Anyone else in need of refresh on humanity? Boy, I sure was today. So, when I came across this video story on Facebook from SBS2, an Australian news channel, it was truly welcome.
My kids are boys who don't play with dolls, so I've never had to deal at home with the culture of sexualization of toys marketed toward girls, particularly dolls. As a teacher, though, it's an issue I am aware of and have addressed in my classroom as part of studies in Media Literacy.
How much of an issue is the premature and hyper sexualization of female identity in toys, media and culture? Enough of one that the American Psychological Association instituted a task force to examine a phenomenon that over the past 10 years, with proliferation of social media and the closing of gaps between media and consumer products, has drawn increasing attention from parents, schools and even lawmakers.
In study after study, findings have indicated that women more often than men are portrayed in a sexual manner (e.g., dressed in revealing clothing, with bodily postures or facial expressions that imply sexual readiness) and are objectified (e.g., used as a decorative object, or as body parts rather than a whole person). In addition, a narrow (and unrealistic) standard of physical beauty is heavily emphasized. These are the models of femininity presented for young girls to study and emulate.A Google search of the term "sexualization of girl's toys" turns up reams of blog, magazine and network focus on this issue and the impact it can have on real lives. Distorted perceptions of body image have a measurable effect on self-esteem, which can precipitate negative mental health outcomes that go beyond depression and eating disorders to include suicide and relationship violence.
But it doesn't take research or proliferation of criticism online for parents to tell you the real life impact. It isn't simply about policing your kid's friend's doll collection. It can be all but impossible for young girls to escape the cultural pull the older a child gets, particularly after puberty, often causing household tension about clothing, music - just about the entire adolescent experience. That's a lot of years of worry and struggle to protect in the face of almost insurmountable pressure and ubiquity.
One Tasmanian artist, Sonia Singh, has a young daughter and in the course of thinking about her toys and the messages she will absorb from them, arrived at a solution. It's a natural outgrowth of her penchant for thrift shopping and upcycling, and as word has spread, parents worldwide think her solution is brilliant.
Eleven days ago, Tasmanian artist Sonia Singh, 34, posted pictures of an art project to her Tumblr. The project, Tree Change Dolls, showed Bratz dolls she had "rescued" from op-shops after they had been given "make-unders". Within two days, her dolls had gone viral and were featured on news sites across the globe. As the dust settles after what Sonia calls a "really funny week", she chatted to Daily Life about her project and the astounding reaction to it.She replaces missing hands and feet by molding and fitting new one with matched skin tones and her mom helps make the clothes, hand knitting many of the pieces for a custom fit. From hypersexualized and fake looking to simply natural, this is a beautiful solution to s problem parents all over the world have found exasperating.1. Tell us a bit about yourself.I grew up with my four sisters in Tasmania playing outdoors a lot and most of our toys were second-hand. I'm an illustrator and a science communicator. I was made redundant from CSIRO in September last year, so that's when my doll project - which is what I was calling it - started.
2. Where did the idea come from?
Now that I have my own daughter [who is almost two], I'm collecting toys I find in op-shops with her in mind. I see a lot of these dolls discarded in the op-shops and I buy them [for between 50 cents and $2] and see what I can do with them. Part of the satisfaction for me is taking something discarded and making it into something useful again. I did one recently that had been drawn on by a kid; it had biro all over the face. I've actually tried to work with that and so it has lots of freckles.
9. Why do you think the project has resonated with people?
It's really brought up a lot of different issues. I've been contacted by a lot of mothers from all over the world who want to find dolls that they are happy to give their children. I got a really sweet email from a mother in one of the Latin American countries saying she has a son and she would like him to grow up in a world where these kinds of dolls are valuable to girls and she talked about the perception of women in her country. I think it's something that concerns all parents. I'm really happy that my work has not just inspired people in terms of dolls and toys, but opened some discussions about issues to do with women in society.
I've had a few really nice emails from children. I had a really nice email from two little girls in Vienna who said I had inspired them to have a go themselves to create their own dolls. I think that's lovely.
Needless to say for a hand made item, you may have a hard time getting your hands on one of these. According to all of her pages she is out of stock and backlogged on orders. I would encourage all of you to watch the video, check out her Tumblr page, Etsy, Instagram and Twitter feed. Give Sonia some love (not that she isn't getting any) for a sane and creative solution to the problem.
How was your day?
Mine just got exponentially better. No school tomorrow!!!! Ice day!!!! Sleep late, day at home with the kids. All Central Texas peeps and all peeps everywhere, stay safe out there!