CREATABLE WORLD� Deluxe Character Kit - DC-073

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Hi Spiral! I know what you mean about the theme. Lammily got slammed for that, especially with the first release. I'm in the process of reviewing another little doll whose charm is *greatly* enhanced by the available themes, so I've been thinking a lot about this issue. I LOVE your princess/knight/dragon idea! It's brilliantly creative and would also allow a child to be free from pre-assigned gender roles. I think even dragon characters are often portrayed as male--especially if they're evil. That doesn't seem fair! Your idea would mix everything up! You should write to Mattel. ;) As a parent that ambivalence continued. My daughter received a cluster of Barbies for her fourth birthday which she adored with all her heart. I felt torn. I didn’t want to be the parent to deny my child a toy they clearly got so much enjoyment from, but equally the highly made-up, scantily clad, anatomically-impossible dolls could not have been further from my scruffy four year-old in grubby playclothes.

Since expressing myself through words wasn't something I was comfortable doing, I loved dressing up to express myself. Even as a kid, I would always put on something that made me feel good about myself or matched my mood. Whether it was wearing dresses, a matching sweat suit, or jeans with patches - I wouldn’t leave the house unless I was wearing something that expressed myself. It’s something I still do, to this day! Expressing myself through fashion was my first gateway into wanting to pursue a creative path in life. I’ve always loved design. Through toys, I can design something with purpose and meaning. Thanks for doing this review. I had suspicions that the wigs were gong to have issues, and you confirmed them; that said, I really like their gentle faces and expressions. The more that I look at them, the more i see, well, as an adult, that the wigs are kind of superfluous. I get the sales end and the “kids like to play with hair” angle, but right now, at least In some circles*, gender is so non-specific, that anyone can wear any type of hairstyle or length, and Almost any kind of clothes. The clothing is not really gender specific, nor are the hairstyles. I think they are a very nice product that is open for all manner of play. Well done to the design team...well, let’s work a bit on the articulation! Dolls play an important role in child development; they foster empathy, develop communication skills, and allow children to role-play the world around them. At Let Toys Be Toys we believe that all toys are for all children and it’s the marketing that tells them if they are included or not: Mattel’s Creatable World dolls represent a really big step forward here. A 2017 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that approximately 76% of Americans supported girls pursuing interests perceived as masculine and approximately 64% of Americans supported boys pursuing interests perceived as feminine. There were differences based in responses from different political affiliations: approximately 84% of Democrats supported girls pursuing masculine interests compared to approximately 66% of Republicans. Responses also varied by gender: approximately 58% of Republican women supported boys pursuing feminine interests, in contrast to approximately 38% of Republican men. [6] A 2019 consumer survey of approximately 700 adult shoppers indicated that 25% expressed a positive view of gender-neutral toys and that 5% were interested in purchasing dolls from the Creatable World line as a holiday gift. [7] Imaginative language and motifs – stereotyped symbols and language are often used to target toys by gender, but the boxes steer clear of both.

My children are now eleven and seven. When I brought the dolls home I wasn’t sure if my eleven year old would still be interested in dolls, or if my seven year old had learnt enough of the world’s expectations for boys to reject dolls altogether. Studies examining gender identification among young children are hard to come by, but a recent report by the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles found that 27% of California teens surveyed identified as gender-nonconforming to varying extents. Interestingly, both children wanted a doll that looked like them; then as they began to play they became more imaginative. They played together for the first time in a while, sharing the clothes and accessories, and commenting on the different combinations each other made. They tried plenty of different options with both long and short hair. Described by Mattel as a “one-of-a-kind play experience,” Creatable Worldis a refreshing take on the traditional dress-up doll. The line features six different kits that each comprise an androgynous, childlike doll, two interchangeable hairstyles, and “endless styling possibilities.” Together, these components allow children from all walks of life to create the doll of their dreams—whether male, female, neither, or both. Inspire all kids 6 years and older with a Creatable World™ Deluxe Character Kit and let them play freely so kids can be kids and toys can be toys!

My path into art school was not easy. Like many Asian Americans, pursuing a career in the creative field is uncommon. My parents sacrificed nearly everything they had to immigrate to America for the future of their children, and becoming a designer wasn’t what they had envisioned for me. I constantly fought with my parents, pleading to let me go to art school. They eventually supported me going to art school when they saw how passionate and serious I was about becoming a designer. Every year, we try toexplore uncharted territory. So it’s difficult to isolate the exact starting point for this because we are in continuous exploration with our consumers. In fact, we spend time with kids. At the very least, twice a week my teamin conversation and play with children. It’s in these sessions where we get indications of what they're looking for and what the gaps are in the market. One of the main things for kids is being able to do what they want to do with the toys, which is one of the reasonswhy this idea works. During my last year of high school, I embraced that a creative career was my calling, so I seriously and actively pursued a way to go to art & design school. I am forever grateful to Lee Akamichi, my studio art teacher who helped me put together my portfolio so I could apply to an art & design school. Through creating art for my portfolio, I realized I enjoyed creating things with purpose. They eventually supported me going to art school when they saw how passionate and serious I was about becoming a designer.

