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Catholic, children, Christian, Christianity, concerned parents, Ever After High, family, focus on the family, Monster High, morality, truth
I have never written a post or article that generated as much angry mail as when I wrote this. I was called a “cackling conservative hen” and “ignorant fool”. I was sworn at and taunted. Spam filled my email inbox. I automatically deleted many comments that were vulgar and included profanity.
It’s weird because I didn’t attack a person; I criticized a toy. I called it ugly and said it was a bad model for our little girls. And it is. Last I checked, free speech was still a right, so I spoke up about my concern about the Monster High dolls, which I found creepy. I mentioned then and I’ll mention now that I thought (and think) it is weird that any mother would actually buy these ugly things for her children.
While many moms I talked about this with wholeheartedly agreed with me, apparently there are also plenty of moms who don’t and will buy these ugly things for their children. A Fox News Report from July of last year reported that while sales of Mattel’s Barbie and Polly Pocket steadily decreased, Monster High doll sales have likely grown to more than $500 million in just three years since the line debuted. Ugly has become super popular. ‘Out’ is ‘in’, and monsters are ‘out’ and about, in a store near you.
Given these facts, and that I still receive emails about this topic from concerned mothers and fathers, I thought it might be time for an update. Here you go-
Mattel says it markets the Monster High brand to promote ‘Tween Esteem’. The Los Angeles Times reports that the promotion is a message of ‘girl empowerment’. Here I have to interject, empowerment over whom? I’m guessing boys, but I don’t quite understand that . In a world where total enrollment figures for college indicate more women than men attending, and the EEOC ensures that there is no pregnancy or other female related discrimination, when most of the public schools are taught and run by females (76% public school teachers are female), when some major, multimillion dollar Fortune 500 companies (like Yahoo, IBM and General Motors to name just a few) are headed by women, and women are in the forefront of politics in our nation…. the idea of ‘girl empowerment’ seems silly. We girls have plenty of ‘power’ if you count career opportunity. We don’t live in a part of the world where an oppressive regime limits girls’ chances to pursue their dreams, thrive and flourish. Then why does Mattel think that six, seven, and eight year old girls need to be “empowered” …by monsters no less, who tell them that girls command respect when the dolls they play with wear chains and fangs and their heads pop off? This doesn’t make sense to me. Anyway….
Retailers of Monster High dolls have joined forces with the We Stop Hate organization, created by Emily Rigal to purportedly, well, “stop hate”. Here I’d like to interject another observation- Stopping hate (“intense or passionate dislike”) is admirable, but not attainable. One person cannot control another’s feelings or emotions. Hateful actions (such as physical assault) can and should be curtailed and legislated against. But ideas such as religious beliefs or moral convictions can mistakenly be labeled ‘hateful’ if they do not go along with the defining group’s definition of what is acceptable, and this is where a generalized “stopping hate” becomes dangerous. In an increasingly secular and faithless society, Christians can be labeled ‘haters’ if they oppose abhorrent lifestyle choices, or divorce, or even their children playing with ghouly looking dolls.
An article from Mattel states, The…call-to-action will elevate and extend the Monster High® and WeStopHate collaboration to inspire tween girls to celebrate and embrace the unique qualities that make them “perfectly imperfect” through specially-created online content, downloadable activities, and an animated webisode featuring a monsterfied Rigal.
“Hate” will be defined for your children by self proclaimed experts and a toy manufacturer, and children visiting a special web site will be socially conditioned, free of charge. That’s what the statement means, minus publicity lingo.
It is parents’ call whether they want this agenda against hate (hate being defined by the creators of the doll and the website of course) presented to their children, or to shield them from it, but Mom and Dad might want to consider the Monster High dolls and agenda it promotes are endorsed by Lady Gaga and MTV.
You can see Lady Gaga and the creator of WeStopHate talking about Monster High dolls and their purpose here.
Newcomers to the Monster High scene since last year include Poulterghoul (exclusive to Target). You can see her and hear an detailed description here.
