Bratz Dolls

[PopCulturePooka]

Does anyone else hate these things, not just for how lame and deformed they are, but because of how much they enforce a particular gender stereotype and lifestyle onto pre-adolescent girls?

Comparisons have been made between them and barbie, but at least Babrie has the whole 'She can be anything' idela going, with Barbie having been a doctor, astronaut, teacher, alympian and business women at some point.

Bratz all appear to be shallow fashion slaves at the most.

Heck, one of their original slogans was "Don't theorize, accessorize". Isn't this basically telling girls that fashion > thinking? This type of slogan was parodied on the Simpsons years before Bratz came out, to the point where I first thought the slogan was another gag.

Then I read on wikipedia about on particular line of Bratz called 'Secret Date':

The dolls were packaged with a Bratz girl in the right half of the box (Cloe, Yasmin, Jade, Meygan or Nevra) and matched with a mystery Boyz doll behind the door on the left. A window showing the doll's feet would provide a clue to which Boyz doll it was, especially important in the quest for the rare Bryce doll, available in only 1 of every 24 boxes. The group Dads and Daughters complained that the dolls sent a negative message, said they were forcing young girls to grow up too soon, and allegedly promoting the idea of sneaking out of the house to go on blind dates with complete strangers. They also took issue with accessories that appeared to be champagne bottles and glasses, and called for MGA to remove the dolls from the market even though MGA claims to have the bottles as sparkling cider. MGA held fast, and the Secret Date collection (later renamed Blind Date) continued to sell.



I dunno, they just seem to endorse one lifestyle, and the lifestyle they endorse, and the accesories, appearance and fashion that goes with that lifestyle seems a little too much for the age of the girls they are marketed too.

If it can at all be argued that violent cartoons make boys agressive and 'teach' bad traits, what do Bratz do?

[EvilFred]

I have Bratz dolls and I'm completely normal.

[Kannon]

They do exactly what you are insinuating, turn girls in to whores. I as well despise these dolls.

EDIT: And Pooka, I have no clue where your sig is from, but for no reason in paticular it was stuck in my head all day...

[Shamu]

My daughter HAD a few Bratz dolls, before the dog chewed them up. Now it's like, Bratz mine field recovery when she plays with them (although I threw away the ones that were really mutilated).
I think they're bizzare, because in order to switch out their shoes, you have to take off the entire foot.
I dunno if I like them so much (I prefer other toys for my child), but my daughter seems to like them.

[PopCulturePooka]

Mr Beans Diary...


I also just read that the Bratz Babyz dolls originally came packaged with a THONG!

Dolls designed to look like infants and toddlers wearing thongs?

[EvilFred]

They do exactly what you are insinuating, turn girls in to whores. I as well despise these dolls.
Except they don't or else I'd be a whore.


I also just read that the Bratz Babyz dolls originally came packaged with a THONG!
A lot of people think that. It was actually a strip of fabric that ran under the dress to stop the skirt from riding up. Not a thong.

[Stephy]

Hm, my baby cousins have the Bratz dolls. They're life style isn't like the one promoted by the bratz style though. They're fine regular annoying 6 and 10 year old. :P

[Soli]

I'll admit, I'd have the whole Bratz set if I had the money. >_> I did have one when they first came out, but lost it. :(

But I like them because of the life like clothes. They're really life like, at least more then Barbie's. They have more of a diversity. But that's Barbie vs. Bratz.

I know that if I was the age where I wanted dolls, I'd like Bratz. But I don't think I'd be that easily influenced by them. :/

Bratz are styled after how older girl look and act now. If I were young I'd see Bratz and think "Oh wow! Look, that doll looks so cool! She looks just like those older girls. And I can get her with a Blind Date. I'm not sure what that is, but if the older girls do it, it must be fun!"

Or something like that. :P

[羽之助]

I get the feeling that Shibuya Ho would fit in perfectly with those lines of dolls.

[Soli]

^ What is 'Shibuya Ho'?

[cama]

I agree with PopCulturePooka. Every time I see these Bratz dolls in toy stores, I really do get annoyed and frustrated. The only postive thing about them that I can think of is the multicultural aspect (but even that is kinda sketchy because the makers pretty much just lumped Japanese and Chinese together :duh: ). However, the messages they're essentially promoting are pretty shallow. Have a passion for fashion! Wear lots of make-up! Look pretty! Attract boys! Be materialistic! Consume! (actually, this is the same as most things geared towards girls and women :S )
I'm not sure to what extent this message is catching on, as I've never met a girl who owns these dolls.
Plus the name "Bratz" is annoying. I find that many kids have saucy attitudes as it stands, so it doesn't help that this kind of behaviour is being condoned in the media.

