It's alarming how some of these adults see these plastic *TEENAGE* girls and immediately think the absolute worst. Like, do you have something you wanna share with the class, Diane? 🤨
@@smb-c3po well Bratz were described as "wh*re" and "sl*t" so they have to share that they see plastic doll *teenagers* as sex drived fiends Or did you mean "what there to share whwn they already did?"
I mean... I get the point people make when they say this but at the same time, you don't have to be a weirdo to see something is sexualized. Is there any reason for the LOL surprise tots dolls to wear lignerie sometimes? No, and it doesn't mean people pointing it out are weird.
FR an alarm siren went off in my head on reading that part. like HUHHHHHHH you really said that OUT LOUD 🤨🧐 miss thing your RACISM IS SHOWING and BLATANTLY SO. can't believe freakin "adults" had to make these decisions on whether or not these dolls were good for us to play with. I like dolls, but I was OBSESSEDDDDD with Bratz when I first saw them. who tf are these racist fucks to tell us what we like and don't like ???
Hey, don't want to bother, but English is not my first language and I am struggling to understand what this phrase means and why it's racially motivated. If someone can explain it to me, I would be very thankful!
As a kid who had a Barbie and a Bratz, I played with them the same way. And I never looked at Bratz as something sexual, because obviosly I was a kid, it's just a normal doll
For me I used the MyScene, Barbies and Kens as mon and dad, Bratz & Bratz Kids as their kids. and Littlest Pet Shops as their pets. sometimes I'd have my Only Hearts Club Dolls as the Bratz siblings
Same. These folks are warped. My personal favorite Bratz of my collection as a kid was a boxing themed Cloe, if my memory serves me. Still have many great memories of going around pretending to punch the other dolls with her little balled up fists, and having her chat and make friends with my neighbor's pet rat. Good times.
My mom is a psychologist and in her professional opinion, people who see something sexual in Bratz are projecting their own toxic views on clothing and teenagers onto the toys. "It has to be in your mind to come out of your mouth," was her succinct way of putting it.
I did actual play with my monster high and barbie dolls sexually but my parents thought I'd turn into a brat if I watched their movies or something like my cousins did, I love them they were just cautious with what we watched growing up sometimes like trying to clarify not to feel bad about my body when i watched winx like i wasn't thinking about my body at all
the way people tried to read Bratz for “not having jobs” when they literally run a fashion magazine and have been literal rockstars selling out concerts 💀
and the thing about that is, Bratz have had those same jobs for pretty much their entire run... meanwhile, every single new release of Barbie dolls, she has like, fifteen new jobs. what this says to me is, Barbie can't hold a job, and judging by her lavish lifestyle, is probably mooching off of wealthy family members. Bratz earned their success, grinding for decades, running a magazine empire and outselling every single industry plant made by other doll companies, including Mattel, while Barbie lives a lavish lifestyle, just seeming to try out new jobs, like outfits, so she knows what it feels like to roleplay as the common man. ... this is meant to be a joke by the way, don't yell at me, telling me that i missed the point of Barbie's many jobs, because i understand, the reason she had so many occupations was to demonstrate that kids can be whatever they want to be, i just wanted to make a joke...
my mom DID think that the bratz dolls were a little inappropriately dressed, but she thought that the impact of me and my sister having diverse dolls, ones that reflect the way we looked, was more important and she figured we would just play with them in regular kid situations. (what she didnt know was that we watched too many horror movies and put our girls through torture chambers, but that's beside the point.)
Seriously wtf!? 😂😂😂😂 even OG Barbie and her ancestor Lili even had the " post-coital gaze) back in the 50s and 60s. So I don't know wtf these parents were on about when they saw the bratz's eyes.
My mom would openly talk about how Bratz and other media for girls were "inappropriate" or "slutty wh*res" with me as a young child. I wasn't allowed to have Bratz for most of my childhood, being told they were inappropriate. I started parroting it to my friend at the time and she just stopping sharing certain toys or games with me because I would just say their outfits were inappropriate, despite secretly LOVING their outfits. It really affected me and my friendships as a child. To this day as a 24 year old woman I'm uncomfortable and scared to wear certain clothes, even just around the house or with my boyfriend because of the misogyny regarding outfits specifically embedded into my brain as a child. All because of some plastic fashion dolls. Great video and thank you for talking about it.
I totally feel that, there definitely needs to be a “grew up with moms with internalized misogyny that hated bratz and now as an adult are afraid to dress the way they want” support group
@@melon7884 AWWW 🥺 as a doll girl it's so sad hearing about how many mothers would do this, i remember other girls moms would feel that way towards my monster high dolls when i was little saying all types of mean comments 🥲 my mom LOVED their style so it confused me why? It really comes down to the adults and their weird minds that make these dolls something their not like how people HATED the OG barbie because she was "inappropriate" which now she's really neutral. But i will say my dolls have helped me find my makeup and fashion style so i think these dolls aren't "harming" girls rather the adult with internalized misogyny .. like how is a doll a slut or a whore😭 i never even knew those words as a kid.. no wonder so many girls in my class grew up all messed up 🤨
My mom was an anti-Bratz mom. I remember being poorly influenced not from the dolls that I coveted, but from how she sexualized & discounted them. It taught me that if I had an interest in girly things or dressed a certain way, I wouldn’t be taken seriously. 😓 It’s always the adults that make it weird!!
Honestly, people who say those types of things are just disgusting. It makes me highly disgusted seeing how they casually imply that if a teenage girl puts on makeup and wear fashionable clothing, she's trying to make herself into a "underage prostitute." It's all projection on how *they* are the ones with twisted views over minors and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Especially when they resort to the worst case scenario’s and wanting to take proper advocacy with em. Parents will still hesitate to openly talk to their kids about sex and their bodies, much less let their kids be comfortable enough to ask questions about it. Toys will literally be the last thing to give em such ideas, but they will surely blame that first before the sick minded folks they leave in proximity with their kids. 😒
I hate the implication that the girls are the ones in the wrong for expressing themselves with makeup and clothes for essentially "tempting men" like the victim blaming mindset it so rampant in this outrage and it makes me sick. The comments on this video made me realize these parents weren't just making blogposts for other parents, they were saying these things TO their own children, children not even old enough to know what being "whorish" or "slutty" MEANT aside from the "girly girl bratz". Imagine slut-shaming children but leaving out sex education so they don't even understand what a slut is or why your shaming them, just because of some clothes and makeup. Cause that's all it takes to boys/men treat you poorly, is if people aren't victimized regardless of what they have on. It's really terrifying rhetoric disguised as "think of the children" doll criticism.
sounds an awlul lot like "why was she there at that hours" "what was she wearing" when girls get r aped and are blamed for it, like why do you want to take the responsability off the perpetrator??? :////
It's a wild jump to me to go from "wearing makeup" to "prostitute" at any age but especially when it's a kid. A teenager is a kid. Why are they thinking about sex and children? It's so, so creepy.
4:45 THIS! 👏🏽 So much of the Bratz hate *is* based in racism, because many women of color, especially Black women and Latina women, are sexualized for their natural features and how they dressed. These dolls were the very first time I get to see myself represented in a doll line, so as I grew older and read about the Bratz hate, it genuinely hurts. 😞
Especially the lips part. I'm Jamaican and I have full lips. Alot of people compliment my lips but sometimes people say I have DSLs and quite frankly, that makes me feel uncomfortable at times. Even my own boyfriend wouldn't say that about my lips as he knows that would be a complete turn off.
@@cloed0ll - I had to look up what dsl meant and omfg the shiver that ran down my spine. Like jfc it’s just a pair of lips. This mindset is as stupid as the Japanese schools that have banned ponytails for girls because it’s “too inappropriate”. (I wish I was kidding on this)
@@somethingclever8916 not really anymore, there are several fillers used today that work different ways. Fillers add volume to the face and botox paralyzes muscles to decrease the appearance/formation of wrinkles.
DID ELLE WOODS TEACH US NOTHING? The Bratz girlies can wear heels and glitter and still be a academic icon. WE CAN HAVE PINK SPARKLY HEELS AND STILL RUN A COMPANY AS GOOD AS ANY OTHER PERSON.
I never liked Bratz and weird, tiny-nosed faces; it's just not aesthetically appealing to me. I never owned any because I had mostly aged out of interest in fashion dolls when they came out, but in retrospect: it's pretty messed up how much I was exposed to the idea that "the Bratz are skanks because they wear makeup and fashionable clothing and have the body of someone who has gone through puberty" when I was still a kid (right on the edge of developing that kind of body mysefl). Surely that's more damaging to young girls than a doll wearing lipstick and showing her midriff?
I loved their fashion and wanted a bratz doll so bad, but I could never get over their weird proportions either, lol. I only recently found out the feet pop off and if I knew that as a kid I would be devastated since I like making my dolls take off their shoes when they were "inside" their house.
As a kid, my barbies were adults with houses and husbands and kids and they did adult things. My bratz were teenagers who went to hogwarts or xmen school.
This perfectly illustrates how kids see toys and how adults see toys. I think your explanation is completely innocent and I think that’s how most kids play with their dolls.
My dad bought me my first bratz dolls , which were Sasha and Yasmín. He was mostly excited about the diversity they had, at the time you mostly saw blonde Barbie’s on the shelf. Plus at the time the teenagers in my life were dressing like that. I didn’t see them as sexual objects
I would like to add that my very much black mother jumped at the opportunity to buy my racially inclusive bratz and I stopped receiving Barbie’s entirely.
