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Popular Culture Review
blatantly heterosexual and monogamous, Bratz exemplify the “hook up” culture,
leaving sexual orientation and partners questionable.
Bratz defy Barbie in other ways. Their bodies are less well proportioned and
their breasts less developed than Barbie’s. They escape Barbie’s impossible
perfection. If Barbie is the mature woman that girls will grow up to be, Bratz are
the rebellious youth they are today, without defined careers or avocations.
According to Vera Chan, editor at Yahoo.com, “The Bratz dolls look like (teens)
now—a girl’s identification with them is more immediate” (Leibrock). Unlike
younger girls who enjoy fantasy and creating narratives with their dolls, older
girls are preoccupied with identity, finding out who they are. Bratz, whose
mantra is a “passion for fashion,” suggest that shopping with your friends holds
the key. According to Matthew McAllister, “As Barbie is about individualism
and materialism, Bratz is about communal consumption” (McAllister 255).
Bratz’s emphasis on female friendship contributes to higher profits: studies
show that teens who shop with their friends as a pastime spend more (McAllister
255).
In addition to their common clotheshorse images. Barbie and Bratz share
other similarities. According to Eric Clark, “Their makers see them less as dolls
than as the center of lifestyle merchandising. They excite controversy, especially
over their role in the premature sexualization of young girls. And their
companies are utterly ruthless about protecting and defending their billion-dollar
properties” (Clark 95). Both doll lines launched social networks in the summer
of 2007, as they tried to adapt to a changing toy culture. As Marketing Week
reported, “Children are no longer just impressed by toys, they want the whole
package, the mobile technology and online social networks—it has to be much
more than just a doll” (“Bratz: Dolls Living the High Life” 38).
By the end of 2006, Bratz, who had won the People’s Toy of the Year
Award for three consecutive years, seemed to be the dolls with more. Although
Barbie had stronger sales for the entire year, Bratz overtook Barbie in the last
three months, including the all-important holiday season (Garrahan 22). With
merchandise such as a Ski Lodge, Dance-N-Skate Club, Sushi Lounge, E-Cafe,
and “Luscious Lips” cordless phone, Bratz trumped Barbie’s Party Pad and
Dream House. In the words of culture writer Scott Jacobs, “the Bratz stuff is just
plain cooler” (Jacobs). Bratz, which had already achieved a stronghold in
several European countries, seemed poised to replace classy with trashy as the
dominant image of femininity in the battle of the dolls.
However, the cultural backdrop for Bratz’s ascendency may have
introduced new questions. In February 2007, Newsweek ran a cover story titled
“The Girls Gone Wild Effect,” highlighting the out-of-control and self
destructive lifestyles of the Bratz dolls’ real-life counterparts: Britney Spears,
Paris Hilton, and Lindsay Lohan. Reflective of a national concern, the article by
Kathleen Deveny includes a poll stating that 77 percent of Americans believe
that Spears, Hilton, and Lohan have too much influence on young girls (42) and
asks if the rise of the bad girl and our racy popular culture may be contributing