I also lived near a train station that was Hooker Central. Every night was like a parade of hookers up and down the Ho' Stroll. There were a lot of taxis around the train station, too. Ah, the good old days.
Remove the fangs and ears, give him a gold grill, give those boots heels, put him in front of a Cadillac and it's straight pimpin' time right out of a blackploitation movie.
(In case you haven't caught on by now, this post isn't going to be very PC. Stop reading now if you're delicate sensibilities are easily offended.)
Now in the Glory Days of Hookers, BC (Before Crack) street walkers looked a lot like this:
This is Clawdeen Wolf. (I don't own any of these photos.) She's the 15 year old daughter of the Werewolf. Now I know that nowadays a lot of teenage girls dress like hookers so this doll isn't completely inaccurate.
The prostitutes I saw wore straight or Afro wigs of every color imaginable, platform boots, usually shiny, metallic gold or something just as outlandish, always a short skirt, usually a loud color with the ever present rabbit fur jacket. Of course, the makeup and jewelry were usually garish. Oh, it was a sight to behold.
If you want to know what they looked like just take a look at this doll because the Ho' Stroll was obviously Mattel's motivation when they designed this doll. They must have fond memories of the '70's just like I do.
Every time I see this doll all I see is a prostitute. I'm not judging prostitutes or saying that they're bad, immoral or whatever. I'm not clutching my pearls here or gasping for my Rosewater as I clutch my Bible in my other hand. I am commenting on the fact that this is what I see and I know that not everyone feels the same way I do.
I've seen YouTube videos where Clawdeen is given a ghetto, hoochie mama accent. I'm sure it's meant to be satire or something. I've never watched any of the Monster High YouTube webisodes so I have no idea how she sounds in that. But I can just imagine.
She has a brother Clawd:
He's 17 years old.
These dolls are quite popular. There isn't anything wrong with that.
And then there's this:
The Bottom B of the Wolf family. Her name is Clawdia. Nothing says "I'm A Ho" louder than a yellow wig, red socks and yellow shoes. In the '80's and '90's, I actually saw crackho's who would wear glow in the dark wigs, high heeled shoes with socks and tacky makeup when they were at, uh, work. I lived in a bad neighborhood.
I've also seen every blackploitation movie ever made. (I once worked at a video store.)
I've made comments about the hookerish look of these dolls before on other people's blogs. For that, I'm truly sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I should've saved those comments for my own blog.
Some anonymous person, who was too much of a coward to use any kind of name, would always comment that I was being rude. What would we do without women in middle America who are easily offended by absolutely everything? I cannot imagine wasting my life getting butt sore over a comment a stranger made about a cheap, plastic doll.
There isn't anything wrong with being or, even, dressing cheap, tacky, gawdy, ghetto, hookerish or whatever. If people want these dolls or even love them, I'm not here to judge them. There isn't anything wrong with making these dolls or buying them.
I love Bratz dolls and, God knows, those things are tacky.
This is Bratz Babyz Roxxi. There is so much wrong with this doll. She's wearing a bikini with a faux leather jacket. Her finger and toenails are painted red. She has a Marilyn Monroe beauty mark and she's wearing red lipstick. Why would anyone sexualize a toddler? Who thought this was a good idea?
The one member of the Wolf family I think has a fun look is Howleen:
She is the baby sister of the family. She's so boss. This is how my friends and I would dress up when we were "New Wave" in the '80's. She reminds me of every movie I've seen starring Molly Ringwald. She reminds me of the Ramones, the Smiths, Siouxxie and the Banshees, Tears For Fears, the Psychedelic Furs, and Cyndi Lauper.
She's the only one who doesn't look like a throwback to the 1970's Ho' trade.
And that's my 2 cents.
Robotica
I have long lamented about the hoochie nature of Mattel's clothing. I've only been collecting for a few years so I don't know how long this trend has been going on. I do see actual people walking around looking like half their clothes are missing so maybe Mattel's design are not that far from reality.
ReplyDeleteHi, Muff.
ReplyDeleteFor someone who has been collecting for only a couple of years, you have a lot of dolls. This has been going on since the beginning of Barbie dolls, really. Even in the '50's when women's clothing was much more conservative than it is today, Barbie dolls were considered risqué. I'm so glad I'm learning how to make my own doll clothes. My MH dolls can't even sit down without flashing all their business unless they come with pants, which is rare.
THANK YOU for finally putting into words the reason of my vague antipathy towards Clawdeen&Co. It's a pity, because I think she has one of the nicest sculpts. I strive to customise all my dolls, but it's important for me to accept them in their initial design.
ReplyDeleteBTW, the oldest one is named Clawdia, not Clawdeen.
I can never remember that doll's name. I must have a mental block. I've seen beautiful repaints on Clawdeen all over the Internet. Some of the artists make her look so beautiful. Its such an improvement. They put her in beautiful clothes, too.
DeleteI've also seen reroots of Clawdia with appropriate hair, the change is unbelievable. My favourite of the gang though is the original Howleen with orange hair.
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