[Firefly]

I've never really thought about "psychological" effects of these dolls, but ever since they first came out I always thought they were REALLY creepy looking.

[Apotheosis]

There's a Bratz show here in the States.
If you think the dolls are bad. :rofl:
From an episode about eating disorders, I guess?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=q1qcaHR2TaE

[羽之助]

^ What is 'Shibuya Ho'?

http://www.tokyotimes.org/archives/shibuya_girl02.jpg

One of these.

[fa11en87]

I HATE those freaking dolls too! They gross me out. =(

[EvilFred]

http://www.tokyotimes.org/archives/shibuya_girl02.jpg

One of these.
Teeth shouldn't be darker than your lips.

[I Like Shinny!]

http://www.tokyotimes.org/archives/shibuya_girl02.jpg

One of these.
Gah! Those girls scare the hell out of me! And the Bratz dolls do look like Shibuya.

Yah Bratz dolls are pretty st00pid and shallow, but do you really think ten year old girls care? C'mon they still wet the bed and go to sleep at nine.

[Jetsetlemming]

I've never really thought about "psychological" effects of these dolls, but ever since they first came out I always thought they were REALLY creepy looking.
me, too. >_> Dunno why, it's something about the design of that giant head.

[erised]

So in the video the lady eats 3 bites of a cheeseburger and blows up? Won't that give girls eating disorders? ...maybe it was taken out of context. :meh:

I don't like the dolls. I do think they're worse than Barbie. The personas they seem to have are kind of skanky and shallow. And maybe they are more realistic, but we shouldn't be happy about that. Of course they're not turning girls into skanks (I think someone said whores earlier) over night, but more like it shows where society's norms are headed... and it ain't good.

Edit: Oh, and about the name Bratz... it's horrible. I think they only picked that b/c they couldn't get away w/Bitchz-- like how girls will call each other bitch and think it's OK/cute/funny. >_<

[CrazyAce86]

I hate them. My cousin is obsessed with them, so much so that she dresses and acts like them-- and she's ten! I'm not kidding. She's actually said, "But Chloe says..."

And maybe it's because I hate my cousin-- this may sound cruel, but she's an idiot and I'd vote her most likely to make her mother a grandmother before the age of 15. One time I had to babysit her and her brother (who's not much better, but quite honestly, I'd rather deal with the cops bringing him home again than Bratz), and she had to watch the movie over and over and over. I was seriously contemplating breaking the DVD.

And talk about dumb. In the movie, this one Bratz mistook a skunk for a cat. WTF? If you're that fucking dumb, what are you doing breathing?

Shallow, skanky, and fucking ugly. Bratz Dollz need to GO.

[MeneerDijk]

I'd figure it's ok for a kid to play with these Bratz dolls. As long as you can keep the message behind them separated from the toy, it's just a plaything with accesories like any other. However, i do agree that the message behind them is scary.

Talking about scary toys, a couple of weeks ago we saw a Mattel My Scene: Fab Faces doll at Target wich could change expressions by turning some knobs on the back of her head. The face is made of some flexible plastic. It looks like a 'Prednison side-effect face' doll :S

[EvilFred]

Yah Bratz dolls are pretty st00pid and shallow, but do you really think ten year old girls care? C'mon they still wet the bed and go to sleep at nine.
I don't know any ten year olds that wet the bed or go to sleep at nine.

[Jetsetlemming]

And talk about dumb. In the movie, this one Bratz mistook a skunk for a cat. WTF? If you're that fucking dumb, what are you doing breathing?

When I was in middle school, I was taking out the trash late at night, and I heard something rustling around near the trash can, and could see a lot of small black furry things. I assumed they were puppies or kittens or something, and moved closer to look at them. They, seeing me, all ran over and were crawling over my feet and sniffing me in curiousity and I was about to die from the cuteness... when their mother came over seeing her children playing around a large creature. Their skunk mother.
I guess the baby skunks don't get the white stripes on their tail until they grow up some. >_> I stayed completely still and she led them all away into the night. I'm glad she didn't decide to spray me, otherwise I woulda been stomping on some adorable baby skunks on my way the hell outa there.

[Soli]

I don't think Bratz have THAT much of an influnece over little girls. :/ It's a combination of things like commercials on make-up or clothes. The girls see that's how older people look on the TV and want to be more mature and cool, just like them.

Bratz are styled after the popular look for teenage girls. Little girls want to be like those older girls. So, it's not like the Bratz company got the style the Bratz wear out of the blue or had the idea of making little girls grow up too fast.

