My Little Pony Media Over reaction????

[hathorcat]

The thing is, Hasbro has access to a very powerful tool to diagnose and even manipulate demand called media.  Just take a look at Megan from G1.  Megan was introduced as the token human character in Rescue at Midnight Castle and she was so popular Hasbro figured they could make a toy of her to go with the ponies.  They can use media to get older kids interested in ponies if they use it right.

Trust me if it was that simple, my job would be so much easier. Hasbro cannot manipulate the desires of little girls the world over wanting to be princesses and play with pretty, skinny, overly made up dolls. That is a cultural issue. Yes, Hasbro respond and buy into that concept but they don't create it. Any study of cultural history going back centuries will find you stories of handsome princes and pretty girls; a desire and and concept which existed long before any of today's multi national toy companies existed.

But as others have pointed out before me, its about a balance; its not Hasbro's fault that pretty, skinny dolls with too  much make up and unnaturally large eyes are popular. They dont manipulate media [the same media which then writes these kinds of articles]. Life, style, culture creates a market, companies like Hasbro buy into and give that culture an id. So they are not the source but they are the messenger.

[Wardah]

I think Huff is way off the mark on this one. As others have stated, as long as Hasbro keeps making ponies I don't care if they have this offshoot line of dolls. They are not as bad as Bratz in the least and it's not fair to compare them to that line. Bratz are all about being sexualized and having the cool sexy clothes and expensive accessories (cell phones, "bling", purses, cars etc etc). NOT the kind of example I think is healthy for anyone to model after, especially young girls.

Actually Bratz were not about being sexualized either. Their message was more about friendship and diversity (great) and materialism (not so great). Their bodies weren't even that busty. I think the backlash against the Bratz is more of an internalized racism cause most of the Bratz styles are urban and they have big lips. There is an awful stereotype that women of color are more "sexual" than white women and quite frankly that disgusts me.

[LilAlleyCat]

I think Huff is way off the mark on this one. As others have stated, as long as Hasbro keeps making ponies I don't care if they have this offshoot line of dolls. They are not as bad as Bratz in the least and it's not fair to compare them to that line. Bratz are all about being sexualized and having the cool sexy clothes and expensive accessories (cell phones, "bling", purses, cars etc etc). NOT the kind of example I think is healthy for anyone to model after, especially young girls.

Actually Bratz were not about being sexualized either. Their message was more about friendship and diversity (great) and materialism (not so great). Their bodies weren't even that busty. I think the backlash against the Bratz is more of an internalized racism cause most of the Bratz styles are urban and they have big lips. There is an awful stereotype that women of color are more "sexual" than white women and quite frankly that disgusts me.

Internalized racism?? Really? I was born and raised in an urban environment and my opinion has nothing to do with their diversity or big lips. It was purely about their sexual style of clothing and materialism. If that is how you perceive urban culture, that doesn't make it a positive image. Women paid for their companionship dress that way too, are they just being cool? Of course, even the popular, catty, rich white girls had thier click of friends. I would not call the story about their friendship being a core value of their toy line but rather a vehicle for their exploitation, cloaking it as "friendship". Yeah, all friendships should be based on shopping, wearing makeup, having the cool stuff. Oh and boys, let's not forget about the boys.

It sounds like you are coming from a very biased position rather than looking at what the dolls offered outside of "big lips" and "urban style"

[Rosencrantz]

Did you know a regular huffington post article headline is "We did NOT expect this from [NAME]! WOW!" and it turns out to be [Name] selling their house?

So I wouldn't particularly worry about anything they have posted ever.

[Dragonflitter]

As for me, I'm just shocked that the article's slideshow of photos IS actually in chronological order! I don't expect actual correct facts in the HuffPost these days.

[ringwraith10]

When I was a kid I played with Barbies that had bigger chests and a whole lot more eye makeup than Barbies have today. This did not make me aspire to have a big chest, nor did they make me crazy about makeup (which I don't even wear). I didn't start noticing how ridiculous my childhood barbies looked until I was in my late teens.

