Mattel introduces 'gender neutral' dolls

[JustTurtlesAllTheWayDown]

time.com/5684822/mattel-gender-neutral-doll/

Except, of course, you make it a girl by dressing it in girl clothes and long hair, and a boy by having short hair and boy clothes.
In some ways, it feels like a right step by stepping away from the Ken/Barbie divide, but it's just reinforcing stereotypes again, just from the other direction.

Then he turns to the playmate in the toy-testing room, a 7-year-old girl named Jhase, and asks, “Should I put on the girl hair?” Shi’a fits a long, blond wig on the doll’s head, and suddenly it is no longer an avatar for him, but for his sister.

I thought all Mattel dolls were gender neutral because they don't have genitals.

I agree that it is just completeley reinforcing stereotypes.

One question. Why?

One question. Why?
From the article, it looks like they just saw a trend and thought they'd make money out of it. Pinkification by another name imo.

Carefully manicured features betray no obvious gender: the lips are not too full, the eyelashes not too long and fluttering...^

Yeh, because I have that problem all the time as a woman

I grew up in the 70s and 80s. I played with Action Man, Barbie, Sindy, Ken, Pippa etc.

In the New Romantic era Eagle Eyed Action Man wore makeup. Barbie was punk with pins in her nose. I gleefully hacked off her hair because well, bollocks to conformity!

It feels like we were more advanced back then.

I don't mind these. They're just unisex Betty Spaghetti and what's not to love about switching parts about? Not sure whether they will be big sellers though. I think they could definitely be worth buying and keeping unopened as a possible future collectible, memorabilia of our times. If you could get a Trump baseball cap for them, they would just sum up the decade.

i grew up in the 70s and 80s. I played with Action Man, Barbie, Sindy, Ken, Pippa etc

I don’t mean to brag but i had a bionic man

Expecting a wave of identity-crisis ridden transdolls attempting suicide with Ken's Jeep.

Do the accessories include furry outfits, packers and breast binders? That will make for an interesting list for Santa! [santa]

Rufus - impressive!

Today, the Bionic Woman might have to be called The Bionic Womxnstruator.

hands

I think you are right

What a load of crap.

I had a big sindy house when I was little. I filled it with action men and dinosaurs.

This is just capitalism.

Ride the wave, and contribute to, the market of increasingly gender stereotyped toys, pink things, blue things, over the last two decades.

And when it's been pushed to it's extreme, and you see a new gap in that market, market something that's 'different'. But it's really, really not ground breaking:

“Should I put on the girl hair?” Shi’a fits a long, blond wig on the doll’s head, and suddenly it is no longer an avatar for him, but for his sister.

Carefully manicured features betray no obvious gender: the lips are not too full, the eyelashes not too long and fluttery (huh? child dolls with full lips/long and fluttery eyelashes= girl?)

Awesome. Sex differences delineated by the length of your hair, and the fluttering of your eyelashes, fullness of your lips, eh? So ground breaking. So stunning.

At first I was WTAF
But now I think about it, it’s a good thing. I was thinking about Bratz dolls and their fluttery eyelashes and pouty lips- setting girls up to buy fake eyelash inserts and lip fillers. On the boys...I then thought of that human Ken doll guy who has implant everything and ribs sawn off to get that pinched in waist look.

Gender neutral is a good thing. A doll can now be a girl without the implied necessity of fluttery eyelashes, big boobs and plump lips. A doll can be a boy without looking like a gladiator with a hipster beard.

I hope they have all the skin tones and hair types covered as well!

I fail to see how this isn't a good thing. These are dolls free from gender stereotypes. Just because two children who played with it associated long hair with girls, and referred to the long hair as girls, doesn't mean all children will. Plus, up till now all children have seen is the likes of Barbie. Long hair, overly sexualized features and body shape. Of course they'd initially think the long haired doll was female. That's all they know. This doll can be whatever the child wants it to be. If you think gender stereotypes are bad, how could you object to this doll?

Saw these in the news. They all just look like girls.

A woman with short hair, jeans and dm's on is not gender neutral. She's just cool. 😁

This is 100% a commercial decision. As PP said, it fills a gap in the market and is a massive virtue signalling ploy.

Corporate virtue signalling is absolutely fine unless it actually challenges anything. I'll never look at it the same way after the Gilette fiasco.

So I’m guessing they’ve got smooth genitalia AND flat chests if they’re going the full gender neutral route?

I had a Suntan Tuesday. She had stickers to show where she’d caught the sun.

Mind you I do like a sunbed session so maybe there’s something to this.

From the article, it looks like they just saw a trend and thought they'd make money out of it. Pinkification by another name imo.

This.

I'm sure we* had a Sindy growing up that had a button at the back to change the length of the hair. Ahead of the times it seems.

*When I say 'we' I mean big sisters 1 & 2. I as little number 3 didn't. Obviously absolutely no trace of jealousy and bitterness at all. My, My Little Ponies, were better than theirs

Jenna Karvunidis, who popularized the gender-reveal party, recently revealed on Facebook that her now 10-year-old child is gender-nonconforming and that she regrets holding the party.

I've never heard of this woman but assume she buys heavily into gender stereotypes. Not surprised her daughter pushed back.

As for the doll, long hair = female and short hair = male is pretty consistent with the ideology so it makes sense.

And people who make cartoons and toys and stuff for kids really need to learn that boys have eyelashes too.

Aren’t action men gender neutral? Anyway. These dolls are ugly so kids won’t want them - they either like pretty or pig-ugly dolls. I assume the are asexual (no boobs or testicle bulge). How very ‘victorian’.

I can’t see kids choosing them to be honest.

And kids will just out whatever clothes they want on whatever doll. It is it to make it ok for boys to play with follows when they don’t want soldier ones? Sexist/homophobic?