Poll: Barbies v. Bratz

ManDown

Who is more relevant worldwide? Who had the biggest hit? Who is critically acclaimed? Who has the best nudes?

Dancehall

Bratz are thrash. I mean, they don't even have feet. What kinda cheap design?

ManDown

Quote:

Originally posted by Dancehall Queen

Bratz are thrash. I mean, they don't even have feet. What kinda cheap design?

And they have big heads and are flat chested. They haven't been relevant since, like, 2003.

Ahmed.

Barbie is classy, while the other is trashy

Kang.

They both suck.

Sorry, Katie

ManDown

And let's not forget that ****** Ratz movie that nobody bothered to watch.

Monk

Aren't the Bratz *****s?

Dusty

Please. Barbie is a household name. Bratz, they're just trash.

Dancehall

Quote:

Originally posted by Kin

And they have big heads and are flat chested. They haven't been relevant since, like, 2003.

And like:

Barbie’s first 124 careers were:

1959 Teenage Fashion Model
1960 Fashion Editor
1961 Ballerina, Nurse, Flight Attendant
1962 Tennis Pro, Ice Skater
1963 Executive (Career Girl)
1965 Astronaut, Teacher
1966 Pan Am Flight Attendant
1967 Junior Designer
1970 Aerobics Instructor
1971 Singer
1973 Surgeon, United Airlines Flight Attendant
1974 Miss America
1975 Olympic Athlete, Downhill Skier, Figure Skater, Gymnast
1976 Ballerina
1977 Actress
1979 Miss America
1982 Concert Pianist
1984 Aerobics Instructor, CEO
1985 Business Executive, Dress Designer, TV News Reporter,
Veterinarian, Teacher
1986 Astronaut, Rock Star
1987 Ballerina
1988 Doctor
1989 UNICEF Ambassador, Doctor Army Officer
1990 U.S. Air Force Pilot, Summit Diplomat, Ice Capades Star
1991 Music Video Star, Naval Petty Officer
1992 Marine Corps Sergeant, Rap Musician, Teacher, Chef Doctor,
Presidential Candidate
1993 Police Officer, Army Medic, Radio City Music Hall Rockette,
Baseball Player
1994 Pediatrician, Astronaut, Scuba Diver, Air Force Thunderbird, Squadron Leader, Artist
1995 Teacher, Lifeguard, Firefighter
1996 Veterinarian, Engineer, Olympic Gymnast
1997 Dentist, Paleontologist, Boutique Owner
1998 Professional WNBA Basketball Player, Rock Star,
Olympic Skater, NASCAR Driver
1999 Pilot, Women’s World Cup Soccer Player, Major League Baseball Player, Business Executive, NASCAR Driver,
NBA Player
2000 Olympic Swimmer, Presidential Candidate, Formula1 Driver
2001 Children’s Doctor, Sign Language Teacher, Chef
2002 Art Teacher, Olympic Ice Skater
2003 Producer
2004 Presidential Candidate
2005 American Idol Winner, Baby Doctor Barbie, Pet Doctor Barbie,
Teacher Barbie
2006 Baby Doctor, Zoologist,Teacher, Ballerina
2007 Pet Sitter, Baby Photographer, Teacher, Ballet Teacher
2008 Presidential Candidate, Soccer Coach, Swim Instructor,
TV Chef, Zoo Doctor, Space Camp
2009 Animal Trainer, Newborn Baby Doctor, Preschool Teacher,
Pet Vet, Gymnastics Coach, Dog Trainer/Competitor, Dog
Washer, Dog Park Sitter, Equestrian, Fashion Magazine Intern
2010 Race Car Driver, Rock Star, Pet Vet, Dentist, Snowboarder,
Pizza Chai Ballroom Dancer, Baby Sitter, Kid Doctor

The longevity and success. Bratz could never.

Bandrew

Barbies

Bandrew

bratz gets no love

KitKat

The results prove it.

Hey Gurl Hey

Bratz because they're Divas

ManDown

Quote:

Originally posted by Monkey

Aren't the Bratz *****s?

Yes, and they caused controversy.

