i don't feel like there has to be a difference in the rhetoric and the reality. and find that statement kind of cynical.

my kids are allowed all kinds of crazy freedoms with their hair and dress and expression and creativity and language and their interests are almost always highly encouraged by me and my tribe.

princesses weren't a non existant part of playtime when my daughter was younger, at that point i thought it was an archetype and all little girls go through that phase. and i still kind of think that. but i think it can be overly nurtured in ways that are obnoxious. anyway, princess phase was short lived and generally took a back seat to her desire to be a fairy or a piano playing shark. i could think of million reasons to hate barbies, but i decided not to, she has barbies ... she just isnt real interested in them. bratz dolls are actually just amazingly whorey and negative and are just way overboard, so.. fuck no. she's too old for them now anyway.

my biggest issue is over commercialization, so we simply have no television. they watch movies and what not. and actually i feel like limiting the television and commercialization has helped them development loads of creativity. which is actively encouraged around here. it's totally possible to imbue your kids with your values without forcing your political agenda down their throats.

i'm extremely interested in how much of my kids personalities and social skills are due to their lack of exposure to what's "trendy" and how much of it is just inherent. . my niece is the same age as my daughter, she's been hooked on the disney channel since birth. "fitting in" and keeping up with trends and being "like" her peers is extremely important to her. my kid couldn't care less. but that was also the difference between her mom (my sister) and i when we were kids.

i used to worry more about my son being able to fit in with more mainstreamed peers. seeing as we have no television, he knows 0 about spiderman or transformers or sports, he has 0 male role model to emulate and has been raised entirely by a bunch of women. but he's having no trouble "fitting in" with other boys. my daughter on the other hand is having loads of issues with socialization. she has no interest in what other 8 year old girls seem to be interested in. honestly, at this point, if hannah montana would help her make friends, i'd consider getting cable. but she just thinks it's stupid.

i'm interested to know if that's her just being a mature, heavily artistic, tomboy, with a dose of shyness or if the persona's of little girls are just so entirely shaped by television and trends that she's finding it impossible to relate them without it. i suspect its probably a bit of both. and i find the latter extremely sad.

>> ^blankfist:

@<a rel="nofollow" href="http://kids.videosift.com/member/spoco2" title="member since August 21st, 2006" class="profilelink">spoco2, good point. But I'd have to wonder why I'd want to stop him or her from following what they want even if it's trendy. Is it because of how I feel about it? If so, that's not a very good reason at all.
I dislike commercialization like the next guy, but is it fair for me to push my own personal politics onto my child? I say no. Sure, wearing high heels at five may be a bit extreme, but most parents use those extreme examples as justification to stifle their children's self-expression at less extremes. In other words, the rhetoric is "my five year old daughter is not wearing heels" but then in reality it's "my ten year old son is not getting a faux-hawk/mohawk" or "my daughter is not getting a Barbie doll".

@spoco2, no, I agree that putting your foot down to them wearing heels is reasonable. I thought I made that clear. I was saying that's where the rhetoric always ends up, though: in the extreme. It's always, "You don't expect me to let them wear thongs do you?" Of course not!

But buying a Bratz doll isn't the same thing as them wearing heels.

You wrote: "And if it's purely 'because everyone else is doing it' then we're going to say no."

hair games
ben 10 games
hannah montana games

hair salon games hannah montana games winx club games

Car Games
Monster Truck Games
Mario Games
Zombie Games
Bratz Games

>> ^BoneyD:

A lot of chick flicks would fail the Bechdel Test as well, btw...
This video goes towards confirming what I've felt in my gut about films for a few years now. More specifically, the lack of female role models in them. For example, try to think of the last kids film that had a female as the protagonist. The last I can think of is Labyrinth (though I'll concede there's probably also been a few since then).
Take this list of kids films for instance and try to count 'em out:
http://www.criticker.com/?fl&view=all&filter=gy10zp5x4x3x2zod



Alice in wonderland, Princess and the frog, Little Mermaid, Coraline, Hanna Montanna the movie, Bratz the movie, The Golden Compass, Nim's island, Nancy Drew, Mulan, Flicka, The Princess Diaries, then any disney movie princess sequel ect... Just to name a few.

im so glad someone finally sees this the way i do. my daughter is totally banned from bratz dolls. fer real.

Upvote for emo bratz hittler

Makeup is overrated. It's like advertising, firms have to advertise because they know their competitors will, and then if they don't then they'll lose out so it's a prisoner's dilemma. Personally I'd rather have a wider choice than nzillion bratz dolls but beggars can't be choosers can they?

Oh and on a totally related note, dunno about Julia Roberts but if she is in fact a shemale, Letterman was definitely getting laid.

Similar to a Bratz doll.

this is why we don't watch ANY network television in our house. Or cable. Our kids watch whatever videos we approve for them. so far, in the 17 years I been raising my kids, I haven't had to deal with any "Mommy, I want [brand=name-crapola]!" My kids like what they like because it works for them, not because of marketing or peer pressure or anything like that. My daughter will be raised the same way. FUCK BRATZ!