[Content Warning: discussion of slut-shaming, rape culture, forced sex work, body-shaming, sizism, eating disorders.]

For context, see strawberry-cupcake-kitten’s post on a particular parent with some very strong opinions on Monster High, but not too much in the way of logic to back them up. I refuse to directly link to that woman’s blog and provide her with additional traffic, plus this is sort of a general tirade, hence the new post, but that was the kicker for it, so.

Let’s talk about Monster High critiques. Now, I got no vested interest in protecting Mattel’s profit margins. I have an interest in Monster High, obviously, and Mattel makes the line, but they’re a big company, they don’t need me protecting them. So I’m not personally offended on their or the doll’s behalf when people say busted shit about them. I’m more concerned with the actual people that are hurt by the following bullshit “critiques” that I have seen over and over and over again:

The dolls dress too slutty:

• Look, I get it, you’re coming from a place of not wanting impressionable kids to believe that the hypersexualization of their bodies is an inevitable fact to which they must submit. You want their sexual growth to be healthy and happy and do you know the best way to accomplish that? It’s not by teaching them that there’s something intrinsically sexual or wrong about wearing a short skirt, that’s for fucking sure. It’s teaching them that no one, fucking no one has a right to dictate their bodies, what they put on them or the “meaning” of what they put on them. You teach them that they are too young for very short skirts, but Frankie Stein, who is old enough, wears them because she likes them, because she likes the way her legs look in them, because she likes her body, because she has confidence and self-love and you teach that self-love to your fucking kid. You don’t teach them that short skirts = slut and you DEFINITELY do not teach them that slut = bad, my fucking God, this is such basic shit.

The rest is going under a cut for the sake of length, and because the points on dolls looking “like sex-workers” or “like they have an eating disorder” may be particularly triggering for some folks. Proceed with care.

Read More

scary-murphy:

Just because something shitty happens “all the time”, that doesn’t make it okay or mean we should never speak against it. Just because kids run the risk of seeing sexual situations without consenting to it or seeking it out, whether its in an appropriate space or not, simply by being online- that doesn’t mean people should go out of their way to make sure it happens, or that no one should ever say anything about it.

To everyone posting doll porn to prove a point, what you’re doing says a lot more about you than it does about the people who complained.

Absolutely nobody said OMG DON’T POST THAT. All I saw were people asking for Read More cuts and appropriate tags. The response was a flood of doll porn posts and an eleven minute video rant. Seriously, who is perpetuating the so-called drama?

I find it funny because anyone who follows me knows I am pretty liberal, that I like sexy things and have worked in the sex industry for a long time. The thing is, the sex industry has a lot of protections in place to keep it targeted at an 18 and up age group. The age of consent in most states is 16; UK age of consent is 17. I’m sure other countries have similar ages of consent. Putting porn of any variety in an unfiltered forum without a cut on a site that is 13 and up means kids under the age of consent are seeing these images whether they want to or not. It’s unavoidable on tumblr, but as I said before, there’s a difference between looking at a tag purely aimed at adults and looking at a tag for a doll fandom. Saying “oh, just use tumblr savior” doesn’t cut it. Some people may want to see nsfw images elsewhere. Some people’s browsers may not support tumblr savior. And in any case, you may not know you want to block a particular user or tag until the damage is already done.

All anybody asked for was some thoughtfulness and consideration. The reaction has been, imo, over the top and ridiculous.

ETA: And of course, there is a difference between a nude doll, which we see all the time for in progress customs and the like- which no one was objecting to- and rape “fantasies” and gang-bangs. Come the fuck on.

We agree 100% with the above post.

While we here at Dead Fast are a blog aimed at adult and young adult collectors, we’re also lucid of the fact that the “monster high” tag is a public forum. We don’t own it and we don’t get to decide who does and does not get to safely and comfortably navigate it. The absolute shitfest that was people posting “doll rape” to make some sort of ass-backwards, “I do what I want, neener neener!” point was truly awe-inspiring. Oh, sorry, did I say awe-inspiring? I meant juvenile as fuck all. So many douchebags to block and so little time.