Bratz was really popular in Central Asia despite the dolls being expensive import products there because unlike Barbie, they actually looked like people you could see yourself and people you knew in. When I went to Uzbekistan as a kid to visit my dad's side of the family kids loved Bratz pretty much everywhere. I only ever heard the anti-Bratz takes in the US.
I can't help but raise my eyebrows any time "experts" are consulted to weigh in on things like if toys are "a good influence on kids", as though their thoughts and opinions are somehow more authoritative about a subject, or that having a PhD somehow makes them immune from having their own biases. Great video!
I'm 35, I really remember when these first came out and what my mom would say about them "looking like wh*res" and how that and other things were damaging. We'd literally just come out of a decade of "heroin chic", but it was still so easy for adults to ignore that and start not only being vile about dolls, but specifically because those dolls weren't white and presentably preppy enough. Glad as an adult I am not attacking children's toys over weirdo racism and internalized sexism. TBF I had no Bratz dolls and still turned into a Dominatrix! Now I own the big shoes!
I also don't understand why most (if not all) of that criticism is aimed at toys whose main target audience are young girls. Like "Barbie is too slutty, Bratz are too slutty, Monster High, Rainbow/Shadow High are too slutty". Sucking the joy of playing with a doll.
My mom is a psychologist and her professional opinion is that these people are projecting their thoughts onto the toys. They see teenagers and think of sex, so they bring it up. They see makeup and think of sex, so they bring it up. It tells you a lot about what's going on in their heads.
@@lunaguy1195 imo there's an idea that girls need more "guidance" than boys because we're meant to be mature, polite, knowing better etc 🙄 Ever since Victorian times there's been people complaining every time something new becomes mainstream in society because "but what will this teach our girls??"
i grew up in mostly black neighborhoods and in a black household so the Bratz girls were always normal to us. They looked like people I knew so I always loved them. I would hear some of these things some of these parents would say and I would always get confused about it. A big reason why I stayed away from Barbie when I was a kid was because people would say she's the more proper looking doll or call Bratz "ghetto barbie" and it would make me feel bad. I'm glad things are changing now though
My evangelical family had a LOT to say about my “hooker dolls” but I’m just grateful they still let me have them 🫠 even as a small child (4-7) I could see how WRONG and messed up these things being said were! I found it heartbreaking for such nasty things to be said about my favorite toys. Not even plastic women can live without slut shaming 😭
Thank you for bringing up the race part of this. In my home country, girls played with bratz and parents didn’t care cus all the women were naturally curvy with full lips. It wasn’t until i moved to the US where everyone suddenly had a problem with them. And by everyone I mean white people…
As a kid, I was genuinely terrified of Bratz. I don't understand why, they are slaying with their outfits and makeup. I guess my 8 year old self was scared of single tone eyeshadow and cool looking outfits, oooooooo so spoooooky
My conservative parents mostly bought me My Little Pony because they told me "human dolls are unrealistic", and if they knew the amount of clubbing those horses were getting up to and the lesbian relationship drama I concocted between the ponies whose personalities seemed compatible they'd probably realize that the shape of the toy doesn't matter. I probably would have played with Bratz the exact same way if I got any of them
I find it so weird that these people seem to think that the knowledge of sex, sex work, drugs etc will instantly just appear into children's heads as soon as they see Bratz dolls😭 A lot of children do dark roleplays with their dolls, but it's almost like we learn about those topics from the adults around us... And the dolls can't speak, neither can their clothes. As a child, when I saw a Bratz doll, all I saw a petty and cool toy I wanted to play with. One roleplay I remember doing with a Bratz doll was about one of them being an evil ballet teacher who acted mean towards the students. I remember it really fondly :)
as a kid, my bratz were COLLEGE STUDENTS! I made a dorm room out of a cardboard box! I gave them tiny notebooks and pencils! they went to classes! I didn't have any of my dolls go to the club much, but the only times I remember doing so were with barbies and AMERICAN GIRL DOLLS of all things!! kids don't have the same context as adults and don't know what looks and styles are or aren't commonly associated with "undesirable" behavior, the only way a kid is gonna find that out is through hearing their parents spew insults at a piece of plastic with detachable feet.
i remember as a kid my mom wouldn't let me get bratz dolls because she didn't like that they were called "brats" and she didn't want me to refer to myself or my friends as that. idk that's at least the only explanation i got from her about it.
THATS WHAT MY MOM SAID TOO! she thought that because they were called bratz that meant they acted like, well bratz lol She never mentioned anything else besides disliking the name which I can kinda understand..?
I agree with that. I wish they were called something else. I feel like the name Angelz would’ve been more appropriate and cuter. I don’t know why they end up choosing Bratz for the name.
Bratz were such important part of my childhood. It never crossed my mind that there could be something sexual about them, like for me they were just cool girls with their own magazine and rock band. I never tried to dress like them, but I did want to have my own magazine as a child LOL.
I'm so glad that you addressed the baby doll piece. I mean, that is the very antithesis of open-ended play. Though, kids can be quite deviously creative in their play.
My grandmother obstinately insisted on gifting me baby dolls, which i had no interest in. So when my brother and I would play plushie war (split our large collection between us, build forts at opposite ends of the room and lob plushies at one another), the baby dolls became the ultimate weapon. Those things really hurt when they hit you. I guess that's the kind of thing they meant ? 😆
@@thewaffle3604 my grandma gave me a baby doll and i loved bashing that poor thing against things because the sound of the head hitting stuff was so satisfying LOL
My stepdad once said to me he used to not think much of bratz, until Bratz rock angelz came out, as a metal head/rocker he thought that was a great influence, especially the punk range 2 🤘 I still listen to that album to this day
Looking back, Bratz was so important for me growing up as a Hispanic kid (my favorite was Yasmin ofc). My parents didn't think they were sexual at all (at least I hope not since they bought me so much) I think some hispanic moms even got their kids Bratz dolls because of the representation, cuz my cousins had em too. Glad my parents had the common sense to know the dolls weren't promiscuous, they were just girls. Thanks to that I was able to get into fashion and even design my own clothes for my Bratz. I can't imagine my childhood without these strong and fun characters.
I didn’t grow up with Bratz because I think they were just slightly before my time, but it’s just so crazy to me how these fully grown adults can s*xualize childrend's toys without batting an eye. YOU‘RE the one doing damage, not the toy.
Same here. I never had any but I remember how people acted abt them and how people treated monster high dolls (which I was not allowed to have for similar reasons)
@@pepperyk4 omg don’t even get me started on MH, they were my whole childhood but the stuff that people said about them was even crazier than bratz in my experience 😭 thankfully I was always allowed to play with them and my mom actually thought they were really cool, but I remember when I got older I started hearing people say that Monster High promoted stuff like BDSM and satanism. Literally insane
21:20 love the implication that Bratz singlehandedly invented cursive scripts to hide the number six in loops. No one has ever written loops into letters like this before
I was never allowed to play with bratz growing up for these exact reasons, and even as a child it never sat right with me. Now being an adult, I can see the reality was my mom's aversion to me liking "shallow" things like makeup and fashion - which, unfortunately for her, I never grew out of. Let's just say our difference in that fundamental understanding of morality based off perceived acceptable femininity has continued to cause larger problems, haha. She was weirdly totally a-ok with myscene dolls, though. I had a ton of those and loved them because I was obsessed with their outfits.
I didn't like Bratz as a kid because the lack of nose and feet weirded me out. My mother was on the Bratz hate train so I'm sure she was grateful, but I still loved Barbie and she couldn't do anything about it. 😈 Thank God I was an adult when Monster High came out because I would have been forbidden to even utter the words in her presence. She thought Pokemon was Satanic and forbade me from MTV (guess my age 💀💀). She'd have a fit if she saw my collection, which I must admit, makes me love them even more.
@@themoonflowerfaerie Oh my mother is one of them. Still. To this day. I think some evangelical preacher said his kid had nightmares so they threw away her Cabbage Patch dolls and the nightmares stopped, ergo the dolls are evil and filled with demons. 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄 I was then forced to throw away everything Cabbage Patch related. I could write a book on all the things my parents declared "Satanic" and stole from me.
@@Goleon yes, I read about it online. It’s insane. My parents took away our troll dolls because they thought they were evil and we never got any cabbage patch dolls
@@themoonflowerfaerie - Ah yeah I remember the bs stuff about trolls dolls. I’m so glad that I got parents who have enough of a brain to know bs when they see/hear it.
It’s funny how so many people who were criticizing Bratz and other fashion dolls for being misogynistic portrayals of women ended up being misogynistic themselves.
That's true like that book "Cinderella ate My daughter" that was published in the 2010's which not only was criticizing fashion dolls but everything targeted towards young girls like Disney Princesses,Disney Channel stars ect. And it was praised for being super "feminist" but looking at that book now alot of people pointed out how mysogynistic it actually is
@@awhimsyreader9015 I’m super glad that are realizing how problematic this book is nowadays. Btw is there any information on where you read about Peggy’s book being misogynistic?
My mom’s only gripe with them was that they had brat in the name since she “didn’t want me to be a brat and not be thankful for what I had or take things for granted.” 5 year old me told her “mommy it’s just a name.” She shrugged, agreed, and kindly got me the 2 dolls I wanted for my birthday. I pretended my bratz were friends in a future dystopian world and they had to fight off monsters. I pretended my bratz could magically talk to animals or turn into fairies. I used them to act out things my friends had talked about that day at school or things that made me excited or upset. I played with lots of other toys, too-many of them “made for boys.” I always believed girls are valuable and strong and that I should stand up for myself against the boys bullying me, follow my interests, and work hard… because my mom, dad, and older brother taught me. Bratz were not a problem.
it's so weird to realize that my mom being so chill about most fashion dolls but Bratz in particular (recently when I got the original Jade Reproduction for my birthday she told me she "always liked Bratz dolls") was very much not the norm for moms. to me as a seven year old, the Bratz were like a friends cool older sister who could wear fun clothes and makeup, like it was not that deep.