This year, parents can also purchase ‘13 Wishes‘ :
I checked out my local Target store for the dolls. Two years ago when I wrote the first article, my local Target had one part of one shelf dedicated to the Monster High dolls. The space dedicated to the Monster High Girls has grown a lot since then- an entire aisle now, floor to ceiling, with end of aisle displays!
In July 2013, a new spin-off line was launched as a companion line to Monster High. The new line was called Ever After High. (I’m sure someone will tell me to ignore the double entendre in the name, but it really popped out at me.) Ever After High dolls seem slightly less ominous, but that is like saying that butter is better to eat by the plateful than lard. In reality, our bodies need vegetables. While not as outlandishly “evil” looking, Ever After dolls have plenty of the Monster High characteristics.. Take “Apple White”, for example, one of the ‘cleaner’ characters, and purportedly a second generation of Snow White. Even she has a “Spellbinding morning – the perfect day for starting a charmed new school year….” and consults her magic…
The Ever After website invites little girls to take a quiz to find out if they are a “Royal” or a “Rebel”. Answers from which they can choose include being “hex-ited”, liking a French “mani-curse’ for their nails, or “hocus-focus”ing on their studies. Bad puns at best. At worst, they introduce young children to a dark culture. Religious folks will find these toys highly objectionable. Non-religious folks may still be offended, finding them really dumbed down second generation story dolls whose tales, not unlike the old game of telephone, lose much in the manufacturer’s version of translation and story line.
A valid secular objection to this line of toys, is that it skews true literary classical fairy tales (from Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen for example) to suit a manufacturer’s needs, in order to take advantage of an open and vulnerable market. This is an easy and lazy way for a manufacturer to make a quick buck. The sad thing is, some little girls will never be exposed to the classics first, so they will grow up thinking these stories are the originals or correctly summarize the originals, and that is not only sad but uneducated.
The Monster High and Ever After High brands are being promoted to girls as young as six. By playing with dolls that have stiletto pumps or “hooker platform heels” made of pink chains, they are supposed to be learning tolerance. Introducing young girls to this style of dressing is problematic alone, but coupled with it being seen as ‘cool’, girls can be confused as to what it means to be a girl, a lady, a woman. And why is tolerance so venerated today, seemingly more important than great moral virtues? “Tolerance” (without saying of what) is the god of subjective thought which rejects objective moral truth. For these and other reasons, the Monster High and Ever After High doll lines are problematic.
Young girls would be much better served reading about real life heroes in history, science and religion– statesmen, pioneer women, saints, even fictional characters who live in the past or future in an embodiment of some sort of real moral fiber, courage and bravery, characters who are real role models for the girls to look up to and emulate. Instead, these toys program girls to ‘let out their inner monster’. Scary. Target even lets little girls (ages 7 and up recommended) make their own monsters here.
I am sure that some will read this post and accuse me of making much ado about nothing. Read for yourself. Check out the links. Make an informed decision. Be cognizant of what your child may be offered to play with when she innocently visits a friend (whose mother may have innocently purchased the popular doll) Simply do your research and learn. Then talk with your spouse, with moms in playgroups and your child’s school. Teaming together with like minded parents will help us all navigate this culture and modern society successfully and keep this ugly influence away from them.
I’d like to close this post with one more fact-
In 2011 I reported that the the You Tube views of the Monster High Song was four million. I checked the statistics this morning for the same song and they have increased…. by more than 32 million, bringing the total views upon the time of me writing this to 36,764,256, with 85,302 “thumbs up” likes. I wonder how many of these “likes” are little girls as young as eight on the internet? How many of them will innocently sing the lyrics then begin to embody some of the values? How long before Monster High easy readers show up in libraries and maybe schools? How long before a generation of girls is affected? This is a cultural youth trend that cannot be ignored.
There’s a monster under the bed, and in the closet and maybe your daughter’s friend’s backpack .. And the people behind the monster girls can’t wait to introduce your daughters to a worldview they have created for just for her.
What will be your response?
