I first encountered Bratz dolls when my daughter was young and I started spending time in the toy aisles. What the hell?! I said in horror. The doll looks like a prostitute and its being aimed at three year olds. Make up, jewelery, provocative clothing, and, in this case, riding a decidedly phallic banana split seat? What the hell is wrong with toy makers, retailers and parents?
Tragically that which was once considered unthinkable is now being normalized. Nauseating examples are easy to pile up. Abercrombie and Fitch selling padded bras for eight year olds? That one made me angry enough to want to don a Guy Fawkes mask and smash a store front window. You have to admit that would have made a great headline: “Seminary professor smashes storefront window.” Okay I’m not the one to do it. Remember I’m the inactive activist for social justice. But it does leave me apoplexic and helpless wondering how we ever got here.
Of course I know the damnable answer. I see it every day. Did you ever take a nap in the late afternoon and wake up in the evening wondering where all the light went? Looking at the current cultural landscape for young women that’s exactly how I feel.
