This raises my eyebrow because it’s the costume she is wearing for the smallest part of the movie (based on previews) and also the more princess-y. Most ads I have seen are only featuring the Formal costume. The Formal Brave Merida Costume (left below) and the Adventure Brave Merida Costume (right below). Kids these days…Īnyway, The Disney Store offers two Merida costumes. First, not to sound like a curmudgeon, but when I was a kid we played make-believe without specific fancy costumes. Mommy bloggers, go!įlipping through the Target weekly ad this Sunday, I also saw some Merida costumes and raised an eyebrow. But as yet I have no daughters and I don’t want to deal with the IRB. Or am I being optimistic? I think a study in this particular case would be really interesting for illuminating aspects of the debate over toy design vs use in play, especially regarding gender dynamics. Maybe it doesn’t matter what the doll looks like as much if the girls are enacting the rough and tumble plot of the movie regardless of the doll’s sleek tresses.

I hope Mommy bloggers take up this issue and discuss how their daughters are actually playing with the dolls. All that plays into an ongoing debate over sexy dolls for girls, taken up expertly by Peggy Orenstein in Cinderella Ate My Daughter.

More on all that after I’ve seen the film (!!!)īut for now, I want to mention the merchandising.Ī few weeks ago, one of my professors sent me an article, “Is Mattel Brave Enough To Make An Un-Sexy Doll?” which raises critical questions about the disjuncture between the look of Merida in the film–wild, untamed, girlish–and the character portrayed in the dolls–mostly sexed-up.

Plus there’s the fact that I’m not sure what this movie is really about except epic family adventures. As I mentioned before, I have some questions about Brave, mostly involving the marriage plot and the dynamics of kinship.

This afternoon, hopefully as a reward for finishing a draft of my seminar paper, I’m going with a friend to see Pixar’s Brave. Update: Check out these smart(er) folks at Slate ( Conflict between Brave and Pretty?) & Jezebel ( Beauty Comes Before Bravery).

Disney brave merida adventure dress