A few years ago, my friend Dawn came to me with a request. “You always find the best Girl Power gifts for my daughters. Find me action figures; strong, powerful, age-appropriate action figures.” Much to our surprise, we discovered that they simply didn't exist. Most of female action figures on the market are designed to cater to the male collector community – they are hyper-sexualised in a way that renders them completely inappropriate for the average four-year-old, girl or boy.
And the reason for these ‘curves and bumps and bits’ rendered in cold, hard plastic is simple: historically, superhero comic books have been purchased almost entirely by men. As much as I loved watching Lynda Carter play Wonder Woman on television when I was young, the truth is that an estimated 90% of Wonder Woman’s readership has traditionally been male. She was created for men, and illustrated for men, by men. I imagine the same could be said about almost every female comic book character ever created.
“What’s the problem?” you might ask. If the customer base is largely male, and men like hyper-sexualised female action figures, it makes good business sense. Who cares that the recently revealed female Thor has breasts larger than her head and is missing a few ribs? What does it matter that the new Wonder Woman, who made her appearance this week, is ostensibly saving the world in an S&M bathing suit and Pretty Woman boots?
The problem is that we don't live in a bubble. Already, we can’t escape the dollification of our sex – everywhere we look, Photoshop is erasing real women and replacing them with Barbie-like imitations. But what’s more worrying is that this message – that just ‘yourself’ isn't good enough – is being deliberately pushed by toy manufacturers. Look at transformations of iconic figures like Strawberry Shortcake and Holly Hobbie, as well as the more recent example of Disney’s Brave. Girls and boys are internalising messages about what it means to be a perfect woman – and they aren't real.
We know that portraying women in the media in this way negatively affects how girls perceive themselves, we know that it leads to lower self-esteem and body-image problems, and discourages young women from entering certain professions. So why is the toy industry doing this? They should know that the ‘storyline’ when a girl plays with two dolls dressed as princesses is very different from the one that naturally unfolds when you have two figures dressed like knights. Toymakers need to be attuned to these concerns. They need to understand that if you give a girl a different toy, she'll tell a different story; and that powerful female figures have a place in a boy’s toy box as well.
So, Dawn and I decided that we needed to put a healthy image of women out into the world, for young girls to emulate and identify with as they play. We decided to make our own action figures.
We realised that it’s about more than the breast-to-hip ratio. We asked ourselves, why do male superheroes, like Spiderman, appeal to both a four-year-old boy and 40-old man? Because of his qualities. The focus of our action figures suddenly seemed obvious – it’s not about Superheroes, it's about Superpowers. So, we created IAmElemental.
In addition to a healthier, more realistic shape, the action figures embody a message about character and empowerment. Cheesy as it might sound, every child is already a superhero, with all the superpowers they could ever want or need inside of them already, and we think that young children are far more capable of understanding these ideas than most grown-ups realise. That's why we called our action figures Persistence and Industry and Honesty and Bravery.
Dawn and I grew up in a world where we fervently believed that we were equal to boys, and that we could accomplish any goal we set for ourselves. It was the early days of Gloria Steinem’s Ms. Magazine and the individuality-themed "Free To Be... You And Me" TV special, and we internalised this truth as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. The iconic documentary film series 7 Up opens with the saying: “Give me the child until he is seven, and I will show you the man.” We believe that if you change the way children play when they are young, you can change the way they think when they grow older.
Putting strong, realistic female action figures in a girl’s hands will impact the stories she tells. A girl who envisions herself saving the day when she plays will go out into the world better equipped to emulate the strong women who inspire her – be they a favourite teacher, a prominent world leader, or a historic figure like Joan of Arc, who was the muse for our first series of action figures. Armed and confident in her Superpowers, she just might become a real Superhero herself one day. It’s time for girls to Play With Power.