Can you name these characters?
Girls gone missing AGAIN.
On line at Office Depot, see what I see
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Category Archives: Toys & products
Sexist Apps for little kids: RacePenguin
My daughter is home sick today and she’s in my bed, playing with my ipad. She pushed a button, showed me this app (RacePenguin) and asked me to get her the one that flies. She’s only three and hopefully cannot recognize the awful male/ female distinction in this game yet.
Can you see these options for kids to choose from?
If not, here they are:
(1) Kids mode: Flying becomes easier No bear behind you
(2) Super Penguin: Go Higher, Go faster, Have more control
(3) Penguinette: Unlock a cute penguin girl
(4) Magic penguin: Teleport uphill: Get a magic boost for every perfect slide.
Who in God’s name is going to want to be Penguinette? Look at her! Her blonde hair and red bow? WTF? While the other penguins go higher, faster, and have more control, she gets to be cute? This is a fucking game for little kids and “cute” is what the female does? Do you think she’s going to win the race? Does she even care about winning it?
This kind of sexism is programmed and marketed to kids everywhere, constantly, through games, toys, TV and movies. (I let my eight year old download this game because it was free. Free sexism, what a bargain!)
Gender stereotyping in kidworld is so ubiquitous that, ironically, it’s become practically invisible. It’s so normal that too many parents have stopped noticing it at all.
Parents, please be aware of this kind of sexism aimed at children; it’s not fair to our kids and their growing brains.
Reel Girl rates Race Penguin ***SSS*** for triple gender stereotyping, not suitable for children.
A doll is a doll is a doll
Melissa Silverstein, founder and editor of one of my favorite blogs Women and Hollywood is pissed off about the Katniss Everdeen Barbie doll. She hates Barbie.
There are many Barbie fans in the world. I am not one of them. Yes, Barbie does have many aspirational dolls. There even is President Barbie. There is also TV newscaster; vet; Soccer player; doctor. There is even an Angela Merkel Barbie doll.
But for every aspirational Barbie there is Ballerina Barbie; Barbie Tea Party Princess Doll; Barbie Royal Dress Up Doll; Beautiful Fairy Barbie Doll; Princess Bride Doll; Beach Doll.
I hate Barbie too, and I get where Silverstein is coming from. I attended a conference of female architects when Architect Barbie came out and they all talked about how stupid looking she was. I couldn’t agree more. With her A line dress, ever present smile, and pink house, she looks like any other Barbie. She looks like she wouldn’t be caught dead wearing the white hard hat that sits at her feet.
I’ve also blogged about these idiotic “aspirational” Barbies that come with McDonald’s Happy Meals. All I see here are hair and smiles. I can’t tell these Barbies apart. Their “aspirations” also look like props.
Here’s Katniss Everdeen. Yesterday, I blogged about how much I like her.
Mattel could have put the Katniss doll in any of the dresses or outfits that Cinna, her stylist, made for her. One thing I loved about “The Hunger Games” movie was how well Jennifer Lawrence portrayed Katniss’s discomfort and awkwardness when traditional femininity was forced on her. Lawrence played this disconnect so well that when critics noticed it, they mislabeled her too fat to play the part.
Remember Mulan, the most feminist of the Disney princesses? In the movie, Mulan like Katniss, hated being dressed in ceremonial “princess” wear. Yet, almost every single Mulan doll, or image in a coloring book or on a T shirt or diaper, she is wearing the dress that she hated in the movie. And she’s smiling while wearing it.
One thing I love about the Katniss Barbie is that she is not smiling.
But Silverstein makes a great point: why should we be grateful that Katniss actually looks like Katniss?
It’s like when I complain about a LEGO minifig and people say, “At least its not a Bratz doll.”
So those are my choices?
I wish girls had many more options of brave and heroic females to play with. I wonder if Katniss has curled feet under those boots. But mostly, when I look at this doll, I’m thinking: What is she about to DO? That’s a great question to ask my three daughters. I’m grateful that she’s out there for all kids, boys included, to play with.
Here’s where I disagree with Silverstein. She writes:
“I hate that we need dolls for aspiration.”
But most kids use dolls for “aspiration,” that is imaginary play. If boys play with dolls we may call them something different: “LEGO minifigs” or “action figures” or “robots,” but a doll is a doll is a doll.
Dolls are tools that kids use to make up stories. Kids need tools to make up stories. I’ve seen my kids make up narratives using their fingers or sticks or cheerios, so those tools don’t absolutely have to be humanish, but it helps. It helps me, as a mom. I’ve complained to places like Pepperidge Farm about its male characters and sexist narratives: give me something more to work with, people. I’m creative, but help me out. Also, I’m better with a humanish tool than a finger or a stick. I know I can make up stories with this doll, exciting adventures. I know my kids can. She’s a tool I want. I’ll just call her an action figure.
M & Ms banned me from posting a link on its FB page
And I am getting reports that it is deleting them. Please let me know if this is true. Post a link to my post, take a screen shot, and post the screen shot on Reel Girl. I am technically challenged and took a photo with my camera. THANK YOU
Is this Ms. Brown or is it Ms. Green waving her stripped off shell…
to show she’s naked? That’s what commenters are saying. What do you think? She’s holding her skin? This has got to be the worst ad campaign EVER. I have seriously lost my appetite for M & Ms. So gross. Yuk.
