Comments for Teen Teams: Should tomboys and varsity letters have a place in the fashion-doll universe? at http://www.dollsmagazine.com , comment 1 to 3 out of 3 comments http://www.dollsmagazine.com Tue, 21 May 2013 04:23:47 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.dollsmagazine.com/articles/in-the-spotlight/568-teen-teams-should-tomboys-and-varsity-letters-have-a-place-in-the-fashion-doll-universe.html#comment-4435 I wish to opine about Tomboy dolls. I am greatly pleased Stephanie Finnegan wrote about the need for Tomboy dolls. For me, dolls are not solely innocent toys and playpals for innocent children. Dolls also create and reflect culture, over time the same for our history. Our girl-child history has been sadly neglected. Stephanie's blog reminded me of my own girl-child days. I would then have loved a Tomboy doll, a Janeyjock doll to name and call my very own. When I was growing up, all too many years ago yet still much like today, dolls for little girls were cutsie and clean, hair Do's neatly combed, long and frizzy, appearing daintily in flaring dresses, little pink panties underneath, white anklets and pat'nleather shoes. Those dolls are dressed for Sunday school and little else and most importantly, define the only acceptable girl-child culture, future aspirations and history. Unfortunately, these singularly masqueraded playpals for girls largely determine identical and predictable behavior in grown women. Growing up, I hated dolls. I chose for playpals in the daytime to carry about my stuffed orange monkey named Dynamite and my brown and tan panda bear named Poko. At bedtime these became my cuddle buddies. Dolls never reflected or represented me. I had not a speck of dainty about me. I appeared often with scraped and scabbed knees, messed and ruffled gear always ready for game. I grew up a tomboy. No doll, much unlike me, ever had dirty hands, pants pockets bulging with marbles and special stones, a grubby-wrapped,saved for just the right moment one-half stick of spearmint gum. No doll looked like me either as then I wore shorts or long trousers, a shirt, jock jacket, baseball hat and carried around my baseball mitt able to catch and throw a fast pitch with any boy on the block. Here's my best pitch for the day. Many girl-children today admire and strive to be a Billy Jean King, woman tennis champion or the same for becoming a women professional softball player, as Cat Osterman: or a college and professional basketball player, such as Rebecca Lobo or a professional soccer player like Kristine Lilly, and someday represent the U.S.A. at the Olympics. Yet, no Tomboy doll exists to spur a girl-child on to such heights. She has nothing of the sort to carry underarm and close to heart. She has no cuddle buddy of that sort for bedtime at night and hold in her arms. Gone are her dreams of seeing herself, and her future desires to one day become a champion in her own right, and in the likeness of her playpal. Hey Santa! Listen up! All she wants for Christmas is a Tomboy doll... a Tomboy doll... her own Janeyjock doll... - TP Mon, 19 Dec 2011 12:42:05 +0100 http://www.dollsmagazine.com/articles/in-the-spotlight/568-teen-teams-should-tomboys-and-varsity-letters-have-a-place-in-the-fashion-doll-universe.html#comment-4430 Tomboy dolls probably won't be made by big manufacturers because their market research will say "tomboys don't play with dolls." Case closed. It all has to do with focus groups. - Rachel W. Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:29:29 +0100 http://www.dollsmagazine.com/articles/in-the-spotlight/568-teen-teams-should-tomboys-and-varsity-letters-have-a-place-in-the-fashion-doll-universe.html#comment-4429 I think you are onto something. Tomboys are going to be a thing of the past, and so are little girly-girls who don't know how to field a ball or score a goal. The barrier between little boys and little girls are blurring. The same way boys like to play with dolls (GI JOE and superheroes) so will these new little girls. They will be playing Lara Croft tomb raider or Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any other butt-kicking female. You go, little girls! I wish I could have been raised with your freedom! - Sophie Fri, 16 Dec 2011 11:53:12 +0100