"Rom Coms" and "Captian America"

A response to the article by Clarrington, Victoria, 'I'm in a bad mood. Let's go shopping!' Interactive dolls, consumer culture and a ‘glocalized’ model of literacy. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 3(1), 83-98. University of Queensland, Australia, 2003.

After a week of reading and discussing gender stereotypes, I lived my own this Saturday night. My husband informed me Friday that he was going to see the movie "Captain America" with his best guy friend Saturday night. Although the movie seemed mildly interesting, I had my eye on my own romantic comedy. After wrangling my four gal pals together, we saw our own chick flick "Friends with Benefits". Post movie, my best friend and I met up with my husband at a pub. "How did you like the movie?" I asked my husband innocently. "Two words", he said, "kick ass. You'd love the romance in it."

Classic eh? But stereotypes aside, I had a fabulous evening. And I guess, after reading Clarrinton's article, I'm left to ask myself, when does an evening of "rom coms" and action flicks turn into Diva Starz and Tonka trucks in pink and blue packaging? In other words, what turns stereotypical into just plain scary?

Earlier that Saturday over dinner at my girlfriend's house, I said, in passing, that I thought I was a girly girl. My friend raised her brows and questioned my self imposed label. "But you don't obsess about make up and hair and clothes" she correctly assessed. "The I guess I'm not" I self corrected. Apparently flawed, to me I was a girly girl because I usually gravitate to hanging out with girls, I like shopping (though budget friendly shopping), and getting (budget friendly) pampered. I guess watching Sex and the City mislead me to believe I was Carrie Bradshaw without the casual sex and consistent failed romances. Is Carrie Bradshaw a girly girl?

Back to Clarrington, I was hooked by the mere title of her article. On one hand, as a former shoe sales associate who worked on commission, I thrive on retail therapy. It's a huge part of my company's marketing ploy. Come into the store, dish your problems, buy more than one pair of shoes (because buying one pair does not impress the managers). Voila! Problems solved. Paradoxically, what would someone like Gail Vaz-Oxlade, host of 'Til Debt Do Us Part say to this same target audience? Save your money! Budget wisely! We girly/non-girly girls are being fed mixed messages.

Maybe I'm a business woman at heart. Clarrington in her article focuses on the dolls physical features, their anime quality, their positioning on the shelves, and their figures of speech. Though I sympathise with Clarrington's frustrations, I am more of a voyeur. In my mind, this is a lost battle. I maintain the claim that in order to bring back free play, manufactures need to veer away from dolls altogether and bring back toys that set the stage for children to be the doll-like actors in their play world. Bring back fake Fisher Price food, swing sets and school houses. By providing the setting, children will be forced to bring their imagination in order to bring the bare stage to life. The perfect marriage between Bradshaw and Vaz-Oxlade.