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Elks, Sonia. "Barbie toymaker Mattel creates gender-neutral dolls". Reuters . Retrieved 16 May 2022. Toy company Mattel may specialize in miniatures, but the company has made big strides in recent years. Aiming to break from its highly unrealistic and hyper-feminine Barbie dolls of the past, the manufacturer now strives to create toys that break the mold, with recent series featuring female Fashionistas that come in all shapes and sizes and Inspiring Womenwho have helped make history. Now, on the heels of these inclusive collections, the company has launched Creatable World, a customizable line of dolls that not only abandons the idea of gendered toys, but of binary gender in general. If I could sum up the vision of Creatable World in one statement, it would be these words from Chella Man: “If I exist in this world, then I deserve to be represented.”

Even though some toy stores have made a point of removing "boy" and "girl" signage from their toy aisles, the message is still abundantly clear. There's still the aisle where everything is pink, and the aisle where everything is an action figure. And that's great for some kids, but not every child wants to choose between the doll that wears dresses and the one that gets to be an action hero. Through research, we heard that kids don’t want their toys dictated by gender norms," Kim Culmone, Mattel's Senior Vice President of Mattel Fashion Doll Design, said in a statement. "This line allows all kids to express themselves freely, which is why it resonates so strongly with them. We’re hopeful Creatable World will encourage people to think more broadly about how all kids can benefit from doll play.” I would have sworn that I'd donated my Creatable World sets to the Goodwill when we moved last year. In the blurred flurry of clearing out the house, I let go of a lot of things that I never thought I would be able to part with. But when I was sorting through some moving boxes a few months ago, I found both of the sets! I guess they made the cut. It was extra-fun to find these dolls because I couldn't remember exactly which ones I'd chosen, and I love a good surprise! Creatable World re-imagines the Barbie doll for the modern world. The dolls are more childlike in appearance (similar to Lottie dolls which are based on the proportions of a nine year-old child) and come with a range of clothes and hair options. Mattel is at the forefront of evolution. In the past five years, Mattel has committed to a journey of racial, gender, and non-ableist inclusion. There are Mattel dolls with different body types, heights, skin tones, and dolls with wheelchairs and prosthetics.

Gender and the toy industry

The 11-inch dolls present themselves in short hair and simple outfits. This blank canvas is the perfect starting point to let children's imaginations run wild and create whoever they wish. Create Unlimited Scenes I spent every waking minute thinking about, researching, and designing for Creatable World. If I was out running errands, I would be people-watching. I’d observe what they wore to find a commonality in how people, regardless of gender, style themselves. I meticulously researched clothing, hair styles, and hair textures. I educated myself, and listened to activists and leading voices in the trans community regarding their lived experience. My biggest hurdle working on Creatable World was trying to open existing perceptions of feminine and masculine styles. Rodriguez, Adrianna. "The company that created Barbie is introducing a line of gender-neutral dolls". USA Today . Retrieved 4 October 2019. At Let Toys Be Toys we know that boys and girls are more alike than they are different, but it takes an inclusively-marketed toy like this to make that really apparent. Gender and the toy industry Toy giant Mattel is launching a new range of dolls designed and marketed to appeal to boys and girls alike. Let Toys Be Toys campaigner Megan Perryman and her children take a look – has a major manufacturer really dared to rewrite the toy marketing script?

Across all cultures, to play is fundamental to a child’s growth and development. We make emotional connections to our favorite toys from our childhood. Through play, we learn to make decisions, to be social, and exercise creativity. We act out stories and imagine the world from different perspectives. We practice communication, problem solving, and empathy. Toys allow kids to build emotional skills, and toys shape their ability to interpret the increasingly diverse world around them. It’s important for me, as a doll designer, to provide options in the mainstream market for children to easily identify with, in terms of race or gender. When Let Toys Be Toys first started out in 2012 we targeted toy retailers to great success; UK retailers no longer explicitly signpost toys to boys or girls in-store and there has been a 70% drop in web navigation by gender.

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Other than my mom, I was not surrounded by many artists during my upbringing. A majority of my peers and their parents were involved with science, engineering, mathematics, or physics. My dad is an engineer, so this is where I get my practical & analytical side from. My mom is very creative and very clever, she always had ingenious solutions to enhancing a product to better suit her needs. She forever inspires me and encourages me to think critically and creatively. a b Asmelash, Leah. "Mattel just launched a gender-inclusive doll line". CNN . Retrieved 4 October 2019.