Like awhile ago with Barbie:
http://www.riverdolls.com.au/midge3.gif
Those Barbie are styled after what the teenage girls were wearing at the time, even though the little girls were the ones who played with the dolls. That's what made the little girls want to have the dolls, so they can pretend they're one of the older girls.


Hmm, do I make sense? I like the Bratz dolls and don't think they're all that bad, or at least aren't the cause of little girls wearing older girl stuff.

[erised]

soli: Haha, 80s barbies! I always preferred Midge (what's up w/that name?). She was so cute w/her red hair, freckles, and green eyes. But she was my sister's doll. I ended up trading 2 of my dolls and some clothes to get her. >_< Edit: just curious, where did you get that pic?

meener: that doll sounds very scary. :eyepop:

edit: Here's a Bratz costume. At least the pants aren't see thru... The others don't look so bad.
http://store.costumecity.com/bratz1.html

[羽之助]

Edit: just curious, where did you get that pic?

Google Image search for "shibuya girl".

[jihei18]

I hate bratz dolls! My little girl cousins are obsessed with them, and I made the mistake of spending Christmas with them. They got the videogame for Christmas, which consisted of the bratz dolls running around shopping, putting on make-up, taking pictures, and drinking non-fat lattes. I wanted to fucking kill myself. In fact, I was in the middle of saying just that before I realized that I was about to curse in front of the kiddies. Thankfully, I convinced them to give the boys a chance to play their star wars game. Yay violence!

[Kusoyaro]

When i used to work (I'm not a bum, i'm a uni student...I'm a bum), there was this girl who wanted to look like a Bratz doll. And she was hot. I was so flabergasted I almost punched her. But luckily I didn't because otherwise all the rabbits on earth would have their heads exploded, and that would be so sad. What the fuck is up with these ludicrous things? Fine, kids like them, but fuck kids,w hat the hell do they know They like what media tells them to like. Shit, parents should be forced to take a medi advertising class so they know how much media basically fucks their kids up and propogates this cyclical retardation of the world's youth, who will become parents and so on and so on. When i get kids, I'm gonna raise them the way i was, it wil be glorious, they will be Batman when they're older, I'm going to arrange for me and the child's mother to be killed in fron of him/her/them.

But I digress, all these dols and action figures and shit are what people think kids should play with because thats what they played with. OMG. Whatever, I guess it is simpler to give them shit that you know is not neccesarily good for them for the peace of mind it gives, especially nowadays in these hectic times. the world has becoem a rough place huh? Rather than having to battle mammoths and kill deer with shittyass flint spears, we have to sit on our ass for hours on end to get pieces of paper that you trade for food that basically destroys your genetic heritage.
You know in the future people will end up looking like Bratz dolls, and no one will care. Except me. That's where my built-in nuclear super-bomb comes in handy.
Don't mind me.

[Spike]

When i used to work (I'm not a bum, i'm a uni student...I'm a bum), there was this girl who wanted to look like a Bratz doll. And she was hot. I was so flabergasted I almost punched her. But luckily I didn't because otherwise all the rabbits on earth would have their heads exploded, and that would be so sad. What the fuck is up with these ludicrous things? Fine, kids like them, but fuck kids,w hat the hell do they know They like what media tells them to like. Shit, parents should be forced to take a medi advertising class so they know how much media basically fucks their kids up and propogates this cyclical retardation of the world's youth, who will become parents and so on and so on. When i get kids, I'm gonna raise them the way i was, it wil be glorious, they will be Batman when they're older, I'm going to arrange for me and the child's mother to be killed in fron of him/her/them.

But I digress, all these dols and action figures and shit are what people think kids should play with because thats what they played with. OMG. Whatever, I guess it is simpler to give them shit that you know is not neccesarily good for them for the peace of mind it gives, especially nowadays in these hectic times. the world has becoem a rough place huh? Rather than having to battle mammoths and kill deer with shittyass flint spears, we have to sit on our ass for hours on end to get pieces of paper that you trade for food that basically destroys your genetic heritage.
You know in the future people will end up looking like Bratz dolls, and no one will care. Except me. That's where my built-in nuclear super-bomb comes in handy.
Don't mind me.

I like you.

[Kusoyaro]

Thank you. I like you, too. Let's elope and move in next to Ashton and Demi, and we can sell their garbage on ebay for vast sums of money, and we'll be filthy rich and lead wonderful lives.

[Shishio]

I hate them as well, but simply because of my own preferences, not because of the idiocy they promote.

