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Feb 12

Sexy Simoleans

The first Sims game released in 2010

Growing up, I enjoyed playing video games that made me feel like I was watching a movie. That is, I appreciated games with a specific plot that allowed me to participate. The Sims is an interactive computer and video game that basically allows players to simulate daily activities of people in a suburban household. It was developed by Maxis for Windows in 2000 and cost about $60. The game has since been released on MAC, PlayStation, Xbox and GameCube.

To summarize the game is relatively simple. Players, first, get to design each member of the family. You choose their name, skin color, clothes, face, ect. You then spend time in “build mode” designing every detail of the home from size to wallpaper to windows. Once the structure is complete, the player enters “buy mode” and spends money purchasing furniture for the home. Finally, you can enter “live mode” where you essentially become the Sim. You control everything your character does including going to work, going to the bathroom, eating, and interacting with others. The characters also work on building skills such as reading and creativity as well as making sure their needs are met such as satiety and sleep. As the player, it is also your duty to maintain your finances and take care of children if you choose to have them. Many people would say that this sounds like a game that could teach children life skills but there has been some controversy involved with this game over the years. When the game was first released, it was not well censored.

Sims Trailer

When players develop relationships with each other, it is possible for that connection to progress into a sexual one. In the current version, when this occurs, the act is blurred out so nothing can be seen, However, in the original version, this censorship did not exist. There was also a recent “bug” that caused this suppression to fail. The culprit was likely one of the people who have been asking Google, “How do I take the censor off?” Apparently, there is a “Nude Patch” that players can download to be able to permit their Sims to bear it all (for whatever reason). Needless to say, this is the sort of loss of innocence in the common child is exactly what Stearns describes when he says, “…parents worried deeply, if not always effectively, about their degree of control over the entertainment their children received, and about the appropriateness of the entertainment offered.” (Course Packet p. 6)

“Players can allow public nudity, fondling of partners’ buttocks while kissing (both of the same and opposite sex), characters burning to death, and even polygamy (a male can marry numerous females, but a female can marry only one man). Could this game be teaching sexism?”

Appropriateness aside, The Sims continues to maintain popularity from girls and boys of all ages. The have since released multiple Sims continuation games including House Party, Unleashed, Hot Date, Vacation, and Superstar. The franchise has sold more than 100 million copies and I’m not ashamed to admit I am the face of 3 of those!

Feb 12

Colonel Mustard is a Bad Man

Board game "Clue" comes in a very suspicious box.

While reading The Ten-Cent Plague, by David Hajdu, a book about the scare that violent and gory comic books caused the parents in America, I began to think about toys in my childhood.  One game that really stood out to me was the game Clue by Hasbro toys.  Clue is a game where you have to figure out through the course of the game, who committed the murder, in what room, and with what object before your opponent could.  A little history of the game clue, it was invented in 1944 by Anthony E. Pratt who originally named it Cluedo.  But then in 1949 the Parker Brothers bought the rights to the game in the United States and renamed it just Clue.  The original cost of the game was just a couple of dollars, but now the remodeled game can go for over $20.

 

A sarcastic look at the Suspects of Clue, it consists of "Murderers"

Now this game has a lot to do with what Hajdu talks about in The Ten-Cent Plague, that comics are desensitizing the minds of children about violence and crime, and in some cases causes them to commit crimes themselves.  Hajdu writes, “fictional deeds of crime, bloodshed, lust, or immorality, which tend to incute minors to violent or depraved or immoral acts” (Hajdu 207).  While in the book Hajdu for the most part talks about comic books in the 1950s, it relates a lot to the game Clue and how it could have affected children who played the game.  John Locke talks a lot about the idea of a blank slate or tabula rasa in that what forms a child is what they grow up with and what they experience.  In the case of the game Clue, it can cause kids who have a very easily influenced mind, to start thinking about murder, or ways that someone might be murdered.  Instead of kids thinking about more educational games like Life or Uno, they are thinking about if Colonel Mustard committed the murder in the billiards room and whether he did it with the revolver or the candlestick.  In my case I don’t think playing the game Clue affected me at all, just like there were a lot of kids that weren’t affected by reading violent comic books.  But there is something to be said just about putting the thought or ideas in children’s minds, and John Locke’s tabula rasa.