At Stride Rite, girls are pretty, boys are active
You’ve got to read this post At Stride Rite, girls are pretty and boys are active by Rebecca Hains about how shoes are marketed to girls versus boys. Check out the photos. They are really amazing. Here’s just one:
Parents, you buy your kids shoes. You have the money. Do not cave into this. It is a big deal.
If you’ve been reading my M & Ms posts, the main physical difference between the hyper-sexualized females and the playful, funny males are shoes. The males get sneakers; they can move. The females get heels; then they straddle trees and pose for SI Sports Illustrated.
I saw the link to Hain’s shoe piece on three descriptors and other such nonsense. That blogger takes her daughter outside to play everyday. Totally admire that. I am going to try harder. As I told three descriptors, it’s easiest for me when my kids are quiet, reading or doing art, but every time I actually get myself outside, I love it. I live in California for God’s sake. And in the long run, it is better for me, too, to get them out because my kids are happier.
Thanks to all the mom bloggers for writing about this stuff and being aware. It’s the first step.
Reel Girl rates Stride Rite ***SSS*** for major stereotyping.
M & Ms: sex symbols for kids?
To anyone who thinks this S & M-M & M is outdated because it’s from a few years back:
Here is Ms. Brown on back cover of the 2012 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue:
To anyone who thinks that I just have a dirty mind and there’s nothing sexualized about M & Ms for God’s sake, here is how Sports Illustrated promotes the ad on its own Facebook page: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit: “Did you see the sexy Ms. Brown made the cover of the Swimsuit issue again!? Welllll, the back cover; Check her out.”
Keep in mind that Ms. Brown is the new female, that before her debut on TV during this year’s Superbowl, even Time Magazine called the animated M & M characters “male-centric.” Ms. Brown has since been called the feminist M & M (as opposed to the boy-crazy Ms. Green.) Brown wears glasses (that means she’s smart!) and tweets empowering messages about women’s issues.
So why is our token feminist character peeking out the window with kissy-lips waving a towel (implying she’d naked, I guess?) on the back cover of SI, so in full view of any kid whose parents have this magazine at home?
Why does M & Ms have to sexualize its female cartoon characters? Before Ms. Brown, there was only one female out of five; now there are 2 out of 6, and this is what M & Ms does to them? These cartoon characters appear in toys, games, and in full size at CVS and Party City stores.
Why are we allowing these stereotypes to sell sexism to kids in any available blank space? If M & Ms promoted racial stereotypes, there would outrage. Parents, this is not OK.
Please go to M & Ms Facebook page and tell the company to stop sexualizing females. As I posted earlier, the M &Ms marketing strategy is just as sick as using a cartoon camel to sell cigarettes to kids.
Read more about gendering food marketed to kids.
Read about the difference between sexualizing (bad) and sexuality (good)
Update: I am getting comments that the M & M pictured above is actually Ms. Green, that green thing she’s waving? It’s her shell which she has stripped off and is waving to show that she’s naked. I have seriously lost my appetite for M & Ms. Gross. Thoughts?
M&Ms or S&Ms?
I’ve written about the sexualized M & Ms twice before. Then someone sent me this:
Go go boots and handcuffs? Straddling a tree “working the polls?” Ugh.
This ad is from a few years ago. Times have changed. Now she’s Ms. Green. Whoo-hoo. Here’s a recent pic from Sports Illustrated, guess what themed issue?
Male M&Ms, on the other hand, get to wear sneakers and act goofy.
What are kids supposed to think about females and males when they repeatedly see these kinds of narratives? The gender stereotyping in the animated world is extreme and it’s damaging in the same way that people finally caught on that it was wrong to use a cartoon camel to sell cigarettes to kids.
Ms. Green is everywhere: on TV, at Party City stores, in toys, games, magazines, and billboards. There is no way to protect our kids from seeing this offensive stereotype. Not to mention it’s candy marketed to kids.
Please go to M&Ms Facebook page and ask them to stop sexualizing female M & Ms. Our kids deserve more than to see females depicted in this degrading way.
Elizabeth Arden responds: ‘the ad evokes a sense of grace, success, and poise that was soul-deep, not just skin-deep’
Elizabeth Arden responds:
Hi, We want to respond to the comments and dialogue about our Ceramide Premiere ad. We regret that the ad is sending a signal other than what we intended. When Elizabeth Arden said “To be beautiful is the birthright of every woman” 100 years ago, she wasn’t celebrating superficial beauty. She was celebrating authenticity, individuality, and the self-confidence that makes each woman uniquely be…autiful. We felt the woman shown in the ad evokes a sense of grace, success, and poise that was soul-deep, not just skin-deep. A wisdom and confidence her daughter could aspire to. We are very sorry if the ad triggered the opposite response.As we continue this journey of redefining beautiful in a broader, more complex way, we hope you will allow us to learn and evolve with you and we welcome your input on how to define this complex and emotionally-charged word.