I was in my late teens when they came out but my mum loved them. She bought me my first Bratz dolls and also got one for herself. Thankfully not everyone is nuts.
I have never owned a Bratz doll, but Jade was a love at first sight when I saw her on a toy store shelf when I was a kid. My classmates used to make fun of me because I have a natural fuller lips and I really feel insecure about it during those times. That's why when I saw Bratz, I was surprised and just thought that there are people who thinks that my lips are pretty too. It sounds cheesy but that moment really change the way I see myself.
I had a bunch of Bratz when I was a kid and I grew up with a conservative mom. She didn't think the things these people do. She did think them not having noses in the cartoons was weird, but nothing more than that. What Bratz did for me was get me interested in fashion. I want to go into fashion design and I have since I was a kid because of Bratz. They never harmed me, but instead gave me an aspiration. I'm very confused by the comment on Bratz having more shapely bodies. Barbie at the time had large boobs and hips while Bratz were very thin with small boobs. This person got confused.
I bet none of these people ever owned a Bratz or held one and are basing all of their judgement off of first impressions. They saw they were more glamorous than Barbie and had a conniption because they'd never seen someone so gorgeous.
i'm always so thankful that my mom let me enjoy bratz, especially because i was pretty little when they came out. i sometimes get posts about them on my explore page and i'm constantly surprised at how many people are *still* leaving comments calling them sexual and inappropriate. like, i thought we were in the era where we were realizing how badly we treated women in the 2000s?
This was definitely during the height of the Not Like Other Girls epidemic, too. I feel like there is a correlation between the two. Children sl*t shaming other children was...something. They had to have learned that from their parents, right?
you can totally tell that none of the article authors ever consumed any Bratz content other than seeing the dolls on store shelves. The Bratz show was full of great themes about friendship and never giving up and expressing yourself no matter what. Every single article talks about how sleazy they are and none of the girls ever even kiss anyone they just have crushes (which like suprise ! nearly every teenager does!!) Like it's so funny they bash bratz and praise Barbie when Barbie was infamously horrible in diversity (in the 2000s) and also had on screen kisses but because she's a white woman in a conservative dress it's okay!! It's like they don't even try to hide their agenda it's pathetic.
i never got a bratz doll as a kid because my birth giver was CONVINCED they would "turn me into a slut." jokes on them because i ended up being a slut anyways 😋
I have so many fond memories of playing with my Bratz dolls as a kid - Jade fangirl 4eva - and I'm so thankful my mom didn't buy into the media criticism. The dolls weren't "slutty", they were unique girls with a passion 4 fashion, and any real fashionista could see that from the gate. (ALSO love love LOVE the OceanInSpace sweater, your taste is impeccable! Icon vibes!)
THAT WAS WILD! I spent 90% of the video jaw on the floor - I grew up in a deeply religious householdand I deadass had so many bratz. After church my ma and I would go to the toystore to put my weeks allowence on the bratz doll I had on lay-buy. Dang some people have too much time brew on obscure as hell thoughts.
somehow i find the sentence 'the perverted mind on MGA should be stopped, and their little doll too.' so funny. the criticism towards bratz, in this specific video at least, shows how so many adults do not understand *how* kids play with dolls.
I consider myself pretty lucky when it came to Bratz. Every one of my friends’ parents when I was a kid said they were bad influences, but my mom didn’t think so. She thought they were cute! So I’d always let my friends play with my Bratz dolls when they came over :) I remember feeling sad that my friends couldn’t enjoy some pretty and stylish dolls. I’m grateful no one told me the crueler things said about Bratz, because seriously, all I knew about the hate was that “Bratz would make you bratty” and I knew that wasn’t true.
I'm so lucky my mom thought Bratz were cute I didn't have a lot of toys growing up so I would have broken my heart if my mom said no to me asking for Bratz on my birthday or Christmas
I find this obsession with calling fashion dolls sexy and sexual and provocative so weird?? Like… it’s a doll?? They’re just plastic… and dolls need exaggerated features to capture people’s attention. Also.. I’m going to say it, people are allowed to be domanatrixes and be provocative and dress slutty if they want, yes these things shouldn’t be associated at all with children’s toys but It always upsets me when these people disrespect and demonise sex and being sexy like it’s disgusting. Telling women they need to dress down, be simple, unglamorous, not show too much skin to be respected is just another way to oppress them.
bratz : never had a pregnant doll, only had baby versions of existing dolls, somehow encouraging teen pregnancy actual baby dolls you're supposed to emulate motherhood with as a literal child: 🦗🦗🦗
My mom is religious and I was absolutely NOT allowed to have any of these dolls. My mom thought Bratz were the epitome of a bad influence, so because I was completely cut off from them I regarded the dolls as a sort of untouchable enigma lol. My Scene were slightly more okay because they had Barbie bodies, but their Bratz-like faces still made it so my mom still wouldn't let me have them. But my grandma who wasn't nearly as strict bought me a two pack of My Scene dolls one summer when she came to visit. I loved those dolls so much and never saw them as bad or inappropriate, they just had cool clothes and makeup! Thanks grandma for giving me that memory, miss you ❤
Its odd because I think there's genuine valid criticism to be had of the franchise. The girls sometimes did not so great things and were rewarded for it or espoused individuality in that fake cartoony way where it only occurs AFTER a makeover that completely changes a character's style. But...well...i doubt most criticism takes stuff like that into account
For now as we reflect back on early 2000s media yes that topic should be discussed, I think the franchise is still focused on their og fanbase that grew up with these dolls. they hardly seem to advertise towards actual kids, rn it’s just them giving nostalgia 😅❤️
I see a lot of other folks who also missed out on bratz and similar toy lines as kids due to what adults think about them and how they assigned adult thoughts to them. These opinions are so hurtful to kids. Just let kids play with toys.
Also bratz was my favourite as a kid and I think they really nurtured my own passion for fashion ♡ they had me planning out my outfits down to the smallest detail at like, 4 years old 😅
What's next, Betty Spaghetti getting cancelled for only ever wearing short shorts? The pearl clutching has gone too far, I say! I was never a Bratz kid for some reason. I had Fashion Polly, Diva Stars, Betty Spaghetti, and way more Barbies than I could ever keep track of, but for whatever reason Bratz never really caught my attention. Also I was absolutely that kid that was staging a bus crash at my Fashion Polly mall playset.
It's not the short shorts, it's the unrealistic body standards. How is my little girl going to feel when she sees Betty's super skinny legs and detachable arms and knows she can't achieve the same?
@@NoiseDay it’s like people complaining that monster high dolls didn’t have human proportions, they’re literally monsters that’s kind of the whole point
my mom preferred buying me bratz over barbies as a kid because she wanted to encourage self expression through fashion and expose me to the idea that beauty comes in all skin and hair colours, so growing up and learning that a LOT of adults at the time of bratz's peak popularity hated them was shocking to me! i never viewed them as promoting a "slutty" lifestyle i was just having fun putting together outfits and styling their hair and playing out silly scenarios of what i thought high school/college age life would be like lol
Since I didn't see anyone else say it: I'm sorry you didn't like your hair during filming, I honestly think it looks invariably great. Just in case some positive feedback helps feeling less down on urself
This was absolutely WILD. I didn't grow up hearing any of this, and it wasn't until after becoming an adult that I even knew people hated bratz. As a kid, I just loved my dolls. I had a few different kinds, but it was mainly barbie as she was so easy to get and had so many pretty dresses that I wanted. So to me she was the normal, and when bratz came out I actually thought they were weird because their "feet came off" so initially I wasn't too thrilled with them. Then my parents got me 2 of them for Christmas one year, (flashback fever Yasmin and slumber party jade) and I fell in love with them! Especially Yasmin! I loved her hair and played with it constantly. Over the years I acquired more of them, and they were played with right alongside my barbies, liv dolls, horses and stuffed animals. I distinctly remember my bratz girls being in the "pioneer days" quite often, as I had grown up seeing western movies, so many of my dolls had time travel adventures, and then turning around and putting my bratz dolls in their car and driving off to perform a concert, ballet or fashion show with barbie. Now mind you I grew up in a conservative Christian home, And my mom loved them too. She thought they were a cool new type of doll and we both loved the show and movies. She was as surprised as I was to find out people actually thought the dolls were going to corrupt young girls. Not once did that thought ever cross either of our minds, and the people who think that are warped in the brain. To blame a toy for something that you as a parent have failed to teach your child is irresponsible. Children have vivid imaginations, and they're going to act out what they see and hear around them, whether it's on tv or from the adults around them. So if they're playing out a one night stand or strip club with their toys, be it dolls or beanie babies, then maybe you as a parent should reevaluate what you're watching or talking about when you think your kid isn't listening or paying attention, because they listen more then you realize. They absorbe their surroundings. Whether it's good or bad. It's up to the parents to show their kids what is and isn't appropriate, not blame a toy for their faulty parenting and poor judgment.
I’ve never rly grew up with Bratz but all these hate comments just seem truly unhinged like mam, I’m playing with a piece of plastic with hair on it I’m not carrying firearms! 😅 Also ur hair never looks bad ❤
I got my original Bratz Twinz when a friend's daughter won it at school and her step mom wouldn't let her keep them so gave them to me. Lol (I was an adult btw) I still have them and used to use the keychain that came with them for years. Also I think it's funny that one of those shown in the video commenting how inappropriate they are used a Virginia Slims marketing quote! 😂😂😂 "Come along way, baby."