So while Hajdu never talks about violent board games, his ideas about the “scare” also apply to Clue and the board games of my childhood.  So next time you see a kid playing Clue, or even playing a game like operation, know that we’ve been through this once before, and David Hajdu might just have a lot to say about the

Feb 12

Dr. Seuss

The Cat in the Hat

The Cat in the Hat (kidsactivities.net)

As a child I loved listening to and reading Dr. Seuss books. I remember sitting around my teacher as a child listening to her read these books. She would read Green Eggs and Ham and The Cat In The Hat. I remember us actually making green eggs in ham in class. The ham was not actually green, it was pink, but the eggs were definitely green. I loved how the illustrations were drawn; they were like nothing you had ever seen before. These illustrations and the concept of the books were created by Theodor Seuss Geisel. The name “Dr. Seuss” came from his mothers maiden name Henrietta Seuss Geisel. Many of his ideas from books came from her as well as childhood memories. These childhood memories can be seen in most of his books. Seuss was born in 1904, ten years before WWI started. Though he was born in this era, he still managed to have a joyous childhood. Postwar, Peter Stearns would say this is the time when children were becoming bored. However, this was not the case for Seuss. He enjoyed his childhood and with that was able to create books for children to enjoy. He gave children something exciting to read. Suess’s books allowed children to use their imaginations. That what I enjoyed the most, I liked how I was able to use my imagination. It allowed my imagination to wonder to so many fantastic places. I enjoyed seeing the vibrant colors. I absolutely loved and adored Dr. Seuss.

Feb 12

Kitchen Playsets

"My Very Own Kitchen" by American Plastic Toy, $32.99, Amazon.com

When I was younger, I, like most of my friends and family, had a miniature kitchen playset. I had plastic bowls, utensils, pots, and even plastic food. I loved to make multi-course meals that I would force my brother to “eat.” I logged so many hours over the stove that eventually, many of the knobs, doors, and handles fell off, leaving me with a long laundry list of household repairs, much like my parents encountered in real life.

While modern kitchen sets have not always been around, I’m sure kids have been playing with their parents’ pots and pans since the invention of the pan, until someone finally thought to create miniature sets for play. A variety of companies make them and they come in various shapes, sizes, and colors. My brother even had a mini grill, complete with sound effects. They’re affordable, in the range of $50 to $200, and they come with all kinds of fun, fake accessories.

I think that one of the main appeals for these mini kitchens is what Cross talks about when he explains the necessity of mimicry (43). Mimicry is a form of learning and is something most kids do in order to associate themselves with the adult world. Mimicry is fun, although I’ve realized as I’ve gotten older that the things kids imitate are usually not as fun as they are when you’re pretending. I hate cooking and doing the dishes, which are two of the very things I used to do with my kitchen set.

In class, we talked about toys for boys and girls, and I think that kitchen sets can be very gender neutral, which is another reason for their popularity. Yes, some are clearly meant for girls (the bright pink ones) and others for boys (the grill my brother had looked “manly” in red and black colors), but many of the sets on Amazon have gender neutral colors and show boys playing with them in the pictures. My brother always played with mine when we were little. Maybe this gender neutrality is recent due to shifting gender roles, or maybe not, but either way, I think that kitchen playsets can be for boys or girls. I don’t think that there is any stigma about boys pretending to cook, especially since many men cook now.

However, I can’t say that other types of toys are always gender neutral. I remember the year I stopped getting the same toy as all my male cousins. It was sad to see them all shooting each other with their nerf guns while I stared at my stupid charm bracelet wondering how I could steal my brother’s gun without my parents noticing. However, life goes on.

Kitchen playsets are a fun way for kids to imitate their parents and enjoy their childhood. If only doing the real action were half as fun as pretending.

 

Feb 12

The Baby-sitters Club

Illustrated characters from Ann M. Martin's popular series The Baby-sitters Club.

In my experience as a devoted reader of The Baby-sitters Club, these books were quite popular among girls my age during our elementary school careers in the mid 1990s. Each week when our class would go to the school library we would scour the shelves for The Baby-Sitters Club novels, seeking one that we had not yet read. If memory serves, these books always had very tattered covers. This could be for a couple of reasons: One, that elementary school children are incapable of not destroying something as delicate as a paperback novel; or two, that these books exchanged hands between many elementary school girls. During the summers the search for unread Baby-sitters Club books would be transplanted to the public library, which always had a much larger selection of tattered cover books about a certain group of babysitters. Through the years and many dedicated search efforts, I never came across any boys who read the series. If boys did, they certainly did not advertise their interests.

Beginning in 1986, Ann M. Martin began writing novels centered about middle school aged children who ran a babysitting business. These middle school children worked to fulfill the need for babysitters in their neighborhood. Her novels were published from 1986 until 2000 and sold approximately 170 million copies. 131 novels were published; this number does not include the special edition novels or subsequent series that sprouted after the initial success of The Baby-sitters Club novels. Of the ten main characters that Martin developed in her novels, only one of them was male.

A typical cover style seen in the publication of The Baby-sitters Club series.

