Debbie Schlussel: It's Official: Psychologists Say Bratz Dolls Make Your Daughters Sluts
Give your daughter a doll that looks like a ho, and there's a good chance she'll act like one. Duh.
But at least now the American Psychological Association agrees. It issued a report that, among other things, points the finger at the Bratz dolls for the increasing sluttiness among American girls at younger and younger ages.
I don't agree with a great deal of the report that seems to attack boys and men and support too much feminism (surprise!--the APA is very liberal). But, still, researchers from the APA found that images of Bratz dolls--on TV, in the movies, in song lyrics and all over the media--may make girls think of and treat their own bodies as sexual objects. While the study concerns teens, tweens, and pre-schoolers, one of the members of the panel who put together the report says the results would apply to even younger girls:
"It's fair to say, were we to do these same studies on younger girls, you would expect to find the same results, but we have to do the studies," says Sharon Lamb, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at Saint Michael's College in Colchester, Vt., who served on the task force. . . .The report cites Bratz dolls, in particular, for "sexualized clothing. . . ."
"Although these dolls may present no more sexualization of girls or women than is seen in MTV videos, it is worrisome when dolls designed specifically for 4- to 8-year-olds are associated with an objectified adult sexuality," the report says.
Remember when Hasbro was going to make a line of Pussycat Dolls stripper dolls aimed at 6-year-olds? Fortunately, the kabosh was put on that plan after my readers and others objected.
Barbie is so underrated.
Posted by Debbie on February 20, 2007 03:30 PM to Debbie Schlussel