I see your point about that, but it's not any different than saying violent videogames/television shows/etcetera turn children into murderers and rapists.

I don't agree with the idea of blaming such things for a person's behaviour.

I also hate them because of this (http://www.digitalwebbing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98105&highlight=bratz).

[Klilynkun]

stupid big lipped dolls....... they're the grandchildren of chuckie i tell you..... THE GRANDCHILDREN OF CHUCKIE

[Uska]

http://www.tokyotimes.org/archives/shibuya_girl02.jpg

One of these.

Scariest.....shit...ever....

[Klilynkun]

what the fizzuck iz dat!?!?!?!!

[Kusoyaro]

ganguro or w/e the fuck. i wonder what it would be like to be sleeping with her. she seems attractive and obviously has a capricious attitude, but that make-up. Oh God. Human decency: time of death; now.

[Klilynkun]

can you imagine waking up next to that after a drunken night out :eyepop:

[Kusoyaro]

That's what I was thinking but I didn't want to say it for fear of people getting offended (can you believe it, me worried about other people? I'm so nice).
I was also wondering if she gonna do herself up like that when she gets married. Does she live with her folks I wonder? What do they say?

[ultimatedragoon]

i snapped out of my goth phase once they came out with the goth/punk bratz doll i think. maybe it was just a coincidence but i like to think that had something to do with it.

[Kusoyaro]

hahah bubblegum culture's counterculture line for children too douche'd to know better

[erised]

Google Image search for "shibuya girl".

Sorry, I meant the barbies. lol

[Jay]

I hate them. My cousin is obsessed with them, so much so that she dresses and acts like them-- and she's ten! I'm not kidding. She's actually said, "But Chloe says..."

And maybe it's because I hate my cousin-- this may sound cruel, but she's an idiot and I'd vote her most likely to make her mother a grandmother before the age of 15. One time I had to babysit her and her brother (who's not much better, but quite honestly, I'd rather deal with the cops bringing him home again than Bratz), and she had to watch the movie over and over and over. I was seriously contemplating breaking the DVD.

And talk about dumb. In the movie, this one Bratz mistook a skunk for a cat. WTF? If you're that fucking dumb, what are you doing breathing?

Shallow, skanky, and fucking ugly. Bratz Dollz need to GO.

...Amen .

[Trump]

The TV commercials for them kill brain cells. They really need to stop.

[Fred]

I remember once, around 3:00 AM, I was walking home because my car broke down, and I heard this high-pitched, eerie, singsongy voice say, “Bratz Doll, come out to play.” Then I heard a high-pitched giggle followed by the same refrain. “Bratz Dolls, come out to play.”

I tell you I was scared! I hid in the shadows behind a nearby garbage can, frantically scanning my surroundings. Then I saw them. There were 8 of them. Barbie Dolls – looking to rumble. Their leader was a Malibu Barbie. She may only have been 11.5 inches of plastic, but she looked tough. She was wearing a skirt so short it might have been a belt. She was wearing a shirt that looked like it had once belonged to a G.I. Joe – the old kind from the 70’s. Pity the poor sap she took that shirt from.

“You looking for trouble, Barbie?” It was a party girl’s voice. The kind of voice you expected to hear say something along the lines of, “Ohmygod! It was like so big. It was like, Ohmygod!”

The Bratz Doll gang! I was in trouble. The Bratz dolls were smaller than the willowy Barbies but chunkier. They are made of vinyl – hard vinyl. And they can be mean. There were 10 of them and they meant to take the Barbies out!

Oh, the Barbies fought hard. They kicked out with their long plastic legs and used their sharp, pointy breasts to threaten the eyes of the Bratz dolls. For more than one Bratz doll, the world was a darker place after that night. Unfortunately for the Barbies, they could not overcome the Bratz’s oversized heads. They used those heads to smash everything in their way. The lead Barbie fought valiantly, but she got caught between two smashing heads and that was the end of her. She lingered in a heap while the Bratz destroyed the rest of her crew. Then the lead Bratz came back to her. “Your done for, Malibu Barbie! We’re going to find all of the Ken dolls and make them do our bidding!” Then Malibu Barbie laughed. The laugh wheezed out of her, but what it lacked in strength, it made up for in sheet vituperative hatred. “They may look like men, but really, they have no penises”, she whispered with her last, dying breath. “Eeew. She said ‘penis’”, one doll could be hear to say. The other Bratz dolls started to mutter, and apply inappropriately colored make-up to each other in their consternation. The lead Bratz doll was silent for a moment and then she hissed, “She lied. She must have lied!” She smashed the fragments of Malibu Barbie one more time and stormed off. Her gang followed.

