On this episode of 'It Was Better back When': Toys:

Jun 23, 20233 min read

It actually wasn't.

If you are an older millennial, my age and grew up in the 90s, it's time to admit a few things. This may have been the worst decade for toys... only if you were a girl.

A lot of talk these days about sexualizing kids. Everyone would do well to remember how guilty the 90s were of doing so. I don't remember, if I take the time to think back on it... complaints. Most of us know that constant exposure to unrealistic beauty standards and hyper sexualized imagery is directly linked to low body satisfaction and diminished self esteem. Here may be one of the most disturbingly sexualized kids' toys I CAN'T believe was actually sold to kids ages 6-9 years old:

Yes, they did actually make a pregnant Barbie doll in the 90s. And why not? Because when you think of Barbie, you think about how realistic the dolls' bodies are, right? The "Happy Family" play set came with a character named Midge, who was sold "pregnant" with a baby named Nikki. Surprise, surprise, the doll created a medial amount of controversy when it was inappropriate for children and accused of 'promotes teen pregnancy.' Midge was given a wedding ring and shown next to Alan in later versions. I mean, what other choice were they given? *rolls eyes*

The pictures of the plastic baby inserted into the doll are pure nightmare fuel. Why am I thinking of the Alien franchise right about now? Really, if Mattel thought this was a good idea at any point during the pitch, they should've stopped at when they uttered the phrase, "magnetically detachable belly." Not the most like-like example for kids.

Barbie fit right in with the times and how the world still viewed women. Barbie was without the need for a career. Bikinis were aplenty. She had campers, she could babysit, she had a wide arrangement of clothing options, she could figure skate, but that's about as deep as she got. Babies and cooking. Went perfectly with the well-sold easy bake ovens of the time. The baby dolls marketed for girls who needed to be fed and cleaned up after.

When it came to buying gifts for children, everything was color-coded: Rigid boundaries segregated brawny blue action figures from pretty pink princesses, and most assume today that this was how it had been in the 90s, and much before. But in fact, the princess role that’s ubiquitous in girls’ toys today was exceedingly rare prior to the 1990s—and the marketing of toys was MUCH more gendered then, even more so than it was in the 50s, when gender discrimination and sexism were the norm.

𝑆𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑢𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 90𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑜𝑓 '...𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛'.

My opinion: Things have only become a million times better today, in the girl world as far as toys are concerned. No longer limited in options. Boys and girls can pick the things that are of interest rather than being bound to the one pink-glitter-choked store shelf only.

The 90s was a garbage decade for more reasons than just toy choice. I have never hidden that. Today women still fight for equality... work is still to be done. With all said, us older millennials forged their own paths and partake in things other than fashion, (although still a perfectly fine choice) and figure skating even though we had little else to look up to in the world of toys.

We have our hands in the jars of science, coding, construction, company running, sports, cars and all other things these days. We can have the kids or skip it all together. I, for one, am quite happy that the kids now have 'choice'. Unconstrained by the dictates of gender stereotypes. And ultimately, isn’t that something we all want for them?

90s toys= It was not better back when.

Agree? Disagree? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section!