Well, you could say that this leads to girls having an unrealistic view of women based on their body types. From an artistic standpoint the anatomy is way off. But in my honest opinion, a much bigger issue is the fact that whenever any product is advertised to women, the girls and women in the ads are airbrushed to perfection. Sometimes to unnatural thinness and with proportions that certainly aren’t human. (See: http://dslrfairytale.com/2012/01/19/photoshop-controversy-where-do-we-draw-the-line-on-beauty-manipulation/ or: view here. Even women we view as “beautiful” are shopped to make them appear MORE SO. Thinner, with no wrinkles, with better skin, bigger lips, bigger eyes, brighter eyes and so on and so forth.

The Monster High girls are MONSTERS- and thus already “unnatural” in a sense. (Note: I’m not so much defending the dolls now, as pointing out how ludicrous it is to lay blame on them for girls diminishing sense of self worth) It can also be pointed out that they promote “being yourself” whether you are a hairy werewolf girl, can’t see yourself in the mirror to apply your makeup or have constantly dry scaly skin unless you’re in a pool.

And not to belabor a point, but the dolls and characters have been around for two years. AND - they are apparently very hard to find now that adult collectors have gotten interested in them. How many little girls have actually gotten their hands on one, I wonder? I mean, are there THAT MANY out there in the hands of little girls that they are contributing to eating disorders at such young ages? Monster High dolls are pretty rare, but magazines and ads and tv shows are everywhere.

Plus- again, if you look at whats popular- how many shows and magazines have a heavy female star? Not just the fat funny comic relief character, but the star of the show? What- the musical Hair Spray maybe? One… The show “Thats So Raven”? Ok, two. I can’t think of any other that have been popular. On most tv shows the heroine, the star, the best friend- all thin girls (and if you watch a show long enough you can see them LOSE WEIGHT over time). Many female actresses who started out and built their career while heavy have slimmed down. Stars with large noses and thin lips get plastic surgery constantly to correct that. And singers are ALWAYS giving us their exercise routines and diet tips. What is that telling girls? It sends a clear message that THEY ARE NOT OK BEING LESS THAN “PERFECT”, regardless of how they sing about us being “perfect” the way we are, or “Born this way”, their actions speak louder than words, and certainly louder than any toy.

(via gearsngarters)

I really can’t applaud this (or the previous post by gearsngarters) enough.

People look for a scapegoat. Monster High dolls are stylized dolls - they are not to blame for poor self image. Take a look at society if you want to find out why children feel all of that pressure.

I’d also like to add my own little bit: A lot of people like to also turn these kinds of things around and claim ‘now you are encouraging people to be unhealthy’ - no, we should be HEALTHY, not see bones sticking out everywhere. I’m a huge advocate for health, but I do believe there are unrealistic expectations place by SOCIETY and the MEDIA, things that actually impact how we live our daily lives.

Most girls who want to look like their monster high dolls want to have their hair, or their clothes (which, given their proportions, are NOT super short. They just seem that way because of the long legs. They are actually very well covered). I’ve never seen or heard of a little girl saying “i want to be thin like my __insert doll here__” - they want their clothes, or their pets, etc.

Also - from a corporate standpoint, dolls are made based on research of what children want, not the other way around. Before making Barbie, Mattel did much research on the playing habits of little girls. They presented them with different toys, saw what they gravitated to, and also asked why. i.e. these dolls are designed based on already instilled ideas that girls have about what is beautiful and what they want to play with

THAT should be your answer to if the dolls are really the problem.

(Source: heartshapedboxofpinsandwires)