As soon as they were gone, I ran off blindly. Seconds? Maybe even a minute? I know not how long. I ran until I was done for and could not run any further. Now, I can never see a Bratz doll or a Barbie again without thinking of that terrible night at 3:00 AM.

[Kusoyaro]

Hahaha awesome! I love your storytelling abilities.
I don't think many got the reference though, bah.

[Roxie]

OMG I HATE THESE DOLLS!!!:yuck: :bang:

THE MOST RECENT COMMERCIAL MAKES ME WANT TO BURN THE BRATZ FACTORY TO THE FUCKING FLOOR!!

The script goes like "Did she say that?" "She said what?" "I can't believe she said that" while the dolls show off their new ability to make 5 different faces.

The whole thing is encouraging cattiness, drama, "competition" and basically all the horrible stereotypes about women.

FUCK THE BRATZ
FUCK THEM DEAD!

[Soli]

soli: Haha, 80s barbies! I always preferred Midge (what's up w/that name?). She was so cute w/her red hair, freckles, and green eyes. But she was my sister's doll. I ended up trading 2 of my dolls and some clothes to get her. >_< Edit: just curious, where did you get that pic?

You were asking me? Whoops! :P Sorry. :S

I googled 1990 Barbie. And that's what I got!
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=1990+barbie

[PiccoloNamek]

I HATE Bratz dolls and Bratz dolls commercials. I hate the way they look and the kind of image and attitude they encourage. My little sister likes them and even acts like them, ugh. If I had a daughter I can tell you for certain she would not be exposed to that kind of nonsense.

[Soli]

I like Bratz! Ha! I said it. :D

Not enough to want to buy them though. I am too old for dolls now. :/

[Klilynkun]

Stone the evil doer

[jindojim]

Hmm...Bratz Dolls amuse me.

This is why:
http://www.kangurum.com.tr/images/1101/urun/277781.jpg

http://bratz-world.diaryland.com/images/bratz_tokyo_pic.jpg

"Anything goes in Tokyo!" Hahaha (Yes, apparently there are Bratz Boys....)

[Klilynkun]

I already thought there were official bratz boys anyway

[I Like Shinny!]

http://bratz-world.diaryland.com/images/bratz_tokyo_pic.jpg
Somehow they manage to make Ken liook more masculine. :bored:

[Klilynkun]

hahaha
they are the dolls/action figures for metrosexuals

[Jay]

FUCK THE BRATZ
FUCK THEM DEAD!

Bring them to life and then we'll continue this conversation...

[erised]

You were asking me? Whoops! :P Sorry. :S

I googled 1990 Barbie. And that's what I got!
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=1990+barbie

I had a midge doll that looked exactly like that-- she even had the same outfit. I liked to put her in her tennis outfit, tho. I guess I thought she was cuter w/a sporty look. haha

[oneangrybeaver]

God, those freakish things look awful. I remember their commercials now. They should burn in the fire of a thousand suns.

Didn't South Park make a parody of these things' name? "Stupid Spoiled Whorez!" dolls or something, endorsed by Paris Hilton?

[Eddie Echoplex]

Ahhh, the dolls. My niece had one for her birthday (she's 8), but, since she spent most of her time with her brothers and I used to read her some of my novels (The Hobbit, LoTR, the works) and my cousin is a huge Harry Potter fan, she didn't like it and it now resides in the closet.

She did like the "alternative" gift, though: A Dinosaur Encyclopedia.

[KelliShaver]

Hmmm.... been a long time since I've been here, but I couldn't resist a Bratz bashing thread.

I dislike them, for many reasons-- the way they're marketed, the image/message they convey. When thinking of the adjectives I want my daughter to associate with girls/teens/women "shallow," "promiscuous," "unintelligent," "materialistic" and "superficial" just aren't on the list.

It goes beyond just toys, too, sadly. The fashions for young girls today is frankly sickening. My 4yr old, who is incredibly freakin' tall for her age, has grown to the point where she's out of the toddler/little kid clothes and into the girls stuff. So I went to buy her new winter clothes recently and it took me forever to find her shirts that weren't plastered with glitzy sayings like "drama queen," "hottie" and "high maintenance." There was also a large selection of low-rider jeans, or whatever the hell they're called, and underwear with similar wording stamped across the ass. Hello, WTF? This is a four year old. Why on earth would this be acceptable?

Fortunately, my daughter has no interest in the dolls, or any other dolls for that matter. She'd rather play with her stuffed animals, read, play outside or color and draw, etc.