Quote:

Last month my daughter turned four, and requested a Cinderella-themed birthday party. I wondered if I should be encouraging the princess-rescued-by-her-handsome-knight stereotype, but decided I was being neurotic.

Two weeks later, a dozen little girls turned up at our house, most dressed in old-fashioned frilly party frocks. But one child arrived wearing a sequinned crop top and a short plaid skirt that would have been inappropriate on a 12-year-old, never mind a little girl of four.

When it came to the present-opening, the little girl wriggled excitedly in her seat as my daughter unwrapped her gift. For a moment, I stared at it and wondered if there was a new doll on the block called ?Hooker Barbie?.

The doe-eyed, midriff-baring doll was dressed in cheap pink-and-black lingerie and looked as if she should be dancing round a pole.

"It?s one of the BratzBabyz!" the little girl burst out. "She?s called Sugar and I want to be just like her!"

Her mother looked at me and shrugged helplessly. Needless to say, the plastic tart doll went straight in the bin as soon as everyone left.

The Bratz, a clique of sultry-eyed trollops with the slogan ?a passion for fashion?, have come from nowhere in just five years to threaten the crown of the Queen Bee, Barbie, the world?s most successful toy.

MGA Entertainment, the family-owned California firm that launched the Bratz in June 2001, earns around £1.6bn a year from the dolls and accessories.

In the four years since their launch in Britain, the Bratz have grabbed a 40 per cent slice of the £100m-a-year UK doll market, outselling Barbie by an astonishing two to one.

Last year more than two million dolls were sold in the UK at an average of £20 each. Nick Austin, Chief Executive of the UK Bratz distributor Vivid Imagination, says - depressingly - that Britain is the most successful Bratz market in the world.

"British girls have just taken Bratz to their hearts," he said. "Their edgy, streetwise style appeals to the post-Spice Girl generation."

Parents may despair, but there?s no denying the extraordinary appeal of the Bratz, with their catwalk chic, huge expressive faces and multi-ethnic skin tones.

Dressed in outfits such as black leather jackets teamed with jeans and red crocodile boots, or Rock Angelz T-shirts and pink glitter mini-skirts, the dolls are accessorised with mobile phones, lipsticks and brash jewellery - one ?blinged up? version even comes with a sliver of real diamond which can be worn as a necklace.

Little wonder that parents of six-year-old would-be imitators are appalled. A number of websites have sprung up, with concerned parents denouncing the dolls as ?obscene? and ?tarty?.

"Where are we as a society when manufacturers and parents think it?s all right for children to dress like this?" one mother asked. "These dolls send out all the wrong messages. And don?t underestimate the impact of these images on young boys."

It is indeed a chilling thought that thousands of boys will have their first, simplistic ideas of how women should dress and behave formed by the Bratz.

Product designer, American Paula Treantafelles admits to deliberately designing a fashion doll for the seven-to-ten year olds that Mattel - makers of Barbie - was failing to reach. Her language is trite, slick PR-speak - and deeply cynical.

"At this age, they?re very different to four-to-six year olds," she says. Bratz "are about self-expression, self-identity. When Barbie was in her prime, girls were taught to be career women, to be men?s equals. Today, yes, career and education matter, but it?s also ?express yourself, have your own identity, girl power?."

But just as there is now clear research to demonstrate the toxic impact of alcohol and tobacco advertising on female body image, eating habits and mental health - there is also potential for similar psychological side-effects from the use of sex to sell toys and clothes to children.

"Children learn to associate physical appearance and buying the right products not only with being sexy, but also with being successful as a person," says Dr Jean Kilbourne, author of So Sexy, So Soon: The Sexualisation Of Childhood.

"These lessons will shape their gender identity, sexual attitudes, values and their capacity for love and connection."

The bombardment of sexual images is not designed principally to sell our children on sex, of course. What it?s really about is selling us on shopping.

Learn early about appearance, and it turns you into a good little consumer. Teach a seven-year-old that sex is about accessorising, and you?ve secured a lifetime of lingerie-buying.