The bit about the bus crash reminded me of the way I used to play with my dolls as a kid with my sisters and cousins, we would put them in their car then roll it down the basement’s stairs
I was always so curious about this topic! I had a TON of Bratz dolls growing up, I even had the Bratz RV and I loved it! I have heard in passing of people saying that there was a backlash against Bratz and I never looked too deeply into it until I heard that one of my friends wasn't allowed to play with Bratz because they were deemed 'inappropriate' in her household. I'm a person of color, and when I was young, without even thinking about it, I gravitated more towards the Bratz dolls I had rather than Barbies. It was because I saw the clothing and the makeup that they would wear in my every day, and seeing dolls reflect that made me appreciate my own culture more. They felt like home to me. I never associated those looks as a 'come hither' look because I was a literal kid. I saw them as dolls who looks like someone I'd see in my neighborhood and admire; those comments about them not having human proportions in the face specifically hurt my soul because it literally means if you're comparing Bratz to Barbie, then you're saying that if you have any type of feature that is seen on any other race, (Big lips, differently shaped eyes) that means you are not beautiful. Bratz dolls made me feel like I was seen and appreciated as a person of color in this world where so many people think I'm wrong for just existing.
I was in hs when Bratz came out but at the same time my parents were ok on me getting them or them buying me one and they never commented on the look of the dolls outside of how cute, pretty or nice their designs are.
3 seconds in and you're apologizing for your hair. Your hair is fine. Not sure how it was fighting with you but I know of hair struggles. We notice our own hair acting up more than other people do. I'm gonna enjoy your video now.
As someone who loved Brats dolls growing up it both baffles and disturbs me how vile peoples comments were. Luckily I didn’t know anything about it as a child.
I had a few Bratz, mostly because my BFF at the time had them, and her mom is one of the biggest witches I know. If *she* approved, my mom had no argument 😂
I had Bratz dolls right as I was about to age out of playing with toys, around age 11-12 but loved them for their amazing fashion and how well traveled they were! The Harajuku Bratz line was my absolute favorite, I dreamed of traveling to Tokyo one day, wearing amazing clothes like they were! Clearly such an evil influence aspiring me to travel🤔
I had the bratz video game for gamecube as a kid. I went to my friends house for a sleepover. I brought the game with me and we were playing it in my freinds room and both of our parents were visiting in the living room. My freinds dad walked in her room and got upset when he saw what we were playing and said he didnt allow his daughter to play with bratz because they dressed inappropriately. My friend never told me about this rule and i was so shocked that he came in and got so mad. My mom came in and told me to turn off the game and took it home. ☹️ i was for a moment self conscious and upset but then went home and played it by myself. I still love bratz today, they were ahead of their time.
I remember my parents forbid me from having Bratz dolls but then for my second grade birthday party, every girl in my class bought me a Bratz doll. My parents just had to deal with it lol.
My mom thought like that. Luckily, she did get me the back to school phoebe, probably because of the long camo skirt. One of my friends though had tons of bratz and a jacuzzi house too. I was so jealous. I liked the dolls because they looked so cool.
I dont think adults know how kids play. we had General Hospital type dramas with murder and betrayal between Barbie and Bratz over my one armed Goku. Never parties or dancing or...whatever else. it was hella brutal 🤣 i liked the midnight dance line bc it was "goth" compared to barbie. i never knew adults thought of them that way. i asked my mom if she had reservations about me having them as a kid and no not really. we never censored anything i could listento/watch what i wanted and play with the toys i wanted.
I am 58 and at the time Bratz came out I was not actively collecting. I haven’t started collecting them just because I mainly focus on other fashion doll lines. However, all of the negative comments that you found through your research had me thinking that there are a lot of people with too much time on their hands.
This was my first crusade when I was a kid. I always left positive amazon reviews and would slander the adults calling them rude things lol. This video is such a throwback to that time in my life when first realized that people are dumb and you can't change the minds of many.
At the time Of Bratz heyday, I was baby sitting for my nieces and nephews. I took my them to the store and the girls wanted Bratz. So we each grabbed one including me. This mother laid into me for buying them. Now I’m a calm person but but don’t tell me what to buy! Thanks for this! BTW my nieces are now beautiful young women in their 20s who work as a hairstylist and a makeup artist.
Can I just say I really appreciate your channel 💕💕💕 I stumbled across it a while ago and it reignited my love for fashion dolls, you’re a fantastic speaker and you spread positive messages, thank you for what you do~ 💖
I have 3 sons. Whenever They had an invite to a girl’s birthday party it was always ‘they want this bratz doll’ or ‘they want this bratz play set’ Cool. Done. My boys just saw dolls. Full stop new sentence. That’s it. The end And let’s all say it together SELF PROJECTION!!!
You really opened my eyes to *actually looking at their outfits*. When I look up the most popular ones, the majority of them are quite covered up?? There’s the occasional miniskirt or crop top, but overall, they’re covering a very normal amount of skin, by the standards of where I live (a US swing state that gets hot summers). I was only very mildly interested in Bratz as a kid, but I heard this kind of rhetoric all the time back then, and even then I felt like it was gross. I already disagreed with that BS as an adult, too, but wow, the anti-Bratz folks were projecting even harder than I thought. I don’t personally agree with the concept of “modesty,” but I do understand that it’s important to some folks for religious or cultural reasons. And honestly? At least 80% of Bratz dolls’ outfits seem to align with those values, from what I can see.
My mom didn't want me to have Bratz dolls either, oddly enough it was more about the name than anything else. She didn't want me to think it's okay to behave like a brat.
It's alarming how some of these adults see these plastic *TEENAGE* girls and immediately think the absolute worst. Like, do you have something you wanna share with the class, Diane? 🤨
@@smb-c3po well Bratz were described as "wh*re" and "sl*t" so they have to share that they see plastic doll *teenagers* as sex drived fiends
Or did you mean "what there to share whwn they already did?"
I mean... I get the point people make when they say this but at the same time, you don't have to be a weirdo to see something is sexualized. Is there any reason for the LOL surprise tots dolls to wear lignerie sometimes? No, and it doesn't mean people pointing it out are weird.
@@Jhud69 baby that's not lingerie its literal swimwear. I don't understand why so many of you adults see these plastic kids and think the WORST.
@@smb-c3po that they're a pedophile
@@smb-c3po Their misogyny. God forbid a girl shows her belly button or else she’s a WH OR E
the “weave” comment feels VERY racially coded in particular…
Yes! I thought the same.
I don’t know if “coded” covers the level of implication here.
“who’s only duty to themselves is to detangle their weaves” is SO racially motivated omg
They're really saying the quiet part out loud sometimes. 😬
Yeah, that was a WTF moment there for so many reasons.
I was like “what?!” when the writer said that 😭😭😭😭
FR an alarm siren went off in my head on reading that part. like HUHHHHHHH you really said that OUT LOUD 🤨🧐 miss thing your RACISM IS SHOWING and BLATANTLY SO. can't believe freakin "adults" had to make these decisions on whether or not these dolls were good for us to play with. I like dolls, but I was OBSESSEDDDDD with Bratz when I first saw them. who tf are these racist fucks to tell us what we like and don't like ???
Hey, don't want to bother, but English is not my first language and I am struggling to understand what this phrase means and why it's racially motivated. If someone can explain it to me, I would be very thankful!
As a kid who had a Barbie and a Bratz, I played with them the same way. And I never looked at Bratz as something sexual, because obviosly I was a kid, it's just a normal doll
Yep! The only difference I noticed was the bratz didn’t have feet lol 😆
For me I used the MyScene, Barbies and Kens as mon and dad, Bratz & Bratz Kids as their kids. and Littlest Pet Shops as their pets. sometimes I'd have my Only Hearts Club Dolls as the Bratz siblings
Same. These folks are warped. My personal favorite Bratz of my collection as a kid was a boxing themed Cloe, if my memory serves me. Still have many great memories of going around pretending to punch the other dolls with her little balled up fists, and having her chat and make friends with my neighbor's pet rat. Good times.
My mom is a psychologist and in her professional opinion, people who see something sexual in Bratz are projecting their own toxic views on clothing and teenagers onto the toys. "It has to be in your mind to come out of your mouth," was her succinct way of putting it.
I did actual play with my monster high and barbie dolls sexually but my parents thought I'd turn into a brat if I watched their movies or something like my cousins did, I love them they were just cautious with what we watched growing up sometimes like trying to clarify not to feel bad about my body when i watched winx like i wasn't thinking about my body at all
the way people tried to read Bratz for “not having jobs” when they literally run a fashion magazine and have been literal rockstars selling out concerts 💀
How selfish of those children to roleplay their dolls going on adventures instead of getting a mortgage on their Ford 💀
@@error-try-again-laterBarbie does taxes too! Watch her file and earn!
THEYRE FUCKING FASHION DOLLS FOR KIDS WHO CARES ABT THEM HAVING JOBS OR NOT 😭😭
and the thing about that is, Bratz have had those same jobs for pretty much their entire run... meanwhile, every single new release of Barbie dolls, she has like, fifteen new jobs.
what this says to me is, Barbie can't hold a job, and judging by her lavish lifestyle, is probably mooching off of wealthy family members.
Bratz earned their success, grinding for decades, running a magazine empire and outselling every single industry plant made by other doll companies, including Mattel, while Barbie lives a lavish lifestyle, just seeming to try out new jobs, like outfits, so she knows what it feels like to roleplay as the common man.