Think this:
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Orange and blue-skinned dolls with pointy horse ears atop their heads and pony origins are not going to affect kids' body images any more than my barbies affected mine. They will only assist imagination for children whose imaginative pony stories include these dolls.

[reanna-mator]

The article made me roll my eyes. I'm pretty liberal, so in my opinion these people are freaking out a little too much.

Pretty much this. I empathize with their desire to make toys that don't give girls unrealistic expectations, but we can't pretend that it's all in the hands of the toymakers. Greater diversity in our toys would be nice, but we need to be willing to take responsibility for our children's development first and foremost in the lessons we teach them. Media has a lot of power to shape the culture of future generations, but we can't go on pretending it's the largest factor and keep freaking out every time something becomes hugely popular and wonder if that makes there's something wrong that's going to swallow our kids whole.

This all reminds me very much of the massive backlash Pokemon underwent when it first got popular, when people screamed bloody murder about it being everything from simulated cockfighting to gambling. Different message, but it speaks to the same kind of knee-jerk ignorance. Too many people in the position to raise another human being aren't willing to get involved in what their kids are interested in-- they want TV, papers and websites to do the research on what's good for their kids so they don't have to.

[ravengusty]

I still personally think Hasbro are trying to cash in on the popularity of Monster High, which is very popular (I collect them myself) although it would have been more interesting if they'd given the dolls feet and made all of them pose-able like Monster High.

There was something online a month or so ago that harped on about ponies becoming sexualized even saying Celestia looked like a pole dancer. I rolled my eyes at that and I rolled my eyes at this pile of poop. 

Companies often try to follow trends, EG is obviously an example of this with the MH/Bratz/Pony crossbreed

I'll stick to ponies 

[Saiko]

You know, I'm getting really sick of Peggy Orenstein (author of "Cinderella Ate My Daughter") and what she has to say. I wish we could stop giving her media attention, because she's wrong wrong wrong.

I remember a while back I read a post she made on her blog about Monster High, because I like that line so much. The top of the post had a photo of her daughter in front of the Monster High aisle in a store, while the article went on about how her daughter would never be allowed one. Really? You're going to make your kid pose in front of things they probably want but will never be allowed to make a point on your blog?

The little girl was also in very covering clothing to the point that it just wasn't practical, all while her mother's goes on at the child that the MH characters look like bad people because of the way they dress. All she is doing is teaching her child not to value women who dress even a little revealingly, that those people are 'bad'. The mother had never even watched an MH episode or read the literature behind them, so she didn't know what the personalities of these dolls were, only judging them on the way they dress. And that really is damaging. She also had to skirt around trying not to mention sex because the child was too young, when all her opinions on children's toys are based around sex. She's not a healthy person.

It's sad because the message she went so overboard trying to get across is actual so simple to do: Sit down, talk to your child and if you don't want them to dress a certain way, don't buy them those kinds of clothes. A doll should not be parenting for you.

[Rosencrantz]

<very good post>

So much agree!

[reanna-mator]

<very good post>

So much agree!

Me too!

Some people have good intentions but they go so far the other way that they just go right around the bend anyway. There is no middle ground. There is no gray, just pure white and wicked, wicked blackness. People want to know right now what they should and shouldn't like, and some of them don't even care why. It's blind ideology that's lost sight of what it really wants to achieve.

[MimiTheMuse]

You know, I'm getting really sick of Peggy Orenstein (author of "Cinderella Ate My Daughter") and what she has to say. I wish we could stop giving her media attention, because she's wrong wrong wrong.

I remember a while back I read a post she made on her blog about Monster High, because I like that line so much. The top of the post had a photo of her daughter in front of the Monster High aisle in a store, while the article went on about how her daughter would never be allowed one. Really? You're going to make your kid pose in front of things they probably want but will never be allowed to make a point on your blog?

