Bondage and fetish wear on baby dolls: how LOL dolls sexualise children

[Listen] Michael Carr-Gregg on 3AW Mornings with Neil Mitchell calling for ban on bondage, fetish-wear on children's dolls

LOL and Na Na Na ‘Suprise’ dolls are more examples of 'corporate paedophilia'

"Corporate Paedophilia is the action taken by corporations who sell products to children in a sexualized way. The analogy with paedophilia is this idea of stealing of childhood. Children are losing that important period of childhood between early childhood and adolescence because they're being pushed from a very early age into adolescent interests and concerns." - Dr Emma Rush, ethicist at Charles Sturt University.

[UPDATE] Child and adolescent psychologist and Collective Shout ambassador Michael Carr-Gregg calls on Kmart and Big W to pull sexualised LOL Dolls from sale.

“I would like Kmart and Big W to withdraw this product immediately.” - Michael Carr-Gregg, child and adolescent psychologist and Collective Shout ambassador

Listen to the 3AW interview at the end of this article.

Hasbro's Poppy Troll dolls were pulled from sale this week after a parent discovered a secret button between the dolls legs that made 'gasps' and 'giggle' noises when pressed.

The parent shared a video to social media describing the doll in detail and demonstrating the button.

Is @Hasbro normalizing grooming & facilitating child abuse? 🤔👇

👀 pic.twitter.com/Q258vsGqcC
— Sam Parker 🇺🇲 (@SamParkerSenate) August 5, 2020

A change.org petition calling on Hasbro to pull the doll from sale over concerns the dolls groomed children for abuse collected over half a million signatures.

Many of our supporters have since contacted us about Little Outrageous Littles - or LOL Dolls. An earlier series of the dolls included boy dolls with anatomically correct genitals, and girl dolls with 'holes' in the genital region. Parents have discovered that some dolls in the current 'Surprise!' range are designed to reveal underwear - some bondage-style with running mascara - when dipped in cold water. The addition of running mascara is particularly sinister given the prevalence of the 'look' in pornography.

Na Na Na Surpise Dolls are another range of miniature dolls with child-like features, dressed in adultified clothing and accessories. Some of the clothes resemble fetish or ‘lolicon’-fetish wear - for example, fishnet stockings, black PVC mini skirts with matching biker hats and cat ears, and thigh-high, pastel-colored, fluffy-bunny socks.

Both ranges of dolls - labelled suitable for children aged 3 and up - are made by Bratz-manufacturer Micro Games America Entertainment (MGAE). Bratz have been widely criticised for their hyper-sexualised appearance, clothing and accessories.

In our 10 years of campaigning we’ve repeatedly highlighted the harms of sexualising children through products, services and marketing and have called out the companies which profit.

Sexualised children’s toys like LOL and Na Na Na dolls harm kids. They present toxic, archaic messages to girls about how they should look and what they should wear. The way the dolls are designed - heavy make up, sexualised clothing and underwear - mimic the sexualised way adult woman are portrayed in advertising and pornography. They shape girls’ ideas about their own value, purpose and aspirations, limiting girls’ options to pursuits which ultimately satisfy men’s sexual desires.

The fact that some features - the button on the Hasbro Poppy troll doll and the lingerie and running mascara appearing on the lol doll - are not readily apparent to parents at the time of purchase raises some serious, troubling questions about the intent of MGAE.

LOL and Na Na Na dolls are more examples of corporate paedophilia - the sexualisation of children by companies for profit. MGAE doesn’t care about kids. If it did, it wouldn’t be flogging bondage-wearing baby dolls to them. Instead it would prioritise children’s needs and rights to be kept safe from sexualisation, and incorporate these into every aspect of its operations.

Our colleagues at the National Centre on Sexual Exploitation in the US recently called on toy companies to develop a child protection policy which includes an expert on child sexual abuse, to ensure that toys which sexualise kids, or which can be used to groom them, never make it to market. We support this call.

It’s time for corporates to take responsibility for the part they play in sexualising kids - girls particularly. Girls are not mini-women. And they’re not sex objects. They deserve better than products inspired by adult fetish as stimuli for childhood play.