... this is meant to be a joke by the way, don't yell at me, telling me that i missed the point of Barbie's many jobs, because i understand, the reason she had so many occupations was to demonstrate that kids can be whatever they want to be, i just wanted to make a joke...
They were also Secret Spies with Byron. 😭😭 and reality tv stars. The same parents complaining LOVE real housewives but hate Bratz 😑
my mom DID think that the bratz dolls were a little inappropriately dressed, but she thought that the impact of me and my sister having diverse dolls, ones that reflect the way we looked, was more important and she figured we would just play with them in regular kid situations.
(what she didnt know was that we watched too many horror movies and put our girls through torture chambers, but that's beside the point.)
If you weren’t putting your dolls through the most dramatic heart wrenching telenovela esque scenarios, were you really playing with them 😩
@@KingOfGaymes me playing out skins scenes with my dolls😭
Lolol saaaame! All me and my friends and cousins did was roleplay horror film scenes and pretend to be mad scientists and stuff!
@@KingOfGaymes me giving my dolls magic powers _and_ Pokémon teams so they could have dramatic high stakes battles with no survivors 💀
@@error-try-again-laterthat’s cool actually
the "post-coital gaze" made me physically pause the video and sit in silence for a minute, what in the world
Right?! That is such a self report sentence. It is a DOLL. If it makes you have those feelings, that's on you.
At least it's one hell of a name for a band
That phrase is honestly so funny, sounds like something from a fanfic
i went “eughhh” out loud at that part
Seriously wtf!? 😂😂😂😂 even OG Barbie and her ancestor Lili even had the " post-coital gaze) back in the 50s and 60s. So I don't know wtf these parents were on about when they saw the bratz's eyes.
My mom would openly talk about how Bratz and other media for girls were "inappropriate" or "slutty wh*res" with me as a young child. I wasn't allowed to have Bratz for most of my childhood, being told they were inappropriate. I started parroting it to my friend at the time and she just stopping sharing certain toys or games with me because I would just say their outfits were inappropriate, despite secretly LOVING their outfits. It really affected me and my friendships as a child. To this day as a 24 year old woman I'm uncomfortable and scared to wear certain clothes, even just around the house or with my boyfriend because of the misogyny regarding outfits specifically embedded into my brain as a child. All because of some plastic fashion dolls. Great video and thank you for talking about it.
internalized misogyny sucks I hope you start wearing the clothes you've always wanted to wear.
@@devinroy i mean that's also true but I was pointing out the commenters mindset that arose from all the people and environment around her.
I totally feel that, there definitely needs to be a “grew up with moms with internalized misogyny that hated bratz and now as an adult are afraid to dress the way they want” support group
@@melon7884 AWWW 🥺 as a doll girl it's so sad hearing about how many mothers would do this, i remember other girls moms would feel that way towards my monster high dolls when i was little saying all types of mean comments 🥲 my mom LOVED their style so it confused me why? It really comes down to the adults and their weird minds that make these dolls something their not like how people HATED the OG barbie because she was "inappropriate" which now she's really neutral. But i will say my dolls have helped me find my makeup and fashion style so i think these dolls aren't "harming" girls rather the adult with internalized misogyny .. like how is a doll a slut or a whore😭 i never even knew those words as a kid.. no wonder so many girls in my class grew up all messed up 🤨
do yourself a favor and buy a bratz doll. as a way to reconcile with your inner child and to piss your mom♥
My mom was an anti-Bratz mom. I remember being poorly influenced not from the dolls that I coveted, but from how she sexualized & discounted them. It taught me that if I had an interest in girly things or dressed a certain way, I wouldn’t be taken seriously. 😓
It’s always the adults that make it weird!!
Wut the heck what crazy mom
:(
Honestly, people who say those types of things are just disgusting. It makes me highly disgusted seeing how they casually imply that if a teenage girl puts on makeup and wear fashionable clothing, she's trying to make herself into a "underage prostitute."
It's all projection on how *they* are the ones with twisted views over minors and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Especially when they resort to the worst case scenario’s and wanting to take proper advocacy with em. Parents will still hesitate to openly talk to their kids about sex and their bodies, much less let their kids be comfortable enough to ask questions about it.
Toys will literally be the last thing to give em such ideas, but they will surely blame that first before the sick minded folks they leave in proximity with their kids. 😒
I hate the implication that the girls are the ones in the wrong for expressing themselves with makeup and clothes for essentially "tempting men" like the victim blaming mindset it so rampant in this outrage and it makes me sick. The comments on this video made me realize these parents weren't just making blogposts for other parents, they were saying these things TO their own children, children not even old enough to know what being "whorish" or "slutty" MEANT aside from the "girly girl bratz". Imagine slut-shaming children but leaving out sex education so they don't even understand what a slut is or why your shaming them, just because of some clothes and makeup. Cause that's all it takes to boys/men treat you poorly, is if people aren't victimized regardless of what they have on. It's really terrifying rhetoric disguised as "think of the children" doll criticism.
sounds an awlul lot like "why was she there at that hours" "what was she wearing" when girls get r aped and are blamed for it, like why do you want to take the responsability off the perpetrator??? :////
It's a wild jump to me to go from "wearing makeup" to "prostitute" at any age but especially when it's a kid. A teenager is a kid. Why are they thinking about sex and children? It's so, so creepy.
“Generic babydoll encourages creativity” so… we are ignoring that the sole point of baby dolls is to act like a mother?
4:45
THIS! 👏🏽
So much of the Bratz hate *is* based in racism, because many women of color, especially Black women and Latina women, are sexualized for their natural features and how they dressed. These dolls were the very first time I get to see myself represented in a doll line, so as I grew older and read about the Bratz hate, it genuinely hurts. 😞
Especially the lips part. I'm Jamaican and I have full lips. Alot of people compliment my lips but sometimes people say I have DSLs and quite frankly, that makes me feel uncomfortable at times. Even my own boyfriend wouldn't say that about my lips as he knows that would be a complete turn off.
@@cloed0ll - I had to look up what dsl meant and omfg the shiver that ran down my spine. Like jfc it’s just a pair of lips. This mindset is as stupid as the Japanese schools that have banned ponytails for girls because it’s “too inappropriate”. (I wish I was kidding on this)
@@Goleon can you tell me what it means? When I search it, a wifi company just comes up
@@DionaTune - Search it with the word lips after DSL. That’s how I found it.
@@Goleon IM SORRY? BANNING PONYTAILS??? WHY??
oh no! don’t let the boys see your NAPE 😭 WHAT IS THIS THE 1700’S??
"botoxed lips" do not exist. people conflating botox and fillers goes right through me.
@@somethingclever8916 not really anymore, there are several fillers used today that work different ways. Fillers add volume to the face and botox paralyzes muscles to decrease the appearance/formation of wrinkles.
Are you trying to imply that those people complaining DIDN'T know what they were talking about???
@@Nocturne22 They don't. Botox gets rid of wrinkles. You don't get BOTOX in your lips.
AGREED.
@@cloed0ll I think they were being sarcastic
DID ELLE WOODS TEACH US NOTHING? The Bratz girlies can wear heels and glitter and still be a academic icon. WE CAN HAVE PINK SPARKLY HEELS AND STILL RUN A COMPANY AS GOOD AS ANY OTHER PERSON.
Talk about it😤💅🏼❤️❤️❤️❤️
Omg, I was literally thinking the same thing! She would be so disappointed in us!
Preach it 💅 I played with both Bratz, Barbie, AND My Scene growing up, and I didn't become a prostitute or a h0e...although I did become bi 👀
@@abi_cat28 I'm bi too! I love how there are so many LGBT folks in the doll community.
@@starpasta me too! Maybe it's because it's what's comfortable
I never liked Bratz and weird, tiny-nosed faces; it's just not aesthetically appealing to me. I never owned any because I had mostly aged out of interest in fashion dolls when they came out, but in retrospect: it's pretty messed up how much I was exposed to the idea that "the Bratz are skanks because they wear makeup and fashionable clothing and have the body of someone who has gone through puberty" when I was still a kid (right on the edge of developing that kind of body mysefl). Surely that's more damaging to young girls than a doll wearing lipstick and showing her midriff?
I loved their fashion and wanted a bratz doll so bad, but I could never get over their weird proportions either, lol. I only recently found out the feet pop off and if I knew that as a kid I would be devastated since I like making my dolls take off their shoes when they were "inside" their house.
I liked them, but their detachable feet annoyed me bc they couldn't switch shoes if they had different skin tones 😭 Barbie always seemed cheaper too.
As a kid, my barbies were adults with houses and husbands and kids and they did adult things. My bratz were teenagers who went to hogwarts or xmen school.
This perfectly illustrates how kids see toys and how adults see toys. I think your explanation is completely innocent and I think that’s how most kids play with their dolls.
I would watch an X-Men Bratz movie, ngl.
My dad bought me my first bratz dolls , which were Sasha and Yasmín. He was mostly excited about the diversity they had, at the time you mostly saw blonde Barbie’s on the shelf. Plus at the time the teenagers in my life were dressing like that. I didn’t see them as sexual objects
“Rooted in racism” THANK YOU. It’s time someone said it. It’s BEEN racism the whole time.
I would like to add that my very much black mother jumped at the opportunity to buy my racially inclusive bratz and I stopped receiving Barbie’s entirely.
Bratz was really popular in Central Asia despite the dolls being expensive import products there because unlike Barbie, they actually looked like people you could see yourself and people you knew in. When I went to Uzbekistan as a kid to visit my dad's side of the family kids loved Bratz pretty much everywhere. I only ever heard the anti-Bratz takes in the US.