Dear Elizabeth Arden,
Thank you for your response.
This is an ad for face cream so one assumes the focus is skin. If Elizabeth Arden wants to communicate through this ad that beauty is not, in fact, “just skin-deep,” why do you show a woman doing nothing but smiling at the camera? Why not show her doing something? Winning a trophy after a tournament, jumping a fence on a horse, or creating a painting. Why not show her doing something with her daughter?
If you want to show a woman only smiling at the camera, why not use a well known, accomplished spokesperson? A woman everyone identifies with “authenticity and individuality?”
As it stands, the combination of the product advertised being for skin cream, the model smiling at the camera, and the caption “Beautiful gives her daughter something to look forward to” communicates the message that the main thing our daughters have to look forward to in life is nice skin.
That’s not the kind of message mothers want to send to our kids.
Margot Magowan
Reel Girl
Tell Elizabeth Arden what you think on its Facebook page.
Look what Ms. Green has to say on M & Ms’ Facebook page today
So after I posted about sexualizing M & M’s, (I cannot even believe I have to write that, but alas, I do) I got some comments about Ms. Brown being a feminist. She’s wearing glasses, is a business executive, and Tweets empowering messages about women.
Here’s the problem: Besides the glasses and gloves, all Ms. Brown is wearing is her pumps. The main difference between male M & Ms and female M & Ms appears to be shoes. Many kids who are looking at these pictures can’t read. Put Ms. Brown in sneakers so she can walk and run like the others, and then we can talk about her backstory.
But, because I am 43 years old and can read and use a computer, I went to M & Ms FB page today to read up on Ms. Brown. Here is the first things I saw:
The boys tell me a big basketball tournament started this week. Any team wearing green has my heart! 😉 – Ms. Green
Spoken like a true cheerleader.
Here’s her next post:
Ms. Brown is sitting in her office reciting decimals in honor of Pi Day. Me, I’m off to shop! – Ms. Green
OK, so I guess Ms. Brown is the smart one and Ms. Green is the trivial, boy crazy one.
I’ve been trying to figure out why even though females are 51% of the population that female characters in the imaginary world– whether its movies, cereal boxes, snack food, or candy– are shown as a minority. Part of the reason is that if you only show one female, you only have to come up with one look and one narrative for her. It’s easy to stereotype her. If you have two females, its still fairly easy. Make a smart one and a pretty or boy crazy one.
If you scroll down, Ms. Brown, the business executive, the feminist, does have something to say, too. Here it is:
From Our Sponsor: For Working Women, Business Travel Is In the Bag
Nasty weather. Long lines. Agonizing delays. Yes, business travel is rife with obstacles, so the last thing a professional woman needs is for her own purse or bag to make life on the road any more adventurous.
When it comes to preparing for an important flight, it’s not enough to pack light – you need to pack smart. Taking a savvy approach to your luggage and carry-ons can make any work trip easier to stomach. That’s why we turned to a true expert in living life from a bag, M&M’S® Ms. Brown, who recently stepped out of her corner office where she served as Chief Chocolate Officer for 70 years, for her tips to help businesswomen prepare for travel more effectively.
It’s OK to think small. A woman needs her toiletries, but Ms. Brown warns that over-stuffing a carry-on bag with bulky liquids, gels or aerosols is a surefire way to have a problem. “You always see travelers tossing large bottles of face wash, moisturizer or even toothpaste in the trash at security checkpoints,” says Ms. Brown. “That’s bad for your wallet – and even worse for your hygiene!” Ms. Brown opts to pour her favorite products in travel-size containers (roughly 3-ounces or less) and stores them together in a 1-quart ziplock bag in her carry-on. “If you just can’t survive without a big bottle of fancy shampoo or conditioner, you’ll need to keep them in checked luggage,” Ms. Brown says, quickly adding, “Of course, that’s not a problem I run into personally.”
Don’t just save your receipts, store them. Business travelers rack up expenses, and organizing mounting piles of receipts on the go is no easy task. “Your purse is not a cash register drawer, it shouldn’t be overflowing with loose receipts,” says Ms. Brown. Her solution: Store receipts in one standard mailing envelope in your purse or carry-on bag. “That way you don’t lose receipts – or any friends in your company’s accounting department when you hand over incomplete expense reports,” Ms. Brown says.
Ease the (hunger) pain of travel. “I like to work in the airport or on long flights, but it’s hard to concentrate when your stomach’s growling,” Ms. Brown cautions with a chuckle. Her answer for hunger? Bringing finger foods on flights. She advises keeping small, portable snacks in your carry-on to satisfy cravings on the road. “I usually recommend the delicious milk chocolate of M&M’S®,” says Ms. Brown. “Of course, I’m a tad biased.”
The woman knows how to pack!
Lord, who has the job to develop these M & M personalities, looks, and back story? Are they hiring? Can you imagine how cool it would be to make some truly subversive, kick ass M & Ms?
Seriously, what would happen if half of the imaginary characters in kids movies and products were female? Even non-creative people would be forced to make some effort to move out of gender stereotyping.
Please go to M & Ms Facebook page and ask them to stop sexualizing food marketed to kids.