Last year, Asda was condemned by child welfare groups for marketing black lacy underwear to nine-year-old girls.

In 2003, Bhs was forced to withdraw their Little Miss Naughty range, which was aimed at under-tens and included thongs and padded bras, after campaigners called for a boycott of the store.

Opposition Leader David Cameron recently spoke out against the ?harmful and creepy? sexualisation of children, blaming irresponsible business for their aggressive approach.

"The marketing and advertising agencies even have a term for it: KGOY ? Kids Growing Older Younger," he said. "It may be good for business, but it?s not good for families and it?s not good for society, and we should say so."

When Barbie was introduced in 1959, her target market was six-to-ten year olds. Today, she appeals mostly to ages three-to-six.

The company behind Bratz see their decision to bring ?hooker chic? into the bedroom of pre-teens not as ?premature sexualisation?, but simply an untapped commercial opportunity.

It is a commerical cynicism which may yet have untold effects on a generation of growing girls - or perhaps we must now call them ?little women?, since that it now what they are relentlessly encouraged to be by one of the most powerful marketing operations in the world.

Kay Hymowitz, author of Ready Or Not: What Happens When We Treat Children As Small Adults, accuses the marketing industry of deliberately sexualising girls for profit.

"Marketers make it sound like ?KGOY? is just a fact of nature. The truth is, they have played a central role in making it happen," she says.

"They want to sell products; they know kids who are independent and ?empowered? are more likely to tell their parents to buy those products and that the way you seize kids? attention is to make them feel older, more glamorous ? and sexier."

At the 2003 Kid Power conference for marketeers to children and teens in London, organisers instructed attendees in how to harness ?the power of word of mouth?, how to ensure their products are ?the talk of the playground?, how to get past ?the gatekeeper? (Mum and Dad), and to be aware of the influence of ?pester power?.

These marketeers wear the clothes of youth, befriend children as part of their job, and generally get the jump on their competitors by encouraging brand loyalty from as early an age as possible.

If it sounds sinister, that?s because it is. To sexualise children through clothing and fashion implicitly suggests to adults that children are interested in and ready for sex.

Walk around any shopping centre and you?ll see pre-teens baring their midriffs. Long before they even know what the term means, these little girls are trying to look ?hot?.

The emphasis on an ?ideal? appearance brings forward the agonies of adolescence by many years.

Recent studies point to girls as young as seven being obsessed with their weight. Anorexia is now the third most common illness in pre-teen and teenage girls.

The controversy over the skeletal ?size zero? models (a much derided U.S. size which equates to a British size four) highlights growing concern over the impact of media images on the body image of young girls.

Child psychologists see a direct causal link between this premature sexualisation and the rise in underage sex.

Little girls think they are just being fashionable, but older people around them - especially adolescent boys - pick up those sexual messages and act on them.

If a 12-year-old girl is wearing the clothes and make-up of a 17-year-old, we shouldn?t be surprised when she is treated like one.

It?s hard for parents to stand against a cultural tide this strong. Life is easier - and often cheaper - for mothers if we thoughtlessly fall in with the vogue.

And while no one is saying that little girls should be denied the chance to play dress-up, there is a world of difference between harmless role play and Lolita precocity.

At times it may feel like parents are powerless to stem the flow, but without our financial muscle, a tween?s purchasing power is purely hypothetical.

If you don?t buy that push-up bra, she can?t have it. No one wants their child to be the odd one out in the playground. But talk to other mothers, and chances are most of them feel the same as you.

Economics and market forces have brought us to this sorry pass but if we all say no, the marketers will have nowhere to go.

They may not respect our moral choices, but you can bet your Bratz they'll respect our wallets.

SOURCE: Dailymail.co.uk

What kinda hooker prostitute teas?

notmyselftonight

Barbies.

arkl

Bratz are local.

KitKat

Who are the three people that I need to permaban for reasons of delusion and denial?

Dancehall

Quote:

Originally posted by Katie

Who are the three people that I need to permaban for reasons of delusion and denial?

KoreanDream and Devil told me they voted for Bratz.

Loghen

Barbies. I don't want the points

IVY

Barbies