Read more about Monster High Dolls here:
From Fox News: Monster High Dolls Anger Parents
Mattel’s Manipulative Monster High Marketing Machine: Unkind (Shaping Youth)
Raising Mighty Arrows Blogpost: An Alternative to Monster High Dolls
Theresa Thomas 
Pingback: UGLY GIRLS (“Monster High”) Part II | Stories for the Homeschool Heart
I didn’t watch the Grammys but heard and saw snippets of it. Katy Perry (another icon of young girls) performed her song as a witch complete with “dark” dancers and imagery. We are definitely fighting evil at every turn!
I saw pictures on my newsfeed. 😦 What makes me sad is the children who will inadvertently see this and perceive it as normal. It is not!
Theresa, it does amaze me that so many parents don’t see anything wrong with these types of toys and the ages they are targeted to. But, it doesn’t amaze me that these things are marketed. I am reading The Economy of Desire by Daniel Bell. Companies, Mattel included, are not interested in the well being of our daughters. They are getting quite rich because this is what the society has been groomed to want and they will produce it gladly. Families, churches, and communities care for the well being of our sons and daughters and we should not really be surprised by what is marketed. What is upsetting to me though is that so many parents seem to take the attitude “Well, this is sold in the children’s aisle, half of our neighbors have them, what could be so bad about them?” I truly think that there are people that believe that companies have our best interests at heart and they certainly do not care. They are not motivated by love.
“What is upsetting to me though is that so many parents seem to take the attitude “Well, this is sold in the children’s aisle, half of our neighbors have them, what could be so bad about them?” ”
Exactly! Yes! It is almost like a zombie-like acceptance to whatever is offered. That book sounds good- I will have to pick up a copy.
Thank you for the courage to post this. I share your concerns and have been bothered by the popularity of these toys for some time. I enjoy reading your blog!
Thank you so much!
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I have not seen these doll until now. And they are UGLY. period.
I was looking for a doll that didn’t cost too much for our 9 year old. We agreed American Dolls were too expensive and made in China. We found the “My Gen” doll at Target @ a much better price, but sadly made in China. Our daughter was thrilled.
There is nothing wrong, in fact preferable, with keeping beauty in the toys we give our children. Otherwise, you are teaching them it’s o.k. to dress this certain way. So many examples of this on the street today.
Thank you, Bridget!
Why not take a doll a girl likes and turn that doll into something else, if at all possible (with something truly ugly, it’s probably not possible, though…)? Not to in any way belittle or take away from the issues legitimately raised by the original post, but why do we expect so much to come ready-made out of the box– like American Girl dolls?
Growing up in a developing country, I had Barbie dolls as gifts from North American relatives at a time when they were rare. …but while true that Barbie looked less like a cheap floozy then than many of her outfits can make her look now, I also had “Shakespearean Barbie,” thanks to my trying to learn to sew as a young girl, and thanks to the inspiration of Classics Illustrated, etc.
And anyway, learning to sew is always an education into how something works.
Well done Theresa Thomas!!!
I have read both of your articles on these ugly dolls and I agree with you 100%!
We live a secular culture where God, Christianity, morals and values, and what is good are the enemy.
When the world rejects the True Living God they will replace Him with the enemy. And the devil is more than happy to take God’s rightful place. If that is the case then no wonder we live in a culture that is so fascinated with darkness, death, the ugly, the violent, the perverse, the occult.
Don’t be surprised for being attacked when you stand up for what is good, because it is simply the result of a world that has become irreligious and secular.
Now in days many don’t know how differentiate right from wrong, and good from evil.
Grace is the compass that allow us to see God’s light but it also help us identify the darkness. If people don’t believe or pray to God anymore no grace will be able to illumninate them.
About this Ugly Dolls/Monster Dolls, demonic dolls…there is no doubt in my mind they come out of the mind of someone who is serving the dark side, that is why it’s important for parents to pay attention to what the industry is selling their children and what new fashions and trends, toys and music appear in the secular market.
I honestly believe that the dark side BEGAN targeting children and introducing them in the occult and the ugly when parents allowed their children to come in contact with J. K. Rowling Harry Potter books and movies.
I know some will disagree and that’s fine but it is a reality that many in different levels of society especially those in the media and entertaining industry are heavily involved in the occult and even devil worshiping and these are the people promoting and who are behind violent movies, and movies with occultic themes about demons and vampires, and violent video games, music, toys, clothing etc.
