We’ve heard about the outrage against Bratz dolls a few years back, now, Monster High Dolls, are hitting the shelves AND flying off it like crazy. My girls adore them, me, well, some of them do look a bit scary, but the ones they’ve bought with their own pocket money, looked pretty harmless to me. The girls adore this range of dolls compared to Barbie. When asked why, they replied that Barbie is just too girly, too much pink. They used to love Bratz dolls as well. Yes, to some parents those dolls seemed to look a bit too sexualised, too much make-up, etc. The girls honestly, didn’t see that at all. They just saw the Bratz dolls as being fun to dress up and – different. Yes I let them watch the videos, which to me were harmless, just about girls setting up a magazine, going against the evil Burdine, a rival magazine owner. It was more about being nice to everyone, coming up with different ideas and strategies, showing people they can have fun with fashion and still be smart. Is that wrong?

Now, my girls do love experimenting with make-up. Mine mostly – behind my back. Tell me though, which girls don’t? Does that mean it was the dolls influencing them – NO. They just love playing around with the colours, experimenting – because they see their mum wearing make-up. I did that when I was younger, and no, I didn’t have any Barbie dolls(or anything similar) until much later. Sure the Bratz dolls were dressed a bit risqué at times, but know what my girls did? They made sure the dolls were wearing pants with the too-short dresses the dolls had on. Why? Because they knew themselves the dresses were too short, it was inappropriate, and so they made it more appropriate.

Miss 9 was goggling for some Monster High news the other day and stumbled upon this:

Miss 9 was devastated. She was insulted that the lady being interviewed gave such harsh remarks on the dolls she so loved. So I went ahead and listened to what this mum had to say. Honestly, even I thought she was a bit harsh.

I then asked my girls what was about the dolls that appealed to them. Their responses:

• they look different

• love how friendly they are (from the videos on the websites)

When asked if it makes them cool to have these dolls, they replied no. They just loved the dolls. Deep down inside I think to the girls these dolls represented the “underdog”. Although they might not know it? That’s my perception anyway.

That’s Laguna Blue- Miss 9 dressed her up in the long shorts that the doll came with, underneath the short dress to make it into a top instead.

That’s the “class overview” that came with the doll. It’s a fun play on words with the different topics the dolls learn at school. “Science” nonetheless.

Some little extra notes included by “Laguna Blue”.

My opinion on them? I still can’t see any harm in these dolls. Are they sexualised? Ummm..really, do you think kids see or know what being sexualised is if they were not told what it was? My girls just see these dolls as being DOLLS. That is it. The love the funky clothes, of which some were a tad bit short, but they dressed them up as tops instead of dresses. Do my girls try to dress like them? Sort of – in that they wear a dress with leggings, or in Miss 8′s case, she wore a top, skirt and leggings to dress like her favourite doll Frankiestein. And no, she doesn’t wear make-up even if the dolls do. The girls were confused as to what a “Pole Dancer” was. Why? Because they’ve never seen one! Oh and that pole that lady was talking about…well, that’s actually a stand – even I knew that. I’m not upset at the comments the mum made. Maybe she’s right, but to me, I hate it when people blame dolls for influencing how or what our children think of themselves. When I was finally given a Barbie doll by a friend of my parents when I was about 8, my initial thought was – wow, lovely dress and you know what I started doing then? I started drawing different costumes for her. So does that make me – who dreamed of being a fashion designer at such a young age – shallow? If so, then all fashion designers are regarded as such too? Or are they creative artists?

Besides playing with these dolls, my girls also draw pictures of the dolls. That is art. They also create different characters on their own. Again, that is creativity. I guess really, it’s how you influence your child. How you educate them. Sure the dolls (any dolls for that matter) can somehow shape the child’s thinking, but like television and the online world and everything else around them it’s up to US as parents to educate them!