Monster High

Well todays little rant comes to you courtesy of a toy manufacturer. While sitting eating my dinner, watching a kids show and otherwise minding my own business an ad for some new dolls came on. So what you may think, they come up with new toys all the time. I won't disagree. I already have Bratz dolls on my 'not to have' list and this new range has been added that list. These dolls are called the Monster High dolls.

Let me explain, they are supposed to be the teenage kids of famous monsters like Dracula and so on. It's not the gruesome nature of these dolls I particularly object too, though I'm sure there are those out there who think I should. It is in fact the knowledge that there is a book called Monster High and guess what the characters are the teenage kids of monsters. Focus being on teenage kids, which makes this book a young adult novel not a kiddy one.

While I think there could be a lot of fun to be had with monster dolls I'm concerned the focus is wrong. It is the same as it is with many of these doll lines, accessories and clothes. Do we really need green dolls that look stitched together like Frankenstein dressing in thigh high boots and mini skirts?

I'm all for saying appearance doesn't matter but somehow I think the focus is going to be on 'look as long as I'm skinny and wear the right skimpy clothes I will be liked' message, rather than the 'I have scars and am different but that doesn't matter because I'm still look hot and so am liked', message.

Yes there have been Barbie dolls (and her many, many fashions) for years, (though I have to say I never had one), but at least she actually took on different occupations and wasn't only a fashion model.

It all comes around again to why I like Dora, the original incarnation. A girl who is the same age as the girls who play with her, who dresses age appropriately and has adventures. Better yet she is also smart and bilingual.

I know somewhere along the way I have turned into a grumpy mother but seriously I want my girls to grow up believing in their abilities rather than the idea that appearance is the most important thing. I want my girls to grow and to live, and I find it sad that society seems to encourage our young girls to be obsessed with how they look and being a teenager. I can't keep my kids young forever and I wouldn't want them to be but neither do I want them to grow up quicker than they have to.