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Shortcake was a round-faced little
girl with cropped orange curls,
freckles, long sleeves and jeans;
today, she wears her hair long and
pink, has grown taller and leggier,
and wouldn’t be caught dead in
pants. Trolls used to be, well, trolls
— not “Trollz,” their sexy, slim,
smooth-haired doppelgängers.
Perhaps the most shocking
transformation is that of My Little
Pony, a toy that was introduced 30
years ago and has been revamped
several times since. Most recently,
Hasbro introduced “Equestria
Girls,” dolls that are pony-girl hybrids (think “goth” Barbies with
blue or green skin and a colorful ponytail) along with a special
DVD released on Aug. 6, My Little
Pony: Equestria Girls. Per a press
release, the humanized figures
are supposed to represent My
Little Pony characters as teenage
girls in high school.
The release goes on to describe
these characters with words
like “glamour,” “stylish,” “ultrachic,” and it is noted that each
doll features her own signature
“cutie splash,” an individual design that is similar to the “cutie
mark” on her pony alter ego.
But did the beloved Little Pony
really need to become all of these
CULTURE
HUFFINGTON
08.18.13
The brand’s message is,
‘Okay, girls, let your freak flag
fly! You’re free to be you no
matter what! As long as ‘you’ is
a fashion-loving, boy-chasing
very thin teenager with the
facial features of a cast member
from Pretty Little Liars.”
things? John A. Frascotti, Hasbro’s chief marketing officer, says
yes. “We are responding to the
desire by our fans to experience
the brand in more ways,” he told
The New York Times.
Author Peggy Orenstein —
whose book, Cinderella Ate My
Daughter, sparked a national conversation about how “princess
culture” affects young girls — has
a different answer. Orenstein
pointed out, in an e-mail to The
Huffington Post, that the Equestria
Girls are necessary from a business perspective if Hasbro wants
to compete with similar toys in the
market. However, she notes:
It’s up to parents and those who
give a hang about girls actual
development and well-being to
say absolutely neigh. You want
a sexualized, self-objectifying
girl? Give her sexualized, objectified dolls. You don’t? Have
some conversations with the