Dr. Rebecca Hains
Author, professor and speaker | Children's media culture, media literacy, and media criticism
Category: toys
Sexy Halloween Costumes Reveal the Truth about Girls’ Toys
Do you object to sexy Halloween costumes for little girls? When you compare the “Little Leopard” costume for young girls to the adult “Sexy Leopard” costumes, do you cringe? When you see children’s classic Disney Princess costumes placed literally steps…
Read MoreBoys and girls and baby dolls
I am supposed to be working, but instead, I am eavesdropping as my four-year-old son, T., and his friend, N., play together with his two baby dolls, Sully and Buddy. T. is walking around with Sully under his shirt. N….
Read MoreVIDEO: Rebecca Hains discusses “Let Toys Be Toys” on Fox & Friends
Let’s stop organizing toy aisles by gender. Toys are for everyone!
Read MoreKids’ products and gender: What’s on the packaging?
Preschoolers can be quick to notice gendered illustrations on products. If a package has a picture of a boy on it, that item must be for boys; if it has a picture of a girl on it, it must be…
Read MoreReimagining Disney Princesses with racial diversity: From Tumblr to D-Tech
A couple of weeks ago, a young woman named Lauren reimagined the white Disney Princess characters as women of color, posting recolored images of them on her Tumblr blog. Her inspired designs quickly made their way around the blogosphere. Responses ranged…
Read MoreKatniss vs Merida: Mattel’s doll versions of strong girl characters
Last month, Mattel released a Katniss Everdeen doll, inspired by the look and style of Jennifer Lawrence in the Hunger Games film. Compared with Mattel’s typical fare, the Katniss doll was refreshingly unsexualized–reflecting the character’s positive portrayal in the film (which…
Read MoreTalking about toys: Taking child’s play seriously
On occasion, people ask me why I bother taking children’s toys so seriously. “They’re just toys, after all!” Yes, toys are just toys–but they’re so much more than that, too. Toys are a central part of children’s play, and to…
Read MorePonies, petitions, and girl power: This week’s roundup
Last week, I kept busy working on the My Little Pony petition, asking Hasbro to stop promoting superficial stereotypes of girls. Change.org invited me to contribute a guest post to their web site about the petition. It’s called “I Won’t…
Read MoreNew at the Disney Store: Princess Dolls with Extra Sparkles! (and extra problems)
On a recent visit to my local Disney Store, I learned that Disney had just released a new line-up of Disney Princess dolls at the holidays. The new line-up was on the shelves–and so were some of their older counterparts.*…
Read More“Chess for Girls,” or how Saturday Night Live predicted the future.
Saturday Night Live’s fake commercial, “Chess for Girls” [transcript], was hilarious in 1997–but today, it strikes awfully close to home. An ultra-pink chess set that’s “not too hard, just pretty and fun”–with prancing ponies and a long-haired queen in a…
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Dr. Rebecca Hains 
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