I’m pretty sensitive about body image messages in the media.  I feel like everything is oversexualized for females of all ages… and that doesn’t mean just adult women.  Little girls are being bombarded with messages as well.  Toy manufacturers are making toys that should be seemingly innocuous have a sexual tone to them and that just freaks me out.

Check out MSNBC’s “Toys Get Tarted Up” feature

And one of the biggest areas that I find weird is the whole princess mania that abounds.   I seem to recall that people kind of liked princesses when I was a little girl, but not to the same frenzied degree of now.  It was more the general idea of a princess, not specific princesses from a manufactured line.  Props to Disney’s marketers, they’re cleaning up on this… but at what kind of expense to little girls understanding of the world and self-confidence as they grow?

The Go! Go! Sports Girls! line is different… here’s the wording directly from their site:

Dream Big Toy Company™ created Go! Go! Sports Girls™ as a fun and educational way to promote self-appreciation and the benefits of daily exercise, healthy eating and sleeping habits, self-esteem and overall healthy life-skills for girls ages 3-12.

Go! Go! Sports Girls™ are age and size appropriate. They do not encourage an older or overly mature image. The image is innocent with a subtle yet strong message – appreciate and be true to yourself!

The Go! Go! Sports Girls! “participate” in a variety of sports: soccer, tennis, golf, swimming, softball, dance, gymnastics, basketball,

This is Ella, the running Go! Go! Sports Girl!

Ella loves to run fast! Before running, Ella always puts on sunscreen and stretches. She drinks plenty of water and between races will have a healthy snack, like a banana. When she is not running, Ella likes riding her bike and writing in her journal.

I think she’s a cute doll and she seems completely age appropriate for little girls.  She’s going to my niece this Christmas.  I don’t expect this will change her love for princesses, but at least I can give it to her and tell her “She runs races, like your Aunt Jill and Grandma. Maybe some day you’ll run races too or do whatever you want!”

The doll was provided to me for free by Go! Go! Sports Girls for review. Opinions here are my own.