The little girl was also in very covering clothing to the point that it just wasn't practical, all while her mother's goes on at the child that the MH characters look like bad people because of the way they dress. All she is doing is teaching her child not to value women who dress even a little revealingly, that those people are 'bad'. The mother had never even watched an MH episode or read the literature behind them, so she didn't know what the personalities of these dolls were, only judging them on the way they dress. And that really is damaging. She also had to skirt around trying not to mention sex because the child was too young, when all her opinions on children's toys are based around sex. She's not a healthy person.

It's sad because the message she went so overboard trying to get across is actual so simple to do: Sit down, talk to your child and if you don't want them to dress a certain way, don't buy them those kinds of clothes. A doll should not be parenting for you.

Okay, now I'm totally going to find her blog. I want to read her book too, because I don't "GET" her concept. I mean, I wasn't into princesses and Barbie as a kid, in fact my dolls were pretty much shunned. My ponies spent more time in the Barbie doll house than the Barbies themselves! One reason I collect My Little Pony is because it was THE toy of my childhood and the start of a life-long love affair with horses. I also loved my Pound Puppies, Care Bears and basically anything animal shaped. The result? I am a make wearing, mostly skirt wearing, woman who paints her nails and collects dolls and writes romance novels. So....what the heck?

As for the Equestria Girls dolls...I collect dolls and I love anthromorphic designs or dolls that have a "different" flair (think La Dee Dah style), so I will be buying them. BUT I do agree that MLP should be about ponies. It used to the alternative for girls who weren't really into the doll thing. As long as it stays that, I'll be happy. I think there's room in the line for the Eq Girls *AND* ponies...and I'll remain optimistic that Hasbro realizes that too.....until they prove me wrong, of course.

[StoryDreamer]

When I was a kid I played with Barbies that had bigger chests and a whole lot more eye makeup than Barbies have today. This did not make me aspire to have a big chest, nor did they make me crazy about makeup (which I don't even wear). I didn't start noticing how ridiculous my childhood barbies looked until I was in my late teens.

Think this:
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Orange and blue-skinned dolls with pointy horse ears atop their heads and pony origins are not going to affect kids' body images any more than my barbies affected mine. They will only assist imagination for children whose imaginative pony stories include these dolls.

I don't know, I wanted mountainous shoulder pads after Barbie had them.

[Moonstar]

 I could have been abnormal but Barbie and other dolls growing up were all about what they were and what they did rather than how skinny they happened to be. I never even noticed the bodies were unrealistic because I didn't see it as a body but rather just how Barbie, a pretend girl, had always looked.  She was a role model, but not a body model to me.
All that beside the point I think EG dolls are a passing thing, for better or worst. They seem to be really pushing them to be the image of cool and hip and cutting edge which could ether sell very well or sell well with some and seem forced to others. For what it's worth I hope little girls enjoy them  but I think the fact that the draw to the MLP brand is\was that they are ponies, not just pony shaped humans, is good for Hasbro to remember to .

[Al-1701]

Trust me if it was that simple, my job would be so much easier. Hasbro cannot manipulate the desires of little girls the world over wanting to be princesses and play with pretty, skinny, overly made up dolls. That is a cultural issue. Yes, Hasbro respond and buy into that concept but they don't create it. Any study of cultural history going back centuries will find you stories of handsome princes and pretty girls; a desire and and concept which existed long before any of today's multi national toy companies existed.

I'm not saying Hasbro can change what is widely accepted.  Yes.  Girls are attracted to skinny, pretty, overly made up dolls.  There's probably nothing that will change that short of a complete shift in our culture which Hasbro is neither willing or able to create.

However, Hasbro has specialized at thinking outside of the box and bringing something new and different out of the familiar.  Their most successful franchises are based on a common thing given a new twist.  Vehicles that can turn into giant robots.  Equines that come in all the colors of the rainbow and many varieties.  Common soldiers elevated to "American Heroes."  Mattel is the one really following Hasbro's lead by trying to make science fiction and fantasy related media tied to their brands and with newer properties like Monster High trying to capture that familiar but different feel.

It's not that Hasbro can destroy a market, it's that it can make its own markets.

Also, mutating a brand to remove all of its unique charm to follow someone else is never a recipe for success.