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Diversity in the Marketplace Means Challenges for Parents

© Melissa Sztuczko-Payk

Most of you have probably heard of the recent hoopla over Toys R Us' selling of the new Austin Powers doll. For those of you who haven't, it seems a mom and her 11-year-old son were shopping, and he brought one of the dolls to her. The doll, dressed in underpants, was in a package which read in part, "Do I make you horny, baby?" and her son reportedly asked her what "horny" means. Toys R Us officials say they had not ordered this version of the doll, but another tamer version more suitable for children (a version that says, "Fancy a shag?"). The manufacturer basically said, "Oops, sorry, we goofed."

My first instinct was to condemn the toy store--after all, isn't it reasonable to think that surely as the dolls were being loaded onto shelves an employee must have noticed the rather large quote on the package? Or that a manager would have noticed the mistake as he or she inspected the store?

Then, I thought, why would toy companies even make dolls like this. I mean, why should kids be exposed to this?

Then, it hit me: manufacturers wouldn't make this garbage unless there was a consumer demand for it. Obviously, toy companies have caught on to the fact that many, if not most, American children are allowed to watch PG-13 movies; their parents, in fact, often make opening night of such movies a family outing. These kids, obviously, are great targets for product sales.

Despite having "sex" right in the title ("shag" is, after all, the British euphemism for sex, equivalent to the American "f-word"), the new "Austin Powers" flick is rated PG-13. What this seems to suggest is that in modern American society, crude sexuality is appropriate for childen over the age of 13.

I'm compelled at this point to explain that I did thoroughly enjoy the first "Austin Powers". We, in fact, bought the video. Rightly or wrongly, I did allow my kids to watch the movie, and they loved it. Fortunately, because I've been pretty open with them, I didn't find myself having to explain a lot of the movie's inuendo to them--although I would have if they'd asked (just as I'd had to explain certain terms to them during the Clinton-Lewinsky saga).

My point is not "My kids are mature enough, yours aren't," but rather that each parent has to pay attention to (1)where their child is developmentally, (2)family morals, and (3)family communication habits.

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