In thinking that a <shudder> bratz doll is not a suitable birthday present for a 3yo

[TigerFeet]

I mean, really .

It's horrible, it gives me the heebie jeebies.

DD, of course, has taken a shine to it. I rather suspect it will have to go missing.

Yuck.

I once had to get a present for a three year old girl, so i went to Toys r Us. My intention was to get a nurse dress up outfit: The girls section had every disney princess outfit and bratz outfits ever but no nurse/super hero/ even cow girl! The boys section had doctors. police, firemen etc etc So i thought, ok i will get a shop set, a till and groceries etc, the only type they had was McDonalds till and selection of fast foods, so i got her a key board! Can girls only aspire to be tarty popstars (I think thats what Bratz are) or a McDonalds staff member these days? Its awful!

My dd has just taken to Polly Pocket and believe it or not, the accessories in that are even smaller than in Bratz .

I still loathe Bratz and might be feeding my bin with them soon . Deffo not for a 3-yr old - my sister risked her neck when she gave my dd (5) a Bratz for her birthay.

Sorry I dont find them even vaguely offensive - I had a Sindy when I was a child, it really hasnt scarred me for life I never had any aspirations to look like her but still had hours of fun dressing & undressing her.

I would imagine this generations children will be far more damaged by what they see on TV than playing with Bratz.

Yes I think they are odd with their big lips and eyes but relatively harmless in the scheme of things.

u need to join the other thread at the moment abotu women be viewed as pieces of meat... bratz dolls are liek totally part of this porn chic culture we live in.. vile things

Bookwormmum, i had polly pocket as a child, but they actually were tiny then (correct me if i am wrong, but i dont think they are now) They were not at all sexuallised and were about a cm high and you got a pocket sized 'home' for them!! I loved mine!

I also had barbie and cindy, and Ken and Paul. My friends horrid older sister who was about 13 or 14 taught friend and me all about sex using barbie and ken/sindy and paul (we were 8 or 9 at the time!! ) I didnt play with them much after that!!

It's ugly

It has a frilly bikini on

It comes with a bath and a rubber duck that's wearing lipstick and a tiara ffs

Horrible

Horrible

Horrible

Ummm I used to jump on the anti Bratz bandwagon but I was critically appraising them in John Lewis toy section yesterday, and tbh they didn't look unduly awful. I think my objection is principally to the name

Bratz look like mini blow up dolls.
So glad i have boys. And I would never buy one as a present for nieces/ friends daughters.

The worst thing is their feet.. they come OFF don't you know..! You don't change their shoes.. you change their feet!!

Ummm nope, I didn't spot the mini blow up doll look-a-likey thing yesterday

They are horrible.My DD got one for her birthday ,it never even made it out of the box. if I had my way they would be banned. I think they look like something out of a horror film.

ShinyHappyPeopleHoldinghands - I agree. They don't have feet, just shoes. WTF?!!

Yuck. Revolting things.

The name is a part of it. Brat is defined as an unruly child .... gee, so that is to be applauded ? Mind you, why they didn't go the whole hog and just call them "Slutz" or "Tartz" I don't know. Correction: "Sluts" or "Tarts". The "z" thing winds me up too. Here I am getting all stressed about the grammar and etymology of the things before you even get onto what they represent (but that in itself IMO somehow shows a lack of respect, a devil may care attitude).

It isn't the fact they have big eyes and lips per se, lots of toys do. It's the fact they are covered in slap, with the sort of bum-skimming minis and crop tops some hardened streetwalkers might turn their nose up at which is what I find objectionable. They are dolls ...... why is a slutty persona being promoted as a play thing ? Why is this being "normalised" by being dressed up as a "harmless toy" ? I do NOT want my daughter to think that it's normal or desirable to dress like a whore.

I've often wondered what the background of these things are. Let's face it, the marketing people will have sat around the table concocting a "life" for each of these creatures. You may laugh, but it happens. How old are these dolls supposed to be ? ..... the big eyes thing, well, big eyes are a typical feature of babies and children, not adults. So now we have (probably) dolls who are supposed - at best - to be teenagers ?

Keeping with that theme, and what's arguably even worse is the Bratz "Babies" (or should I say Babyz, who, to my eye, don't look a great deal more demure than their supposed older sisters. There - they've admitted it, babies, yet those particular dolls are little tarts too. Just Google "bratz babyz" and you'll see what I mean.

Am I alone in thinking that the whole range is actually quite sick ? They may be played with in all innocence by children who have no idea as yet about "being cheap" etc but does that make it right ? They'd play innocently too with all sorts of things that no one in their right mind would ever deem appropriate.

I find them really really offensive and when I first saw them I'm afraid I thought of them as dolls for paedophiles.

I grew up in a house where we were allowed Sindy, but not Barbie as Barbie was 'common'. (My mums rules not mine ) We had every Sindy gadget going, ranging from a Sindy horse up to the Sindy house complete with semi-functioning washing machine, but Barbies were not allowed over my mum's threshold.

I used to despise her for it at the time, but now I've got my own dd, I feel exactly the same about Bratz. Cheap, nasty, bits of tack that remind me of the Spice Girls 10 years ago.

I let DH and DD3 go off on Saturday to choose a present for a 5yearold's birthday. They came back with a Bratz-alike paint your own popstar set. I felt it was inappropriate for a five-year-old and said so (rather, er, strongly). DH was nonplussed and annoyed.
Glad to know I am not alone. But god knows what the other mum thinks - she'll assume I chose it!!!

They don't bother me at all to be honest. My DD's have some.

But the 3-year-old doesn't notice, really.

So if it makes her happy, I don't much care.

I think their version of the my little pony are great. They have just taken the whole ridiculous premise to the extreme.

DD got 2 for her 5th birthday - they both got sent to the charity shop pretty sharpish.

i dont mind them - most childrens toys are semi ridiculous - pink ponys heads with make up anyone? or how about a buggy or pushchair. barbies car is always girly - never a porsche is it. ban it and brand it trendy, bet you she dismisses it after a day or so.

My dd has lots of Bratz toys. At first I thought the same as most of you. Now I have changed my opinion.
On a cosmetic front yes they are pretty revolting. When you look closer they are supposed to be very self assured late teenagers. If you watch the movies it is all about self confidence and looking after yourself. They take a very moral stance on bullying and there is no sex at all. It is all about the friendship between the girls.
Would you all rather we went back to Barbie with her ridiculous breasts and her only goal in life was to marry a prince and ride her bloody pony!!!
Ps we even went to see the Bratz concert and it was brilliant.
I am not a chav before you all judge me.

I think they are naff, and 3 yrs is a bit young for that type of doll (be it Barbie, myscene, or whatever) but they are harmless. No amount of surgery can make a woman look like one, they are cartoon characters. My DD has them and she is perfectly normal and certainly doesn't dress like one . Besides, it is your choice as to how your child grows up - keep everything hidden from her instead of educating her and she may turn into the very thing you despise. Girls just love to rebel! Moderation, in everything and you'll end up with a happy, well balanced normal child.

my dd is hankering after all things Bratz at the moment and i have to admit i think they are totally chavtastic ,however a friend of mines dd had loads of them and their little feet too and she has grown out of them at 10 ,doesnt dress like a tart ,plays football ,is well adjusted and polite . A doll is not going to make a small child dress like a slut ,their parents are .

My friend says that if they are going to have girl dolls called Bratz then theyn should have boy dolls called Tosser. Cool hey - anyone want to start up production with me? I bet they'd sell like hot cakes, along with all the other tasteless crap we sell to kids these days. OMG I sound like my mother again