Bratz dolls have pre-adolescent figures and are sexy in a pedophilia kind of way. Is this what you want for your 7-year-old?
Mall stores are carrying the most offensive video games money can buy. The biggest seller is “Grand Theft Auto.”
Posted on 12/04/2005 11:20:04 AM PST by wagglebee
Shopping for kids seems to be getting harder every year. I hear from parents across the country who are shocked every time they shop — not just by the prices, but by the toys and other desirables on children’s wish lists.
Do we really want our 4-year old princesses dressing dolls that look like street-walkers? Do we want our teenage daughters to dress that way? Do we want our adolescent sons spending hours playing video games that make a sport of killing policemen and prostitutes? What does it say about our country that some of the most popular products are so offensive? And, what can we do about it?
At one mall, mothers have been protesting a Victoria’s Secret for a store window displaying mannequins in sexually explicit S&M poses. The mannequins model the kinds of microscopic underwear that used to be reserved for strippers, but are now on the wish lists of young teenagers.
But it was not just the merchandise but also the poses that were too offensive, even by today’s standards. Parents don’t like having to walk past sexually explicit store windows with their children — call them crazy, but they don’t think its appropriate for a family shopping mall.
And they don’t want G-strings marketed to adolescent girls. The mall management responded by accusing the politely protesting moms of violating the mall code of conduct!
Mall stores across the country are carrying many of the most offensive video games that money can buy. The all-time biggest seller, “Grand Theft Auto” — now in its third version — finally graduated to an “adults only” rating, which means the game “should only be played by persons 18 years and older” and “may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity.” Several major chain stores will not carry “adults only” games, fortunately. Unfortunately, they all carry video games labeled Mature, often geared to pre-teens and young teens, even though they are “suitable for persons ages 17 and older” and contain “intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content, and/or strong language.” Believe me, they look more like X.
Parents hope that these ratings don’t matter, since it is “only a game” and since kids see so much sex and violence on TV, movies and the Internet. They do matter. Research shows that playing a game that rewards violent and offensive behaviors is even more likely to influence what kids think and do than passively watching it.
Perhaps you’re now thanking your lucky stars that you can shop for dolls instead. But millions of Bratz dolls, dressed like what used to be called “tarts” (now it’s called “attitude”), are sold to preschool and elementary school girls. These dolls have preadolescent figures and are sexy in a pedophilia kind of way. Is this the ideal you want for your darling 7-year-old?
A Bratz TV show helps sell the dolls and electronic Bratz gifts — including telephones and TVs for your child’s room. For parents and grandparents who care about their children, a TV or computer in the room may seem a very reasonable choice. Unfortunately, kids with TV’s in their room watch more TV, watch more TV that their parents would consider objectionable, read less and sleep less. And kids who watch more TV tend to be more violent, are more likely to be overweight and tend to do less well in school.
The advantage of having TV in a child’s room? There aren’t any, unless you want to see less of your child and not hear what they are watching.
Computers in a child’s bedroom are a mixed blessing. Computers are great for schoolwork, but when they are in the bedroom, children are more likely to view pornography or be “educated” in chat rooms in ways you never dreamed of. Research shows that one in five kids receive unwanted online sexual requests.
So, if there is another room in your house for your child to use a computer, instead of their bedroom, that’s a safer choice.
What can we do? If we keep buying sexualized dolls and violent video games, companies will keep promoting more of the same. One solution is to talk to family members who buy gifts for our children, letting them know, for example, what a Mature or Adults Only rating means on a video game. We can also talk to the parents of our children’s friends, to cooperatively establish standards that parents can agree on and avoid the “all my friends have it” line that is otherwise so effective.
And, we can all check Web sites such as www.toysafety.org and www.mediafamily.org to avoid the worst offenders.
Happy holidays? We will be happier if we make sure the things we buy our kids won’t harm them. And we can ask mall managers for help, starting with a real code of conduct for what is sold in their stores.
Who says a veterinarian can't be a slut?! ;-)
Several have questionable items. Nudity is prevalent. Sims dating was a no no.
Buy her an old copy of "Sim Tower." It is fairly clean, fun, and will teach her about capitalism.
What on earth is a "family shopping mall"?
Same here and try finding jeans with a waistline where it is supposed to be. Remember when the media criticized Judge Robert's children for being dressed like real children?
My 7 year old thinks Bratz are gross. She is currently playing a 3rd grade adventure game on the computer with Nnimal Planet on the TV. I can see both the TV and the computer from where I am sitting - and both are in her room.
Marketting to children as if they were short adults is offensive to me....and so I monitor what she watches and plays and reads........It is not society's resonsibility to do that - it is mine as a parent.
Oh yes, jeans with a waistline. Another thing I can rant on for hours. I wear a size 4, but I have real curves and I don't believe that displaying my belly button or the small of my back appropriate under most circumstances, ditto for my toddler.
What is wrong with these people?
What sickens me even more is the parents that don't notice or care, or who have adopted an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" kind of attitude.
Yeah she loves rollercoaser tycoon. She is 15 though so games are starting to wear thin. Friends and music is the order of the day lately.
I was at a mall recently with my nieces and nephew, my wife and I told them to pick out any toy they wanted and we would get it for them. My five year old niece wanted one of the Bratz dolls, and I told my wife there was no way that we were getting it for her -- I convinced my niece that what she really wanted was a Barbie digital camera.
Excellent "vanity"!!!!
Try Eddie Bauer. They have some natural waistline jeans in several styles.
Good for you :)
Someone up thread mentioned a Veterinarian Barbie - I wish I had know about that. Our duaghter asked for a new Barbie, which daddy has already gotten. She is so into animals and everything I wish I had known, I would have insisted he get that one....OH well, I guess I 'll be able to find an accesory set like it.
Kinda looks like Michael Jackson.
Or, more acurately...what Michael Jackson wishes he looked like.
Good grief, not that old "shop somewhere else/change the channel/don't pay attention" to it argument again. Do you think it's responsible for toy merchants to sell this pedophile's fantasy: 
I don't disagree with you about the videogames, as they are marketed differently. But dolls like Baby Bratz should not be marketed to children. I would go as far to say that they shouldn't be sold anywhere.
I didn't want to look like I was breaking my promise to buy her what she wanted, but I was prepared to buy her a real pony if necessary to change her mind about the little slut doll.
Curses. Formatting is not my forte.
"Do you think it's responsible for toy merchants to sell this pedophile's fantasy"
My seven year old loves Zoo Tycoon, NeoPets and Animal Crossing. They're nice, innocent games with cute litle characters, and she learns a good lesson in capitalism. Heck, I play them, too.
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