Activity Grrrl
Was in the (fairly) new Target downtown earlier, picking up a cd mailer, and there were huge displays for Bratz and Diva Starz.
Corporate and evil, yes, but still an improvement over effin' Barbie. Any of them look like they could kick her and Ken's asses, steal the Dream Car, trash the house. . . ok, I'll stop. Not the greatest role model for girls, but at least they're not having Pink Think shoved down their throats.
Naturally, this sort of thing has its discontents:
Lest my anti-women Rants should be seen as male chauvinism (they aren't, just observations of fact, but you know how women can be so emotional), let me point you to this article, which describes how girls are being taught to demean boys, courtesy of the oh-so "in" teen clothing store, Hot Topic.It seems that big-sellers at the moment are boy-bashing T-shirts carrying slogans such as:
"Boys are great. Every girl should own one."
"Boys Lie. Throw rocks at them."
Actually, I think they're quite funny. What isn't funny is that Hot Topic refuses to carry any T-shirts carrying converse slogans. . .
And there follow some rather predictable misogynist slogans, which you may have heard at some point over the course of your existence.
I'm not sure it's possible to argue with someone who places anti-male slogans (from Hot Topic, ferchrissakes) on the same level as. . . fuckit, Kim du Toit has comments, or rather email, so anyone who thinks it's worth your time, talk to the man.
I'm gonna figure out which Diva my long-suffering relatives are going to be getting as gifts this year.
Comments
re: bratz
so share your wisdom hawk...what's with the no-noses thing? if, for instance, we tend to think of sir nose as being devoid of funk, then are we to surmise that noselessness is...funky?
or is no-nose simply toon caricature visual-shorthand for an oblate "asiatic" nose? (in which case i find myself wondering: why not just draw a lovely and sophistocated oblate proboscis with a couple of quick inverted commas or something?)
i wonder about these things because i was a something of a comic artist myself as a child before i was discouraged away from it to pursue "literature" instead...but that's another sob story...
Posted by: fertile_jim | September 3, 2002 4:24 PM
Um, there should be something long and pseudo-intellectual here using the terms "American(ized) manga", "stylized" and "superdeformed," but the coffee is wearing off.
Tree pretty. Fire bad.
Posted by: Aaron | September 3, 2002 4:44 PM
i think they have kind of an anime feel to them, with the stylized features. and the body representation is still unrealistic, but it's also clearly stylized. and thank goodness no bullet-boobs.
if i had a little girl, i'd definitely be steering her away from barbie-land and towards the diva starz. my 19 year old's a bit beyond that, but i do see that attitude in her. she kicks ass.
and you know, i can't even bring myself to dignify mr. du Toit (avoiding childishly obvious namecalling) with comments. also, the last line of his post spoke volumes to someone i used to be, that threat, don't f*uck with me i'm bigger than you -- i just had to click away.
Posted by: kd | September 3, 2002 4:55 PM
yeah...I can't go to that website anymore. I have an immediate gag reflex when I see that guys smug annoying face in the top left corner. And in my mind I keep pronouncing his name Kim da Twat.
hahahahahhaa
Posted by: drublood | September 3, 2002 4:59 PM
by the way...wasn't that another Bitch-inspired post?
Posted by: drublood | September 3, 2002 5:28 PM
you know I sent an email to Aaron and I was going to use the same euphemism and then thought isn't that so very sexist to be using something so lovely as female genitalia to describe something so malodorous.
sigh...i'm never going to get this right ;)
Posted by: Jason | September 3, 2002 5:48 PM
i think it's entirely fitting, in the ironic sense. or not, i don't know.
Posted by: kd | September 3, 2002 6:06 PM
Have you seen the 10 year-olds with their short shorts that read "Perfect" and "Dream On" written in big bold letters across their ass?
Well, what can you expect from the offspring of the MTV generation. My prediction is that within 10 years, most Starbucks will be turned into planned parenthood clinics.
P.S. As a parent, I don't think anyone should wear clothing that encourages violence. The TV is an adequate source of violent ideas. After all, wasn't it the Elvis special on E! that prompted Kirk Cobain to eat a bullet?
Posted by: CSCWebmaster | September 3, 2002 10:28 PM
Dude, living with Courtney Love prompted. . .
No, that's almost as cliched as the Yoko Ono jokes.
Dru, don't think there was anything about this in Bitch. But it wouldn't surprise me at this point. They're gonna sue. I just know it.
Posted by: Aaron | September 3, 2002 11:05 PM
The vast oversexualization that happens to pre-teens is really disturbing to me. The most bothersome thing to me was the fact that my 12 year old sister was on a dance team (shut the fuck up) and the outfit that the adult team coach wanted them to wear wouldn't even be suitable for a high class stripper. That shit just doesn't fly with my family, thank goodness. Don't even get me started on the kind of dancing they wanted these children to do.
Posted by: Michelle | September 4, 2002 8:53 AM
hmm well if you do like the Bratz- you can come visit here anytime :)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BratzWorld/
Posted by: snowflakebebe | September 6, 2002 2:49 AM
Thanks, but I'm really more of a Mijos sort of person. . .
Michelle, my aunt used to be district manager or somesuch for Rave, a/k/a Sluts'R'Us for the preteen set.
She offered to get me a job at their Mall of America store.
This would have been so not a good thing.
"Honey, why are you in the baby tee section? Don't nobody want to see that shit. Why don't you try Ragstock? They have some nice old bowling shirts. Much more flattering on you, I think."
Posted by: Aaron | September 7, 2002 5:51 AM