christina Aguilera’s, the Lindsay Lohan’s…..They are going to forget about that little plastic doll by the time they are 12 yrs old…my neice did.
I do have a young daughter, and she does have a few Bratz dolls and adores them. She is much too young to understand any of what mother’s worry soo much about. She just loves their long hair. They have less small pieces than Barbie, and at least with Bratz I don’t have to worry about lead poisoning issues. I am an adult doll collector and I can assure you that the quality of the Bratz dolls far exceeds that of Barbie.
My husband and brother both played with GIJOE constantly as children. It didn’t seem to have damaged them either. Neither of them has ever shot a gun or even desired to do so…….

i beleave evryone who is agaenst bratz is wronge. makeup is just a thing they do. it’s not like there going to do evrything like them. they’ll growup and deside. i may be a chld my self but i know what i’m talking about. my mom lets me have them because she knows there is nothing wronge with them. this is my opinion i beleave evryone should voice theres but i beleave it is perfectly fine for children my age 7-13 i beleave you should let them be in this part of life. it’s like people loving barbies there no diffren’t then bratz so if you think bratz are wronge then put theese post for barbies instead of bratz.

and i agree with evryone here. it is ok for evrything that bratz do.

Ok, barbies, the new dora, and now bratz? what else? HSM? Really, I don’t think they’re very bad. Sure, you can take off their clothes, but really, what kid would want to see that?

My hubbie and I let his daughters play with bratz in our household, but the children’s mother found out (not that we were hiding it of course) and freaked. In our house, we feel that if we raise the children to have high morals and ethics by the way that we treat eachother, make the right decisions, etc, that these girls will grow up being strong women. I played with barbies and toy guns, and I am not a prostitute, or killing people. HOWEVER, the children’s mother who will not allow the girls to play with bratz, dropped out of school at fourteen, pregnant at 16 and has two other children out of wedlock. She displays poor judgement with the children and has low morals and ethics. I KNOW that a doll should not and will not raise your children, it will be you as a PARENT. BTW, the mother also allows her children to watch buffy (which contains sex and violence), and R Rated movies (go figure!)

This answer is no. Bratz may dress badly for our young children, but if they didn’t none of the kids would buy them. The media wants us to dress in sluty skirts, short tops and high heels. They want us to have big boobies, skinny stomaches, and big butts. Bratz did copy barbie, a classic. It is up to the parent to teach your children about what is right and wrong: what is right to wear: and what toys are good your your kids, NOT the company.
My three daughters, 13 year old Katie; 6 year old Hannah; and Jessica age 10 love bratz and barbies, they aren’t brats and even though there very pretty, they do NOT wear short things, or things that is bad for their age. I’ve teached them well, so has my husband Chris. They have sevreal Bratz, and many many collections of barbies. Mostly the collectibles. They have many new outfits, there all in great shape, and they even have sevreal videos made together on youtube.com of movies they’ve made.
They also have webkinz. Those who say that bratz are horrible rolemodels, this may be true in some ways. But parents who say this are worse than these dolls, after all there just dolls. The parents need to take care of their kids, teach them about life. If your kid wants a mini-skirt without leggings, say no. Tell her the media is wromg. Make up reasons why its ugly- even though it really isn’t. If they growup to be sluts… parents are going to blame these toys. But secretly in their minds, they know who was wrong.

I would buy my daughter a bratz doll if she were interested, which she isn’t. I do realize they dress like sluts :), but it’s dumb to hide my duaghter from the world. They will enter middle and high school before you know it, and they will see it a lot then and on TV. Even on the internet, which you obviously let her on. Let her experiance the dolls, there just plastic dolls after all, and if you care so much let her mother decide. I think that it would be best if you asked her. Besides, your opinion counts though, too, and people on the Internet won’t change your opinion… it might.
But if you want her not to understand the media, your one strict girl. Barbie is a classic, however, and I could pick those over Bratz, but that isn’t what she wants. Buy her what she wants if you approve and her mother or whoever approves, not the Interet and the people on it.
It’s up to the parents… not the company to teach your kids that wearing these clothes, hanging with guys which is probably your boyfriend, and having big boobs doesn’t matter. The company is just helping kids’ have fun. Coping the Bratzb is commen, but it’s really up to the parents. Deep down they’ll know that it was the’re fault, but they want to blame someone else.

I really dont think Bratz dolls are a bad influence at all on our girls. For one, they are the only type of doll that comes in all races: African American, Caucasian, Asian, and Latino. I think that’s teaching young children diversity. Also, I dont think they dress like sluts! That is how the typical teenage girl of today would dress going to a party or to school. And as far as the makeup goes, I dont think that will drive girls to dress like prostitutes and go have sex! Jeez just relax already!

I really dont see on how you can grow to hate or dislike a 10″ piece of plastic. I dont really recall this much negativity towards the barbie doll, what does she dress so appropriately. honestly its just a doll. it only sends the message you want it to send, it only teaches your children what you want them to. If you tell your child, The doll’s a sl**, that will steryotype certain women and growing young ladies who dress simalar like that as slutty or innapropriate. you shouldnt categorize something by the way it dresses or how much make up it has,THAT would be sending the wrong message. the dolls only show the styles and trends that are on the growing market. If you dont want ur children exposed to these dolls than just dont buy them for them. I know of an experienece in which my niece brought to school a bratz doll and was shunned by her peers as one of her so called “friends” told her the doll was trashy which automatically made her one too. what is this bull, people you see what ur feeding your children. its not the dolls causing damage, its you. well heres a reality check, this line may be ending but their will be plenty or more so called slutty doll lines out there. you can battle and suppose save yourselfs from them, but the image those dolls give out you will always face, whether you think its good or bad.

I think your approach to Bratz dolls is close-minded and silly. Bratz have no intention on causing girls to look like whores. Have you even viewed the show or the movie. If that’s the case, wouldn’t the movie and the show have a higher moview rating such as PG-13 or even R?

Saying bratz aren’t good for your daughter is like calling them stupid.Dolls are to be played with not to be hated.My girl thinks that too. Bratz are a symbol of confidence with style.