Chopsy Baby is Reviewing… Lottie Fashion Doll by Arklu
Chopsy Baby Says: “Fantastic. A normal fashion doll that won’t mess up children’s perceptions about the role of women.”
Rating: 10/10
It’s a sad fact that 84 per cent of the UK and Ireland’s parents think their girls are growing up to quickly – and put it down to feeling pressurised by messages around them.
In a survey by London toy company Arklu, parents revealed that their children, some as young as four years of age, are already beginning to have a ‘worrying’ view about their body image.
The media, including music videos and TV programmes, were identified by the parents taking part as being major factors encouraging young girls to want to be ‘sexually attractive’ at such young ages.
Provovative slogans on clothes and skimpy clothing were also suspects identified in the research.
The research from Arklu, comes as they launch a brand new toy doll. Lottie aims to take back the fun and innocence of playing with dolls, without the Barbie body.
So far, the Lottie range has proved popular, winning 9 toy awards in the UK and USA.
Lottie, is a fashion doll aimed at girls around the ages of three to nine years of age. Her body dimensions reflect that of the average proportions on a healthy nine year old girl. Lottie doesn’t feature jewellery, tattoos, makeup or even high heels.
The doll is reasonably flexible when moved and she can actually stand up with shoes on.
Chopsy Baby editor Jen Smith says: “‘I love this doll. She is a breath of fresh air in a world dominated by the hooker styled Bratz and busty, yet impossibly thin Barbie.”
Her body is about as normal as can be. If you do yank her leg back at a 45 degree angle, it is possible to pull her leg out of its socket but it will clip back on again. The doll,overall, is well made and a good quality. There are plenty of accessories available to purchase separately. It is appealing to the age group she is aimed at.
“We were initially influenced by research by Dr Margaret Ashwell OBE which concluded that current fashion dolls on the market could promote girls’ insecurity about their body image,” says Lucie Follett, Director and co-founder of Arklu.
“We decided to investigate further and look into other concerns that parents have for their young daughters and we fed many of those key points into our doll development. Ultimately, we wanted to create a doll that is fun, but one that provides a refreshing alternative.”
Arklu have certainly succeed with producing a doll that will appeal to both young children, and parents put off by Barbie’s body.
When young girls are growing up, this is absolutely the kind of doll you want them to be playing with. Innocent, fun and independent. Just like we want our children to be.
You can buy from…
Dolls are priced from £16.99 and accessory packs at £7.99
The complete range of Lottie dolls and accessories are available online at www.lottie.com and www.Amazon.com