Bratz Dolls Are Making a Comeback, and So Are Parents’ Love-Hate Relationship With Them

Kylie Jenner's new line of dolls is helping with the resurgence.

Fact checked by Sarah Scott

Unless you’ve been living under a rock…

Actually, let me amend that: even if you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably well aware of how Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie has dominated the summer. The film has done an impressive job of inspiring conversations about feminism, beauty standards, and nostalgia, not just for humans, but also for other dolls gracing store shelves.

Bratz dolls, one of Barbie’s successors, on the other hand, has been receiving both scrutiny and praise lately amid their re-emergence. Part of it is fueled by Kylie Jenner's own line of Bratz dolls in her likeness. It’s interesting to see what each side has to say in this renewed debate.

On one side, we have the opinions we often heard during the dolls’ inception in 2001: they're too sexualized, they’re too grown-up for their audience, and they’re ultimately going to lead to scantily-clad and morally corrupt little girls everywhere.

“Bratz dolls were designed to look like celebrities with way too much makeup and plastic surgeries and very unnatural look,” says a Reddit user, even three years ago. “They are often designed with too short dresses, only in a bra and in a short skirt with extreme high heels. They are way worse than Barbie dolls. I would never buy my daughter a Bratz doll.”

On the other side, there are those who grew up with the doll line who attest that long before Barbie was focused on diversity, Bratz was making a concerted effort towards representation.

“I loved Bratz dolls growing up. I think it was great that they prioritized representation of girls of different races. As a Black girl, it was awesome seeing toys with my features. I look way more like them then [sic] Barbie dolls,” another Reddit user responds to the same thread.

A grad student named Camilla Bryant, quoted in this article from Rolling Stone, agrees, saying that she “started relating more to Bratz because I could see someone that kind of looked more like me.”

This begs the question: Are Bratz dolls the first step in a child’s hypersexualization? Or are they actually trailblazers in getting diversity on the shelf?

For me, I think they’re both, and neither.

At the risk of dating myself, I was too old for Bratz dolls, and so the only representation I experienced amongst my toys were Black Barbie and the weirdly creepy Kid Sister doll—both of which were just versions of the White dolls with different skin tones.

The dolls were darker than I was, and they still had straight, fine hair—nothing like my kinky, curly coils that I struggled to find products for. I didn’t feel any connections to them at all, and I often wondered what it would have been like for me to see more of myself in products that were meant to be pretty, stylish, and successful.

I do also feel that, while Bratz definitely helped to put more dark-skinned, full-lipped girls on the shelves, they also weren’t the most complete examples for little girls to follow. They didn’t have much of a point to them besides being pretty, which is fun and all, but if you were someone who wanted a doll with hobbies or careers, you were out of luck.

It doesn’t help that Bratz tends to partner with people who are more often known for their looks and connections to fashion (Kylie Jenner for example), which leaves kids with very little else to glean from their time with the dolls.

For Black girls especially, there is a constant reminder out there that your looks don’t stack up if they’re not stereotypically European. You’ll struggle if your hair isn’t straight, if your nose isn’t smaller, and if your skin is darker. While the media is catching up a bit, it’s still not quite there yet. So when you have that message on one side, and then Bratz’s message of “being pretty and stylish is all you need,” it can make for a rather messy self-image if things aren’t handled correctly.

This brings me to the crux of this whole thing: a child’s dolls are only one part of their childhood experience. They can be a kid’s first chance to see themselves in someone else, but they are still only one way of getting there. Playing with a doll wearing a short skirt will not, on its own, result in your kid refusing to wear anything but short skirts. Playing with a doll who is a doctor won’t automatically enter your child into medical school. Their interests will also find shape thanks to what they see their parents and siblings do, what they watch on TV, and what they experience amongst friends and peers. To blame a doll as the sole reason for a child growing up to be who they are is silly and unrealistic.

If your child wants a Bratz doll, I don’t think that they’re any more likely to grow up to want to be a Bratz doll than a child who only plays with Barbies. It’s about the messages that they’re receiving from all sides, not just from the toys in their hands. And if a doll with giant eyes and a little leather jacket gives them a few more minutes of fun, who’s to deny them that little extra bit of childhood?

Let them play. The hard stuff will follow soon enough.

Related: Age-by-Age Guide to Toys

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