@@morganillustrates6167Barbie’s didn’t treat poc
Likes me
And others
@@morganqorishchi8181wow
It is racism, that's true. And women shaming other women. Put that together for a double whammy against not white women.
my parents didn’t want me to get Bratz at first but they soon realized NOTHING was coming between me and that Nighty Nite Sasha
I LOVE Nighty Nite Sasha! she's one of my all-time fave Bratz dolls lol
I can't help but raise my eyebrows any time "experts" are consulted to weigh in on things like if toys are "a good influence on kids", as though their thoughts and opinions are somehow more authoritative about a subject, or that having a PhD somehow makes them immune from having their own biases. Great video!
Honestly I think the only “experts” that should be consulted about how toys affect kids, are kids 💀
people forget that even a PHD, could have gotten that with a "D" average. 🤣
What school did they graduate from? Barbie University?
There is something so endearing calling dolls "little plastic women"
I'm 35, I really remember when these first came out and what my mom would say about them "looking like wh*res" and how that and other things were damaging. We'd literally just come out of a decade of "heroin chic", but it was still so easy for adults to ignore that and start not only being vile about dolls, but specifically because those dolls weren't white and presentably preppy enough. Glad as an adult I am not attacking children's toys over weirdo racism and internalized sexism.
TBF I had no Bratz dolls and still turned into a Dominatrix! Now I own the big shoes!
i just dont understand why people bring up adult issues into children's TOYS
I also don't understand why most (if not all) of that criticism is aimed at toys whose main target audience are young girls. Like "Barbie is too slutty, Bratz are too slutty, Monster High, Rainbow/Shadow High are too slutty". Sucking the joy of playing with a doll.
My mom is a psychologist and her professional opinion is that these people are projecting their thoughts onto the toys. They see teenagers and think of sex, so they bring it up. They see makeup and think of sex, so they bring it up. It tells you a lot about what's going on in their heads.
@@lunaguy1195 imo there's an idea that girls need more "guidance" than boys because we're meant to be mature, polite, knowing better etc 🙄
Ever since Victorian times there's been people complaining every time something new becomes mainstream in society because "but what will this teach our girls??"
Probably because adults designed them?
@@morganqorishchi8181 and because they weren't allowed to be themselves
i grew up in mostly black neighborhoods and in a black household so the Bratz girls were always normal to us. They looked like people I knew so I always loved them. I would hear some of these things some of these parents would say and I would always get confused about it. A big reason why I stayed away from Barbie when I was a kid was because people would say she's the more proper looking doll or call Bratz "ghetto barbie" and it would make me feel bad. I'm glad things are changing now though
My evangelical family had a LOT to say about my “hooker dolls” but I’m just grateful they still let me have them 🫠 even as a small child (4-7) I could see how WRONG and messed up these things being said were! I found it heartbreaking for such nasty things to be said about my favorite toys. Not even plastic women can live without slut shaming 😭
Thank you for bringing up the race part of this. In my home country, girls played with bratz and parents didn’t care cus all the women were naturally curvy with full lips. It wasn’t until i moved to the US where everyone suddenly had a problem with them. And by everyone I mean white people…
Imagine getting angry over the epic Bratz girls!
@@smb-c3po homophobia exists in the northern states too Sora
@@smb-c3po Oh believe me it is. Just because someone doesn't outright call you a slur doesn't mean it's not prevalent
As a kid, I was genuinely terrified of Bratz. I don't understand why, they are slaying with their outfits and makeup. I guess my 8 year old self was scared of single tone eyeshadow and cool looking outfits, oooooooo so spoooooky
👠 💅 boo!!
omg I also was afraid of Bratz!!!!
I’m sorry but reading this I just imagined a small child in the dark and then a whispered “Passion for fashion~” followed by screaming
@@KingOfGaymes LMFAO 🤣🤣
The weird proportions or bad animation in the show maybe?? 💀
My conservative parents mostly bought me My Little Pony because they told me "human dolls are unrealistic", and if they knew the amount of clubbing those horses were getting up to and the lesbian relationship drama I concocted between the ponies whose personalities seemed compatible they'd probably realize that the shape of the toy doesn't matter. I probably would have played with Bratz the exact same way if I got any of them
I find it so weird that these people seem to think that the knowledge of sex, sex work, drugs etc will instantly just appear into children's heads as soon as they see Bratz dolls😭 A lot of children do dark roleplays with their dolls, but it's almost like we learn about those topics from the adults around us... And the dolls can't speak, neither can their clothes. As a child, when I saw a Bratz doll, all I saw a petty and cool toy I wanted to play with. One roleplay I remember doing with a Bratz doll was about one of them being an evil ballet teacher who acted mean towards the students. I remember it really fondly :)
as a kid, my bratz were COLLEGE STUDENTS! I made a dorm room out of a cardboard box! I gave them tiny notebooks and pencils! they went to classes! I didn't have any of my dolls go to the club much, but the only times I remember doing so were with barbies and AMERICAN GIRL DOLLS of all things!! kids don't have the same context as adults and don't know what looks and styles are or aren't commonly associated with "undesirable" behavior, the only way a kid is gonna find that out is through hearing their parents spew insults at a piece of plastic with detachable feet.
The "Insolently sexual" line is killing me. 😭 Someone glanced at a bratz doll and took it's cartoonishly lush features personally.
i remember as a kid my mom wouldn't let me get bratz dolls because she didn't like that they were called "brats" and she didn't want me to refer to myself or my friends as that. idk that's at least the only explanation i got from her about it.
I’ll admit that’s a more understandable reason.
Same lol
THATS WHAT MY MOM SAID TOO! she thought that because they were called bratz that meant they acted like, well bratz lol
She never mentioned anything else besides disliking the name which I can kinda understand..?
I agree with that. I wish they were called something else. I feel like the name Angelz would’ve been more appropriate and cuter. I don’t know why they end up choosing Bratz for the name.
My mom was the same way. She never "banned" me from playing with them and I'm sure she would've bought me one if I wanted it, but she HATED the name.
Bratz were such important part of my childhood. It never crossed my mind that there could be something sexual about them, like for me they were just cool girls with their own magazine and rock band. I never tried to dress like them, but I did want to have my own magazine as a child LOL.
I'm so glad that you addressed the baby doll piece. I mean, that is the very antithesis of open-ended play. Though, kids can be quite deviously creative in their play.
My grandmother obstinately insisted on gifting me baby dolls, which i had no interest in. So when my brother and I would play plushie war (split our large collection between us, build forts at opposite ends of the room and lob plushies at one another), the baby dolls became the ultimate weapon. Those things really hurt when they hit you. I guess that's the kind of thing they meant ? 😆
@@thewaffle3604 EXACTLY!!!
@@thewaffle3604 my grandma gave me a baby doll and i loved bashing that poor thing against things because the sound of the head hitting stuff was so satisfying LOL
My stepdad once said to me he used to not think much of bratz, until Bratz rock angelz came out, as a metal head/rocker he thought that was a great influence, especially the punk range 2 🤘
I still listen to that album to this day
hope you and him have heard that they’re making reproductions of the pretty n punk series!
@@aj7842 holy crap no way!! Ahhh thank you for this important information xp
Looking back, Bratz was so important for me growing up as a Hispanic kid (my favorite was Yasmin ofc). My parents didn't think they were sexual at all (at least I hope not since they bought me so much) I think some hispanic moms even got their kids Bratz dolls because of the representation, cuz my cousins had em too. Glad my parents had the common sense to know the dolls weren't promiscuous, they were just girls. Thanks to that I was able to get into fashion and even design my own clothes for my Bratz. I can't imagine my childhood without these strong and fun characters.
I didn’t grow up with Bratz because I think they were just slightly before my time, but it’s just so crazy to me how these fully grown adults can s*xualize childrend's toys without batting an eye. YOU‘RE the one doing damage, not the toy.
Same here. I never had any but I remember how people acted abt them and how people treated monster high dolls (which I was not allowed to have for similar reasons)
@@pepperyk4 omg don’t even get me started on MH, they were my whole childhood but the stuff that people said about them was even crazier than bratz in my experience 😭 thankfully I was always allowed to play with them and my mom actually thought they were really cool, but I remember when I got older I started hearing people say that Monster High promoted stuff like BDSM and satanism. Literally insane
21:20 love the implication that Bratz singlehandedly invented cursive scripts to hide the number six in loops. No one has ever written loops into letters like this before
I was never allowed to play with bratz growing up for these exact reasons, and even as a child it never sat right with me. Now being an adult, I can see the reality was my mom's aversion to me liking "shallow" things like makeup and fashion - which, unfortunately for her, I never grew out of. Let's just say our difference in that fundamental understanding of morality based off perceived acceptable femininity has continued to cause larger problems, haha. She was weirdly totally a-ok with myscene dolls, though. I had a ton of those and loved them because I was obsessed with their outfits.
"the very sight of a high heel is enough to corrupt the youth"💀💀💀💀
I wasn’t corrupted by bratz, just scared to take off their shoes tbh, it felt like I “broke” the doll
I didn't like Bratz as a kid because the lack of nose and feet weirded me out. My mother was on the Bratz hate train so I'm sure she was grateful, but I still loved Barbie and she couldn't do anything about it. 😈 Thank God I was an adult when Monster High came out because I would have been forbidden to even utter the words in her presence. She thought Pokemon was Satanic and forbade me from MTV (guess my age 💀💀). She'd have a fit if she saw my collection, which I must admit, makes me love them even more.
Yes, and then there are the parents who Actually think Cabbage Patch dolls are outright evil 😂
@@themoonflowerfaerie - Seriously? Those are f-ing baby dolls.
