Branded Whereâs Waldo opportunity?
When I first started collecting Star Wars action figures my mother said they were âdolls for boysâ. And I thought that was cool. I think the same reasoning made it OK to want a Princess Leia action figure. Also she was part of the gang, and my friends and I all thought she had the funniest lines in Star Wars.
So decades later it kind of rankles me that while you can find some Leia stuff in the boysâ section of the toy store Iâm not sure why there has to be a âboysâ sectionâ and a âgirlsâ sectionâ. Okay, maybe Princes Leia underwear could be in a distinct section, but Iâm not even sure the distinction is absolutely necessary there.
Never mind Princess LeiaâŚ
I was at Toys R Us on the weekend picking something up for my son, and yes, all the Star Wars toys are over on the boys side of the aisle (in the Star Wars section). What I found particularly bizarre, though, was that the Angry Birds Star Wars toys were there in the boysâ section⌠But Angry Birds Stella? All of those were in the girlsâ section. These video games are basically EXACTLY THE SAME, just the title character in Angry Birds Stella is a girl. And that makes it a girlâs game? So weird.
YES! This is isnât just Star Wars - I also have trouble finding female superhero characters. My 5-year old daughter loves, or did love Wonder Woman so I went to get a figurine for her last year at Target, âToys r usâ and the like and could not find her; I ended up going to a toy specialty shop and paying way to much for an old one. What killed me was there was an âAquamanâ, but no Wonder Woman - I thought she was a top 3 for DC but I guess not.
Also - Lego sets, you canât get Wonder Woman by herself - I would love to get an invisible jet set with Wonder Woman, but the best you can get is some kind of Superman set with Wonder Woman. I was tempted to try to design my own jet and order all the parts from Lego, but you canât get the wing pieces in the clear plastic.
When I was getting into the Avatar: The Last Airbender cartoon, I happened to see in a sort of âdollar discountâ section of my local grocery store, they had ATLA action figures! For like a buck each! I was excited⌠I figured Iâd start with my favorite character, Toph, and then pick up the other main cast and have a nice little shelf diorama.
The excitement faded when l I noticed who were availableâŚ
They had:
Airbending Aang
Avatar Roku
Bumi
Fire Nation Soldier
Prince Zuko
Spirit World Aang (version one)
Water Nation Aang
Water Vortex Aang
Water Tribe Sokka
Admiral Zhao
Airbending Aang (with Momo)
Arctic Stealth Zuko.
Avatar Rokuâs Spirit Dragon (no Roku included)
Battle Benders: Water Attack Aang
Battle Damaged Aang
Battle Damaged Zuko
Blue Spirit
Bumi
Jet
Spirit World Aang (version two)
War Paint Sokka
Water Vortex Aang
Agni Kai Fire Lord Ozai
Agni Kai Zuko
Black costume Zuko
Earth Kingdom Aang
Granite Attack Aang
Royal Procession Soldier (as Imperial Fire Soldier)
Water Tribe Sokka (version two)
The store didnât actually have all of these, but if youâre familiar with ATLA, you an easily see the problem. They had multiple versions of the same characters, and they had characters who only appear in 1-2 episodesâŚ
Not a single female character, in a show with several great ones. At first I thought maybe they sold out (Toph is a pretty awesome character!), but checking online later, confirmed, nope, they didnât produce one (before the line went defunct, they apparently had plans to produce one of the female leads, but it never happened).
I was so disgusted, I wound up not buying a single one.
Wasnât Padme a brave take-charge type in at least some of Episode II? Are there no mountains of merch from that still kicking around?
And insult people genetically different from you by calling them âwalking carpetsâ? Is that hate speech in the Star Wars universe?
Wikiaâs Ăowyn page has not one picture of her in armor. She was a shield maiden for Odinâs sake!
FIFY:
Ms. Bei Fong is the best ATLA character!
One of my favorite scenes where âthe little blind girlâ kicks some serious butt, saving the titular (and theoretically most powerful) character by herself [Sokka fainting at the end is a nice touch].
But yeah. No merch. Iâve got a âBei Fong Metalbending Academyâ shirt that Iâm positive is not Nick approvedâŚ
I knew that was the real reason Chewbacca didnât get his due recognition.
Yeah, itâs hard to choose a favorite scene (taking down the airships was pretty cool though, especially since not touching the ground she was out of her traditional comfort zone), but hereâs a compilation of many of my favorite little moments (while still leaving some out):
I have an Amidala in the original packaging that I picked up in -sad trombone- Good WillâŚ
Yes it is. The subtext is, âLie down, big guy, your job is to be walked on.â Itâs even more appallingânot to mention bafflingâthat it came from an ambassador and daughter of someone committed to spreading peace and understanding throughout the galaxy. And Leia says her father fought in the Clone Wars, where the Battle of Kashyyyk was a major part.
All that backstory and she canât treat a Wookie with respect. Sheesh.
I am hoping that with her now being technically a Disney princess, they will start making more stuff of her. They already have 2 warrior princesses in the line up. You know I think I saw dolls of her and Pademe at Disney World, but that might have been for Star Wars weekend.
Of course my kiddo is more into ponies than princesses or Barbie right now.
The end of the article:
The answer is yes, Disney, we do. We want it now, and we are willing to pay for it. Literally. There is, to paraphrase the wondrous Cindy Gallop, a lot of money to be made by taking Princess Leia seriously. Hurry the fuck up.
Not long ago, there was the episode where, after enormous popular demand, Lego released a set featuring scientists who were women, which immediately sold out. And it was a limited edition, and last I heard, there was no plan to make more.
So thereâs clearly a demand for toys featuring women in active roles. In the case of Star Wars, thereâs a history of such toys being made. In the case of Legos and Barbie, there have been active campaigns demanding such toys. And yet the manufacturers and distributors resist.
Itâs hard to miss that toy manufacturers and distributors are losing money by refusing to make and sell toys that show women in non-sexist roles. So, the question this raises for me is whether theyâre so blinded by sexist ideology that they canât see this demand, or whether theyâre so committed to upholding sexism that theyâre willing to lose money to do it. I could believe either, or both, and I think the answer might say something important about the relationship of sexism to capitalism and how it has changed over time.
My 4-year-old daughter has never seen Star Wars, thinks Princess Leia sometimes transforms into a bird (thanks Angry Birds!) and has very loose ideas of what Star Wars is about. She still insists on two pigtails folded over every morning, because Thatâs How Princess Leia Wears It. Not unrelatedly, her buddies at school are nuts over superheros, and ladies are in short supply.
Hereâs my kidâs work:
Actually sheâs hanging out in the toy isles in that inappropriate bikini.
I fully endorse the pony love for little girls⌠When sheâs at the right age, you should also let her read some Gaiman and Pratchett. The Tiffany Aching disworld stories are great.
