Give me Barbie's any day
The disproportionate figure, the blonde bombshell hair, feet literally made for high heels, permanent makeup and teeth so brightly white they would blind you if on a real sized human has been the subject of many feminists and others who argue she has a negative impact on children, setting unrealistic and harmful images of what a woman should be. But you know what, give me Barbie any day, she is the least of our worries!
On a recent visit to a very popular department store’s toy section I came across a toy that made me ask- are kid’s toys losing all ethics?
The toy in question was ‘Lost Kitties’, a “squad” of cats whose different members you can collect are placed inside a box the shape of a milk carton. The image of the ‘lost kitties’ are placed on the side of the carton, with the name ‘Lost Kitties’ above.
When I saw these on display on the shelf my initial thought was Johnny Gosch, the first boy who was put on the side of a real milk carton when he went missing in the US in 1982. He was the first of many real life missing children who were subsequently put on the side of billions of milk cartons to raise awareness in the general public in attempt to help locate them.
Known as the ‘Milk Carton Kids’ these missing children’s faces were placed, similarly to these ‘Lost Kitties’ with their faces and information about them taking up the entire side of the milk carton, the word ‘Missing’ printed above them.
Now in a place and time far away from the era of the ‘Milk Carton Kids’ was instead a product on sale, aimed at children, probably similar to the age of the children that were missing, most of whom still are, or worse were found murdered. .
Although I understand children of today would have no idea about the ‘Milk Carton Kids’, as their mum, I do. I am fully aware of this context and with that knowledge I have to really question, is this product really ethically ok?
As a parent, I see many issues with this toy, it seems exploitative and unnecessary and almost makes light of the real-life cases of these missing children and the way in which their disappearance was publicised and the efforts to find them.
Being the main toy supplier if our household this product has definitely jpined my no list, where it will firmly remain.
Another toy which has not been officially banned…yet are LOLs. Like many girls out there, my two LOVE them. But me, not so much. The issue with these, for me, is not anything moral, rather the endless plastic packaging it is supplied in and that is a part of the LOL experience.
In a world where teaching our children the value of our environment, sustainability and reducing waste, we are also confusing the absolute hell out of them by gifting these big-headed figurines, wrapped in bountiful amounts of plastic and waste, in fact half of the product ends up in the bin.
Again, how is this ethically OK?
I am pretty relaxed with most toys, I believe kids will make their own meaning from them, not always the one that adults may attribute to them. Barbies are in abundance in my household with my two young girls, as they were with me growing up. Alongside Barbie, is Lego, board games, puzzles, dolls and My Little Ponies. My girls make lands up where ponies and Barbie’s worlds collide and sometimes Lego will be used to create castles or gardens for them all to play together in. There is nothing ethically borderline occurring, despite any feminist critique or judgment of Barbie.
But when our environment that we are trying to preserve for our future generations, our children is in dire straits and the protection of children and their welfare always at the front of any good parent’s mind, I will be saying no to Lost Kitties and questioning LOLs ethical nature.