The Signs of a decadent secular culture, a culture without God are all over the place and I fine example of it again it relates to Harry Potter books. I’ve always thought it was strange how many adults not only children were into reading Harry Potter and watching the movies too. I thought this is an unhealthy obsession but it is also infantile and simply ridiculous for adults to be reading books that were meant for children. Children and adults alike were so obsessed with Harry Potter it’s not normal. (By the way OBSESSION is a way by which the devil attacks).
Father Amorth head exorcist of the Diocese of Rome Italy did warn people to stay away from the Harry Potter books because they were promoting the occult. Sadly not many Catholics payed attention.
We are being spiritually attacked, the proof is in the increase of exorcisms in various Catholic dioceses the devil is attacking many full force; so as Catholics we better be aware and be prepared. Protect yourself pray, pray the Rosary, go to Confession and receive the Eucharist ask God for the grace to recognize Him and His goodness, but also for the grace to recognize the enemy and his tricks.
The most important thing for a Christian is to save one’s soul the souls of our loves ones and the souls of others.
Holy Spirit guide us!
Mary Help of Christians pray for us!
St. Michael the Archangel pray for us!
Thank you!
Very excellent. I’ll use some of these points if I find myself in a ‘spirited’ discussion. ha!
“I honestly believe that the dark side BEGAN targeting children and introducing them in the occult and the ugly when parents allowed their children to come in contact with J. K. Rowling Harry Potter books and movies.”
It didn’t “begin” there. It actually began decades before that (think of the popularity of the ouija board in the 80’s and movies like “Interview with a vampire” in the 90’s.) but J. K. Rowling was simply the snowball rolling down hill. Harry Potter simply escalated what was already there.
You are right, but what I was referring to was that Harry Potter targeted in particular young children, no the 11 and 12, 13 years old but it target younger children.
Influences from movies like Interview with a Vampire in the 90’s and the popularity of the Ouija board were there yes, I totally agree with you, but it seemed to me that it wasn’t specifically targeted to young children. Now if parents were careless and allowed their young children to be exposed to the Ouija board and watch movies like Interview with a Vampire well then it was their mistake but with Harry Potter the way it was marketed was very seductive and malicious (to me it was pre-planned by those who are involved in satanic covens in the entertaining industry) what I mean is that it was different they made it look so cool and harmless that many parents gladly accepted it.
I am not afraid to say that it was done on purpose to introduce children and only children into the occult and awaken their curiosity about the darkness and its master.
Now let me add this and it is only my personal opinion but I even thought that the books had way too many pages for a children’s books:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – 309
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – 352
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – 448
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – 734
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – 896
Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince – 652
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – 784
Again this is only my opinion and I know children today are avid readers and they are super smart, way to smart for their own good after all knowledge was supposed to increase but I think danger can lurk if parents don’t stop and think what is the moral lesson behind the story what are the children actually getting out of reading so many books with so many pages??
Is the story making them better Christian by teaching them virtues and morals or they are simply stories that don’t edify the soul.
I also want to ask anyone who reads my comments to excuse my English I know it is not very good.
Dear Theresa,
I found your article by doing some research on the dolls mentioned in your article. Recently, at the request of my 6 year daughter I bought a Monster High doll and put it up for her to earn it. I kept pulling the doll out and looking at it because something about it unnerved me.
At the time of the purchase I knew nothing about Monster High dolls or the show they are based on. Upon further examination, I grew more concerned about the premise of the show and the dolls featured. I even saw a toy coffin that one of the dolls can sleep in. I realized that the entire slant of this particular product is extremely disturbing. It’s basically, several demonic principles prettied up with a self-esteem theme and some upbeat songs to make our children feel good about being “whoever” they want to be.
I had to then explain to my daughter why those dolls that so many of her school friends had were not good. I’m not sure if she completely understood but she knew enough to not request these dolls again. She soon saw an ad for Ever After dolls and pointed out how nice and happy they looked. She was right but again, there was something disturbing about the wording in the ads. When I went on to research them I found them to be Monster High light. It was just a sweeter looking version of the enemy. I know she was disappointed when I tried to show her that these dolls weren’t very “God-friendly.” But, such is the role of a discerning and biblical parent.
