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Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Time to gripe: seriously?

WARNING:  THIS POST WILL CONTAIN PARTS THAT ARE A BIT "TMI" FOR SOME READERS.  VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

I've nurtured a love-hate relationship with the Lammily dolls for the past...oh heck, when was my first post regarding the dolls?  Oh yeah, it was a year and a half ago.  I think the doll has a cute face and cute clothes, but as I've said before, I think that making a doll with a thick waist is the wrong way to build a child's self esteem.  That's supposed to be the job of Mama, Daddy, or whoever is doing the child-rearing.

Guess what?  Lammily is taking it a step further with...y'all ready for this?  Period party packs!!!  Yessiree, this accessory set comes with doll-sized underpants, a booklet on menstruation entitled "Period Party!", a doll-sized period tracker, and what else?  Doll-sized sanitary napkins!  These, of course, are little stickers that go in the crotch of the doll's undies.  Some have wings and some don't, and they're all done up in cutesy little colors and patterns...patterns that REAL sanitary napkins never have!  Y'all think I'm playing?  I kid you not.  Today and People have both run stories online about this.

Online response to this has been mixed, with some lauding the idea and others decrying it.  I personally think this is going too far.  Yeah, menstruation is a natural, normal thing for girls and women...so why make a big deal about it???  If people make something out to be a big deal, kids are going to think it IS a big deal, and they're going to get more nervous about it, not less.  That goes for menstruation or any other big change that occurs in a child's life.  Yes, it IS important to teach girls about what goes on in their bodies as they grow out of the "little girl" stage, but again, that's supposed to be the job of us adults.  Mom, Dad, Auntie, the school nurse, the P.E. teacher, ANYONE!!!  We're supposed to do the job of educating kids about their bodies, not some hunk of plastic with funny little stickers.  The book that comes with the set is a step in the right direction; body books like that are usually interesting and educational, and sometimes they're even funny.  I wish Mr. Lamm had just stuck with the book and let that be that...or he could've just left the idea alone.  There are plenty of other body books in this world, after all; my sister and I both liked The Care and Keeping of You, which American Girl released in the mid-nineties.  The Care and Keeping of You discussed EVERYTHING, not just menstruation, but tips on eating habits, acne, breast development, hygiene, and just about anything else that a pubescent girl could want to know about.  If that's not your cup of tea, Amazon has plenty of other options.  Just type in "body book for..." and type in the age group or gender that you want.  Sorry, progressives...gender neutrality won't work this time!

In short, the book that Lammily produced is along the lines of something I'd expect for kids.  Even stubborn readers will read something like that if they're not getting their curiosity satisfied elsewhere.  But a doll that actually gets her period?  That seems a bit sophomoric to me, like something you might get a girl as a not-very-nice gag gift.  I hope that in the future Lammily will stick to cellulite and zit stickers, because for me, this is entirely too much.

Yours truly,
RagingMoon1987 

10 comments:

  1. The Lammily marketing ticked me off in the beginning. I couldn't bring myself to write about the doll, I was that irritated by the anti-Barbie b.s. surrounding her. I'm glad I just found out about these "period pads." Dolls are NOT people. They do not need that crap. Then again, I never liked the "drink and wet" dolls either. WTF is the point of that? Go babysit, if you want to deal with piss and poop. Do somebody a favor. Whew. Okay, rant comment ends here ;-)

    Short of it? I agree that having a thick-waisted doll has nothing to do with self-esteem. I have "bigger" dolls, I don't adore Barbie for her narrow waist - which BTW has gotten larger - but I don't see the virtue in a thicker waist.

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    1. LOL, did you see my review of the Lalaloopsy Diaper Surprise doll? She takes the drink-and-wet idea one step further. She's not as bad as the Lammily doll with her rainbow-colored sanitary napkins, but she's pretty darn close.

      I probably shouldn't have posted this; I'm starting to think that Mr. Lamm merely wants the attention more than anything. But at the same time, this news was so outrageously WTF that I couldn't resist it. You're probably smart not to post about it, though.

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  2. Okay, I'm pretty sure Mr. Lamm has moved fully into the range of just trolling everyone to see if somebody will call him on it. Why would we be turning to dolls to teach kids about menstruation? Of course, I've never been convinced that Lammily knows what its' target demographic is, in the first place.

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    1. I think you're right. He wants to see how far he can push it before someone lowers the boom. This may be what does it.

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  3. I never bought into the "Lammily Marks" idea either -- don't worry folks, your dolls have flaws too! Well, my dolls don't need stretch marks, acne, scars and now periods! What's next? When I saw that the "Period Party" packs had panties, I was worried that they might be stained! TMI, Lammily! I do like the Lammily dolls. I also like the Big Beautiful Dolls. It gives my collection diversity. However, it doesn't help to boost my self esteem or make me love Barbie any less. I love my Barbies! I agree, Lammily has gone too far with this one! I won't be buying any of these -- heck, most of my dolls don't even have underwear!

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    1. I like dolly panties, but that's just the perfectionist in me coming out. Yes, I admit that I was afraid these undergarments would have spots on them. I don't know why, but for some weird reason that entered my mind. I hope Mr. Lamm doesn't consider that idea! LOL

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  4. Ewww. No. Just no. I think this is more about adults' angst about self-esteem than it is about kids.

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  5. I saw that on their website, and was like "Wtf????"

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