In Elizabeth Segel’s discussion of gender and its relation to childhood reading, she suggests that “boys [venture] into the territory of girls’ reading only with considerable trepidation” (73). The Baby-sitters Club series was quite obviously marketed to girls. If the flowery and brightly colored covers did not dissuade boys from reading the series, the cast of main characters that only included one male might have. The series seems to reinforce the gender role of females as caretakers; in her writings Segel discusses how literature that is specifically catered to girls tends to reinforce ideas such as these. It appears that in writing the series Martin does attempt to reach out to male readers through the inclusion of a male babysitter. However, whether or not this was enough to induct male readers into a predominantly female following is difficult to say. As Segel plainly puts it: “reading a book about a girl is still cause for embarrassment for many young readers” (76).

Feb 12

Sophia Grace

Sophia and Rosie's first appearance on Ellen

Sophia Grace is a vivacious eight year old little British girl who has brought laughs and entertainment to millions of YouTube viewers. Sophia got her big break with a video of her and her cousin, Rosie, singing to Nicki Minaj’s song “Super Bass”. Within days they became YouTube sensations. Their rendition of “Super Bass” gained so much popularity that the girls were asked to be on the Ellen show. The girls performed their version of “Super Bass” in their signature tiaras and pink tutus. Millions of viewers ate up the cute performance and wanted more. Ellen recently asked the girls to come back on the show and perform a new song for America. The girls sang “Turn My Swag On” by Keri Hilson who is a pop/R&B artist. Sophia even added her own rap to the song. After her performance Sophia received a standing ovation and Ellen even invited them to the Grammy Awards. While I do admit that I think these girls are adorable and their performances are funny, sometimes I question myself if this is appropriate for kids their ages to be singing. For example the lyrics to “Super Bass” have subject matter that deals with drugs, sex, and has vulgar language. The same subject matter is also present in Keri Hilson’s song that she preformed a couple of days ago. I have no idea if Sophia’s parents encourage her to sing these songs because they think it is entertaining to see little girls talk about grown up subject matter or if that is the type of music Sophia listens to. While Sophia and Rosie are not professional child actors like Shirley Temple, I feel they are exposed to some of the same situations. For example in class we watched one of Shirley Temple’s first movies where a bunch of babies were portraying grown up behaviors and situations for comedic relief. I feel that Sophia and Rosie are providing comedic relief to millions at their own expense because I don’t think they know what they are actually singing about. It is possible that as they grow older they can look back on their performances and possibly be embarrassed by the mature subject matter. The reading from Kasson about Shirley Temple also points out that Shirley’s parents were the ones who received most of Shirley’s hard earned money (136).  I feel Sophia’s situation can relate to Shirley’s because it is possible that her parents are reaping benefits off of Sophia’s instant fame.

Feb 12

Barbies, Bratz & Upbringings

Toys for children serve multiple purposes, some of the ideas behind toys revolve around inspiration and building dreams. I was the only girl in a house of boys, I have an older brother and a younger brother. I learned how to play with Street Sharks, Beast War and when PlayStation came out I knew how to dominate at Marvel Super Heroes. So hopefully this makes it easier to understand why there was not much room for My Pretty Pony and Cabbage Patch Kids in our toy box. These were just a few of the popular girls toys of the 90s; when I received my first Barbie, she was so beautiful and everything I knew I wanted to be. It was easy to start a collection, at approximately $25 a doll. Christmas and birthday wishes became easy to guess. Barbie possessed the perfect hour glass shaped body, with long legs. She had big colorful eyes, with long hair. Every outfit she ever had always fit perfectly, and looking back now I know that I grew up with that image in my head of what girls were supposed to look like. As I grew older and grew out of my Barbie phase, I noticed that Bratz dolls quickly began to become the new “it” toy for young girls. With my new maturity and perspective on dolls like these, I was quick to notice that the Bratz dolls wore twice as much make-up as Barbie, their facial features were much more pronounced as plastic surgery began to grow in popularity amongst celebrities. Their outfits became more revealing and Bratz portrayed as overall much more “trashier” appearance than Barbie. In Gary Cross’ article about “Modern Children, Modern Toys”, he explains about Locke’s theory that “children should have a variety of toys.” (page 46) However he also goes onto explain that toys should be used to “…guide the child’s “progress” or training.” By training he was referring to how girls should be taught how to be exemplary caretakers and housewives. While Barbie stood for everything feminist, she did not emphasize learning those types of lessons. I appreciate the fact that she didn’t teach this, because as our society grew, women started to devote more time away from the house and more on their jobs and careers.

Barbie, featured in the center, with her two friends.

 

Some of the Bratz dolls featured together.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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