@@themoonflowerfaerie Oh my mother is one of them. Still. To this day. I think some evangelical preacher said his kid had nightmares so they threw away her Cabbage Patch dolls and the nightmares stopped, ergo the dolls are evil and filled with demons. 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄 I was then forced to throw away everything Cabbage Patch related. I could write a book on all the things my parents declared "Satanic" and stole from me.
@@Goleon yes, I read about it online. It’s insane. My parents took away our troll dolls because they thought they were evil and we never got any cabbage patch dolls
@@themoonflowerfaerie - Ah yeah I remember the bs stuff about trolls dolls. I’m so glad that I got parents who have enough of a brain to know bs when they see/hear it.
It’s funny how so many people who were criticizing Bratz and other fashion dolls for being misogynistic portrayals of women ended up being misogynistic themselves.
That's true like that book "Cinderella ate My daughter" that was published in the 2010's which not only was criticizing fashion dolls but everything targeted towards young girls like Disney Princesses,Disney Channel stars ect. And it was praised for being super "feminist" but looking at that book now alot of people pointed out how mysogynistic it actually is
@@awhimsyreader9015 I’m super glad that are realizing how problematic this book is nowadays. Btw is there any information on where you read about Peggy’s book being misogynistic?
@@AngelicMilkyYT it's been a while since I read those things but i'm pretty sure there were some goodreads reviews that point the misogyny out
@@awhimsyreader9015
Really? Wow! I wanted to read that book at one point.....
My mom’s only gripe with them was that they had brat in the name since she “didn’t want me to be a brat and not be thankful for what I had or take things for granted.” 5 year old me told her “mommy it’s just a name.” She shrugged, agreed, and kindly got me the 2 dolls I wanted for my birthday.
I pretended my bratz were friends in a future dystopian world and they had to fight off monsters. I pretended my bratz could magically talk to animals or turn into fairies. I used them to act out things my friends had talked about that day at school or things that made me excited or upset. I played with lots of other toys, too-many of them “made for boys.”
I always believed girls are valuable and strong and that I should stand up for myself against the boys bullying me, follow my interests, and work hard… because my mom, dad, and older brother taught me.
Bratz were not a problem.
Them: “they have bedroom eyes.”
Me: “they’re giving bombastic side eye 💥😒”
it's so weird to realize that my mom being so chill about most fashion dolls but Bratz in particular (recently when I got the original Jade Reproduction for my birthday she told me she "always liked Bratz dolls") was very much not the norm for moms. to me as a seven year old, the Bratz were like a friends cool older sister who could wear fun clothes and makeup, like it was not that deep.
I was in my late teens when they came out but my mum loved them. She bought me my first Bratz dolls and also got one for herself. Thankfully not everyone is nuts.
I lost it at "Are the dominatrix outfits in the room with us right now?".. almost chocked on my tea xD
I have never owned a Bratz doll, but Jade was a love at first sight when I saw her on a toy store shelf when I was a kid. My classmates used to make fun of me because I have a natural fuller lips and I really feel insecure about it during those times. That's why when I saw Bratz, I was surprised and just thought that there are people who thinks that my lips are pretty too. It sounds cheesy but that moment really change the way I see myself.
I had a bunch of Bratz when I was a kid and I grew up with a conservative mom. She didn't think the things these people do. She did think them not having noses in the cartoons was weird, but nothing more than that. What Bratz did for me was get me interested in fashion. I want to go into fashion design and I have since I was a kid because of Bratz. They never harmed me, but instead gave me an aspiration.
I'm very confused by the comment on Bratz having more shapely bodies. Barbie at the time had large boobs and hips while Bratz were very thin with small boobs. This person got confused.
I bet none of these people ever owned a Bratz or held one and are basing all of their judgement off of first impressions. They saw they were more glamorous than Barbie and had a conniption because they'd never seen someone so gorgeous.
Awww, one of the decent ones
@@Twat_Dirt my mom is wonderful. She's very accepting even on things she disagrees with.
i'm always so thankful that my mom let me enjoy bratz, especially because i was pretty little when they came out. i sometimes get posts about them on my explore page and i'm constantly surprised at how many people are *still* leaving comments calling them sexual and inappropriate. like, i thought we were in the era where we were realizing how badly we treated women in the 2000s?
I feel like these people are seriously overestimating how much playing with dolls influences their children. Like, raise your kids yourself.
This was definitely during the height of the Not Like Other Girls epidemic, too. I feel like there is a correlation between the two. Children sl*t shaming other children was...something. They had to have learned that from their parents, right?
you can totally tell that none of the article authors ever consumed any Bratz content other than seeing the dolls on store shelves. The Bratz show was full of great themes about friendship and never giving up and expressing yourself no matter what. Every single article talks about how sleazy they are and none of the girls ever even kiss anyone they just have crushes (which like suprise ! nearly every teenager does!!) Like it's so funny they bash bratz and praise Barbie when Barbie was infamously horrible in diversity (in the 2000s) and also had on screen kisses but because she's a white woman in a conservative dress it's okay!! It's like they don't even try to hide their agenda it's pathetic.
i never got a bratz doll as a kid because my birth giver was CONVINCED they would "turn me into a slut." jokes on them because i ended up being a slut anyways 😋
Slay
Ayyyyy 👉👉
So ur mum?
Repression never works in parenting istg.
Weird flex okay
I have so many fond memories of playing with my Bratz dolls as a kid - Jade fangirl 4eva - and I'm so thankful my mom didn't buy into the media criticism. The dolls weren't "slutty", they were unique girls with a passion 4 fashion, and any real fashionista could see that from the gate. (ALSO love love LOVE the OceanInSpace sweater, your taste is impeccable! Icon vibes!)
"POST-COITAL GAZE" ?!?!??!?!?
THAT WAS WILD! I spent 90% of the video jaw on the floor - I grew up in a deeply religious householdand I deadass had so many bratz. After church my ma and I would go to the toystore to put my weeks allowence on the bratz doll I had on lay-buy. Dang some people have too much time brew on obscure as hell thoughts.
The people who criticised Bratz are absolutely horrifying
Bratz were never my aesthetic, but honestly the fact that their entire feet came off was more disturbing to me than their stylized faces ever were.
Honestly, same.
This!
my mother bought me bratz as a child and can confirm that was what corrupted me to lead a life of sex, drugs, and rock and roll
Bratz are a gateway drug to being cool
@@ally939 I can’t tell if you’re joking or not
I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not
@@Lilith-cosplay-world
I think it's sarcasm since "life of sex, drugs, and rock and roll" is a joke about living a wild life.
somehow i find the sentence 'the perverted mind on MGA should be stopped, and their little doll too.' so funny. the criticism towards bratz, in this specific video at least, shows how so many adults do not understand *how* kids play with dolls.
I consider myself pretty lucky when it came to Bratz. Every one of my friends’ parents when I was a kid said they were bad influences, but my mom didn’t think so. She thought they were cute! So I’d always let my friends play with my Bratz dolls when they came over :) I remember feeling sad that my friends couldn’t enjoy some pretty and stylish dolls. I’m grateful no one told me the crueler things said about Bratz, because seriously, all I knew about the hate was that “Bratz would make you bratty” and I knew that wasn’t true.
I'm so lucky my mom thought Bratz were cute
I didn't have a lot of toys growing up so I would have broken my heart if my mom said no to me asking for Bratz on my birthday or Christmas
I find this obsession with calling fashion dolls sexy and sexual and provocative so weird?? Like… it’s a doll?? They’re just plastic… and dolls need exaggerated features to capture people’s attention. Also.. I’m going to say it, people are allowed to be domanatrixes and be provocative and dress slutty if they want, yes these things shouldn’t be associated at all with children’s toys but It always upsets me when these people disrespect and demonise sex and being sexy like it’s disgusting. Telling women they need to dress down, be simple, unglamorous, not show too much skin to be respected is just another way to oppress them.
bratz : never had a pregnant doll, only had baby versions of existing dolls, somehow encouraging teen pregnancy
actual baby dolls you're supposed to emulate motherhood with as a literal child: 🦗🦗🦗
My mom is religious and I was absolutely NOT allowed to have any of these dolls. My mom thought Bratz were the epitome of a bad influence, so because I was completely cut off from them I regarded the dolls as a sort of untouchable enigma lol. My Scene were slightly more okay because they had Barbie bodies, but their Bratz-like faces still made it so my mom still wouldn't let me have them. But my grandma who wasn't nearly as strict bought me a two pack of My Scene dolls one summer when she came to visit. I loved those dolls so much and never saw them as bad or inappropriate, they just had cool clothes and makeup! Thanks grandma for giving me that memory, miss you ❤
Its odd because I think there's genuine valid criticism to be had of the franchise. The girls sometimes did not so great things and were rewarded for it or espoused individuality in that fake cartoony way where it only occurs AFTER a makeover that completely changes a character's style.
But...well...i doubt most criticism takes stuff like that into account
For now as we reflect back on early 2000s media yes that topic should be discussed, I think the franchise is still focused on their og fanbase that grew up with these dolls.
they hardly seem to advertise towards actual kids, rn it’s just them giving nostalgia 😅❤️
I see a lot of other folks who also missed out on bratz and similar toy lines as kids due to what adults think about them and how they assigned adult thoughts to them. These opinions are so hurtful to kids. Just let kids play with toys.
Not s3x magic 😭😭 the hell
Also bratz was my favourite as a kid and I think they really nurtured my own passion for fashion ♡ they had me planning out my outfits down to the smallest detail at like, 4 years old 😅
What's next, Betty Spaghetti getting cancelled for only ever wearing short shorts? The pearl clutching has gone too far, I say!