I’m so appreciative of people like you. We need stronger voices in the Christian community for our children. God didn’t call us to be “whoever” he called us to be “His.” I’m praying that we as a community continue to take the time to understand what the world is trying to sell our children and make wise choices on their behalf.
Thank you for your wisdom and courage.
God Bless,
Dr. Katherine Hutchinson-Hayes
Author of:
“God’s Little Black Dress for Women: How to Put on the Full Armor of God without Losing Your Femininity” (scheduled for release July 2014)
Thank you very much! I appreciate your very informative and well thought out response to my post. Your kind words made my day- 🙂 Let’s keep passing on the information so parents can make informed choices!
God bless- Theresa
I have 3 daughters ages 5 and younger and these have never been allowed in our house. I was honest with my girls about them and said these dolls are yucky and even though dolls are fun, these are not the kind of dolls that please Jesus and I tried explaining modesty a little. My girls thankfully have no interest in these dolls, and we will continue having Conversations about modesty and true beauty and hopefully they will grow to understand and have great respect for themselves.
I’ve always thought these dolls like the bratz dolls are over sexualized and I always knew I’d have to be counter cultural to teach my daughter’s what is right, even something that may seem as harmless as a doll.
I totally understand about receiving negative comments over your article! It’s good to know that not every Mom buys into the Monster High dolls. Thank you for taking a stand and for linking to our site. 🙂
Thank you for posting this intelligent, articulate article. I found you while doing research into Ever After High dolls. I knew Monster High was a no-no for my daughter, but when we first saw an EAH doll in NYC I told my 10-yr old I’d look into what they were about. I’m glad I did, and thank you for being one of the small number of voices online addressing this topic.
I stumbled on your blog while researching Monster High and I want to applaud you for taking this on. My daughter is 9 and knew when she saw them in the toy aisle that they were bad. After seeing them she had bad dreams and since then has been on a one kid campaign to stop these dolls. Sadly money talks, but she actually had Mattel on the phone for an hour! Not long after, The Ever After High Dolls came out, (not great but better than Illuminati nightmare dolls!) My daughter didn’t know the full spectrum of why the appearance of these dolls is so so disturbing but she just knew they made her feel bad inside. She loves dolls and collects vintage Barbies. She is trying to figure out out to make kids and their parents understand that death and occult and immodesty is not cool or empowering. She doesn’t want to be a monster! She has a kids blog and while we do take comments, we moderate them carefully and we were also surprise at the vehement response to her expressing her opinion as a kid on these dolls. Any comment with the stale line that these dolls are about celebrating differences( blah blah blah)is a Mattel blogger plant.They are sugar coating their true motives and follow bloggers to try and control the message because most people just buy the marketing pitch without looking into it further. They didn’t change the dolls, just the marketing. Watch one episode of the web show and you will see that there is nothing empowering about these dolls . They manipulate each other, and they are manipulating young girls with their horrific example. Thanks again , and wanted to let you know some kids and their parents are not fooled and are fighting back too!
Dear Theresa,
These dolls are endowed with magic (black) energies and work as amulets. If we bring them home, we will surely have not only their companion but of other invisible personalities. I will tell the reason.
My daughter started appreciating these dolls with her school mates. At first I found them really weird but I let it go for a while. One day, I watched in youtube one of their movies and this movie contains knowledges only practiced by those related to black magic or of the knowledge of people who knows something of occultism. It was related to a double devil ghost of the doll that was chasing her to possess her. In the video the doll instructor said she should run away and target a mirror reflecting a full moon against her doppelganger. I definitely saw the danger surrounding my daughter. There were more serious implications about these dolls not suitable mentioning in this comment. Summary: only the true love between parents and their daughters can break this spell.
Theresa- Kudos to you for addressing this issue head on! I cannot stand the Monster High and Ever After paraphernalia! My daughter is not allowed to have these and I have explained to he that these items make the “dark side” acceptable in our society. I firmly believe these are a product of a satanic directive.