I was never a Bratz kid for some reason. I had Fashion Polly, Diva Stars, Betty Spaghetti, and way more Barbies than I could ever keep track of, but for whatever reason Bratz never really caught my attention. Also I was absolutely that kid that was staging a bus crash at my Fashion Polly mall playset.
It's not the short shorts, it's the unrealistic body standards. How is my little girl going to feel when she sees Betty's super skinny legs and detachable arms and knows she can't achieve the same?
@@NoiseDay LMAOOOOOOO
@@NoiseDay it’s like people complaining that monster high dolls didn’t have human proportions, they’re literally monsters that’s kind of the whole point
"instinctively start role playing dolls doing lines in the bathroom" 😭💀😂😂😂😂 HAHAHAHAHAHAH
my mom preferred buying me bratz over barbies as a kid because she wanted to encourage self expression through fashion and expose me to the idea that beauty comes in all skin and hair colours, so growing up and learning that a LOT of adults at the time of bratz's peak popularity hated them was shocking to me! i never viewed them as promoting a "slutty" lifestyle i was just having fun putting together outfits and styling their hair and playing out silly scenarios of what i thought high school/college age life would be like lol
That last article has me laughing out loud omg not the occult math equations 😂
Trying Really hard to come up with Something to make Bratz look bad :)
Thank you for continuing to make quality doll research and commentary videos, always a pleasure to watch!
Since I didn't see anyone else say it:
I'm sorry you didn't like your hair during filming, I honestly think it looks invariably great. Just in case some positive feedback helps feeling less down on urself
This was absolutely WILD. I didn't grow up hearing any of this, and it wasn't until after becoming an adult that I even knew people hated bratz. As a kid, I just loved my dolls. I had a few different kinds, but it was mainly barbie as she was so easy to get and had so many pretty dresses that I wanted. So to me she was the normal, and when bratz came out I actually thought they were weird because their "feet came off" so initially I wasn't too thrilled with them. Then my parents got me 2 of them for Christmas one year, (flashback fever Yasmin and slumber party jade) and I fell in love with them! Especially Yasmin! I loved her hair and played with it constantly. Over the years I acquired more of them, and they were played with right alongside my barbies, liv dolls, horses and stuffed animals. I distinctly remember my bratz girls being in the "pioneer days" quite often, as I had grown up seeing western movies, so many of my dolls had time travel adventures, and then turning around and putting my bratz dolls in their car and driving off to perform a concert, ballet or fashion show with barbie. Now mind you I grew up in a conservative Christian home, And my mom loved them too. She thought they were a cool new type of doll and we both loved the show and movies. She was as surprised as I was to find out people actually thought the dolls were going to corrupt young girls. Not once did that thought ever cross either of our minds, and the people who think that are warped in the brain. To blame a toy for something that you as a parent have failed to teach your child is irresponsible. Children have vivid imaginations, and they're going to act out what they see and hear around them, whether it's on tv or from the adults around them. So if they're playing out a one night stand or strip club with their toys, be it dolls or beanie babies, then maybe you as a parent should reevaluate what you're watching or talking about when you think your kid isn't listening or paying attention, because they listen more then you realize. They absorbe their surroundings. Whether it's good or bad. It's up to the parents to show their kids what is and isn't appropriate, not blame a toy for their faulty parenting and poor judgment.
"post-coital gaze" has been haunting me all day
I’ve never rly grew up with Bratz but all these hate comments just seem truly unhinged like mam, I’m playing with a piece of plastic with hair on it I’m not carrying firearms! 😅
Also ur hair never looks bad ❤
I got my original Bratz Twinz when a friend's daughter won it at school and her step mom wouldn't let her keep them so gave them to me. Lol (I was an adult btw) I still have them and used to use the keychain that came with them for years.
Also I think it's funny that one of those shown in the video commenting how inappropriate they are used a Virginia Slims marketing quote! 😂😂😂 "Come along way, baby."
The bit about the bus crash reminded me of the way I used to play with my dolls as a kid with my sisters and cousins, we would put them in their car then roll it down the basement’s stairs
I was always so curious about this topic! I had a TON of Bratz dolls growing up, I even had the Bratz RV and I loved it! I have heard in passing of people saying that there was a backlash against Bratz and I never looked too deeply into it until I heard that one of my friends wasn't allowed to play with Bratz because they were deemed 'inappropriate' in her household. I'm a person of color, and when I was young, without even thinking about it, I gravitated more towards the Bratz dolls I had rather than Barbies. It was because I saw the clothing and the makeup that they would wear in my every day, and seeing dolls reflect that made me appreciate my own culture more. They felt like home to me. I never associated those looks as a 'come hither' look because I was a literal kid. I saw them as dolls who looks like someone I'd see in my neighborhood and admire; those comments about them not having human proportions in the face specifically hurt my soul because it literally means if you're comparing Bratz to Barbie, then you're saying that if you have any type of feature that is seen on any other race, (Big lips, differently shaped eyes) that means you are not beautiful. Bratz dolls made me feel like I was seen and appreciated as a person of color in this world where so many people think I'm wrong for just existing.
I was in hs when Bratz came out but at the same time my parents were ok on me getting them or them buying me one and they never commented on the look of the dolls outside of how cute, pretty or nice their designs are.
3 seconds in and you're apologizing for your hair. Your hair is fine. Not sure how it was fighting with you but I know of hair struggles. We notice our own hair acting up more than other people do. I'm gonna enjoy your video now.
As someone who loved Brats dolls growing up it both baffles and disturbs me how vile peoples comments were. Luckily I didn’t know anything about it as a child.
I had a few Bratz, mostly because my BFF at the time had them, and her mom is one of the biggest witches I know. If *she* approved, my mom had no argument 😂
I had Bratz dolls right as I was about to age out of playing with toys, around age 11-12 but loved them for their amazing fashion and how well traveled they were! The Harajuku Bratz line was my absolute favorite, I dreamed of traveling to Tokyo one day, wearing amazing clothes like they were! Clearly such an evil influence aspiring me to travel🤔
The last part reminded me so much of that woman who gave a presentation on Monster Energy😭couldn’t help but giggle
I had the bratz video game for gamecube as a kid. I went to my friends house for a sleepover. I brought the game with me and we were playing it in my freinds room and both of our parents were visiting in the living room. My freinds dad walked in her room and got upset when he saw what we were playing and said he didnt allow his daughter to play with bratz because they dressed inappropriately. My friend never told me about this rule and i was so shocked that he came in and got so mad. My mom came in and told me to turn off the game and took it home. ☹️ i was for a moment self conscious and upset but then went home and played it by myself. I still love bratz today, they were ahead of their time.
I remember my parents forbid me from having Bratz dolls but then for my second grade birthday party, every girl in my class bought me a Bratz doll. My parents just had to deal with it lol.
My mom thought like that. Luckily, she did get me the back to school phoebe, probably because of the long camo skirt. One of my friends though had tons of bratz and a jacuzzi house too. I was so jealous. I liked the dolls because they looked so cool.
I dont think adults know how kids play. we had General Hospital type dramas with murder and betrayal between Barbie and Bratz over my one armed Goku. Never parties or dancing or...whatever else. it was hella brutal 🤣 i liked the midnight dance line bc it was "goth" compared to barbie. i never knew adults thought of them that way. i asked my mom if she had reservations about me having them as a kid and no not really. we never censored anything i could listento/watch what i wanted and play with the toys i wanted.
I am 58 and at the time Bratz came out I was not actively collecting. I haven’t started collecting them just because I mainly focus on other fashion doll lines. However, all of the negative comments that you found through your research had me thinking that there are a lot of people with too much time on their hands.
This was my first crusade when I was a kid. I always left positive amazon reviews and would slander the adults calling them rude things lol. This video is such a throwback to that time in my life when first realized that people are dumb and you can't change the minds of many.
At the time Of Bratz heyday, I was baby sitting for my nieces and nephews. I took my them to the store and the girls wanted Bratz. So we each grabbed one including me. This mother laid into me for buying them. Now I’m a calm person but but don’t tell me what to buy! Thanks for this! BTW my nieces are now beautiful young women in their 20s who work as a hairstylist and a makeup artist.
Can I just say I really appreciate your channel 💕💕💕 I stumbled across it a while ago and it reignited my love for fashion dolls, you’re a fantastic speaker and you spread positive messages, thank you for what you do~ 💖
I have 3 sons. Whenever They had an invite to a girl’s birthday party it was always ‘they want this bratz doll’ or ‘they want this bratz play set’
Cool. Done.
My boys just saw dolls. Full stop new sentence. That’s it.
The end
And let’s all say it together
SELF PROJECTION!!!
You really opened my eyes to *actually looking at their outfits*. When I look up the most popular ones, the majority of them are quite covered up?? There’s the occasional miniskirt or crop top, but overall, they’re covering a very normal amount of skin, by the standards of where I live (a US swing state that gets hot summers).
I was only very mildly interested in Bratz as a kid, but I heard this kind of rhetoric all the time back then, and even then I felt like it was gross. I already disagreed with that BS as an adult, too, but wow, the anti-Bratz folks were projecting even harder than I thought.
I don’t personally agree with the concept of “modesty,” but I do understand that it’s important to some folks for religious or cultural reasons. And honestly? At least 80% of Bratz dolls’ outfits seem to align with those values, from what I can see.
My mom didn't want me to have Bratz dolls either, oddly enough it was more about the name than anything else. She didn't want me to think it's okay to behave like a brat.