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Extreme Makeover: the Strawberry Shortcake editionYesterday American Greetings unveiled the all new Strawberry Shortcake — I mean, they unveiled Strawberry Shortcake's new "fruit-forward" makeover. She got some fuchsia hair extensions, popped in some green contacts, lost a lot of weight, dabbed on a little lip gloss, and got an entirely new face. She also traded in her love of gum drops for actual fruit, and her beloved cat Custard for a cell phone.
Why the hipper, sexier version of Strawberry Shortcake? Apparently the '80s icon wasn't connecting to the modern girl. The New York Times said Strawberry Shortcake was too ditzy (OK), too candy-obsessed (OK), too fond of wearing bloomers. Too fond of bloomers? Now, hold it right there, New York Times!) Do not insult the bloomer in front of me! If it weren't for Amelia Bloomer stumping for women to ditch the petticoats and corsets, we might all still be fainting on the way to to the mailbox! After a trip to Turkey where she saw that women were dressed reasonably and comfortably for the weather and exercise, she came home and wrote in The Lily: "The costume of women should be suited to her wants and necessities. It should conduce at once to her health, comfort, and usefulness; and, while it should not fail also to conduce to her personal adornment, it should make that end of secondary importance." And once she was free to move about without fear of strangulation by her garments, she went around the country blazing the way for women's suffrage! Too fond of bloomers? Psh.
This isn't the first makeover American Greetings has given Strawberry Shortcake (though it is the first time she's ditched her friends and her pet for an iPhone.) In 2002, American Greetings gave Strawberry Shortcake a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and — I'm pretty sure — some Birkenstocks. (She kept the short hair.) But the little lesbian doll didn't appeal to young girls. Thus, yesterday's makeover reveal. What do you think of the femmed-up Strawberry Shortcake? And what do you think of this: the Care Bears are getting a makeover, too — less belly, longer eyelashes. I miss the '80s. Submitted by on June 13, 2008 - 9:00am. |
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News, Reviews & Commentary on Lesbian and Bisexual women in Entertainment and the Media
It was wrong the first time
It was wrong the first time around and even more so now. Not a fan of the shortcake or the bears in a rainbow of flavors.
I blame The Smurfs for the downfall of Saturday Morning.
Boo. I loved Strawberry
Boo.
I loved Strawberry Shortcake the first time around - in the 1980s. The new Strawberry Shortcake is lame. The 1980s version could totally kick her ass.
And how many times are they going to make her over? The new picture included on this blog is an update, it seems, from the already-femmed-up version on the AG Strawberry Shortcake Home Page!
I miss the 80s. Life was easier then. Of course, I was under the age of 10, so...
"There is no formula. You learn to love by loving. "
Aldous Huxley
WTF
seriously.
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Cloverfield? 1-18-08-underground.com...
cute
Yuck. The sexed-up toys for
Yuck. The sexed-up toys for little girls just gross me out! Mind you, I did play with Barbie... Strawberry shortcake was great though. She smelled like strawberries! Sort of. I think "Earring Magic Ken" is brilliant! The Mattel people must've been crazy to not realize they were outing Ken.
that's genius
hahaha. earing magic ken is killing me.
i agree. i hate the new, but played with the old.
Lavander rides on a rainbow paved road..gay!
Thanks for the history lesson, at least
I didn't know that about the origin of bloomers. Makes me all the more sad to see them go, realizing they were such a big victory for feminism. :)
You must be the change you want to see in the world.
-- Mahatma Gandhi
she lost something
I think compared to the first version, strawberry shortcake lost something - she doesn't really look cute and childlike anymore! she kinda looks older and her smile seems sortof fake. I don't really know why, but that's the feeling I get. and her hair is way too perfect, I don't understand why they got rid of the freckles, they were cute!!
http://babydyke.blogspot.com/ - my take on all things lesbian
i very much agree! new
i very much agree! new strawberry shortcake looks vapid. and i hate that this is another example of taking a character who is supposed to be a child and making her look older! i'm surprised they didn't just go ahead and give her boobs as well. hmph.
disclaimer: not that i have anything against boobs. ;-)
I like the old one for reasons on nostalgia, but actually...
care bears!!
i loved the care bears when i was young! my dad (ever the artist) painted a few on my bedroom wall!! sunshine, champ and good luck bear, and i think swift heart rabbit (or it was a blue bear, can't quite remember!)
although, here in the uk, the care bears had a makeover a couple of years ago, and don't look that much like they did back when i was young.
i had surprise bear and gentle heart lamb (omg, hope that's the right name!) and my sister had share bear and strong heart elephant. i also got one of the new style cozy heart penguins from my sister for my birthday a couple years ago.
the oldies are still the best, though!!
She Was Cute to Begin With.
I hate the way they've changed her and all my classic 80s toys. Even My Little Pony has been made more feminine and skinnier. We live in a time when even our horse toys must look like they've been on an unhealthy diet.
"The moment inside when you forgive what's happened is the moment you are enlightening yourself."
Pornification of Little Girls
Strawberry Slutcake
American Greetings still missed the mark.
The longer hair and the new cap are fine...but the girl should still be wearing the jeans and tee of the second version...along with a pair of runners. And she could have kept Custard and her friends. Cell phones for kids are just too much. And definitely not lounging on a flower.
And just an FYI...if you work in a toy store and the Strawberry Shortcake and friends display is near the register...so you have to come in close contact with said smelling dolls around a hundred times a day...the "aromatherapy" mix becomes a bit nauseating. :/
Afriad I don't see it...
I loved the original Strawberry Shortcake when I was young, I use to watch it every morning and sometime during high school I tried finding the series again but all I ever found was the image you see with Strawberry Shortcake in the jeans. I too loved the original. *smile* I was a sucker for her hat, it's the best thing I remember.
I am really pleased to at least have a piccie now of her original look. But nowdays remakes are pretty much expected and well I don't see the apparently pornographic look in that image. It's not like they ramped up her curvyness, she just looks trendy?
What disturbed me was loosing the cat for a phone, the loss of her friends ... well, I dunno it seems they are marketting her personality to seem a little more ditsy. I have a really stong clueless vibe when reading the article.
She promotes eating fruit, which is nice, but overall I think it'll be her personality which really remains to be seen that will decide if or not she will make for a good cartoon role-model for kids.
Leave my childhood alone
Leave my childhood alone American Greetings! They keep ruining classics from the eighties by "updating" them. Give the kids of today their own fruit loving cartoon and leave the old one alone. It's depressing to see these girls toys and icons turn into brat doll hybrids. And they got rid of the cat for a cell phone, really? She couldn't at least have both?
I'm starting a riot if they really do mess with the care bears. Slutty bears are too far.
It's hard enough living in a
Mother Smurfer!
I don't get why they don't just create a new character if they were looking for something more modern. I'm all for nostalgia & updating it to make it not look entirely out of place in today's world, but that doesn't even remotely resemble Strawberry Shortcake.
If they were looking an 80's character to slut up, they should have taken Smurfette - they wouldn't have had to do much; save for putting a thong on her or something for decency's sake.
The reason why!
I used to loooooove Strawberry Shortcake (aka Charlotte aux Fraises in France). I had a doll, some clothes and my favorite bedlinen back in the 80s. My parents loved her as well. Even my dad who used to call me like her (and my name is not Charlotte).
And here I'm reading your article and I suddenly open my eyes on the truth: Strawberry is a lesbian ^_^ (or the " most lesbian" of the dolls)
FINALLY, I found the reason why I'm a lesbian!
PS: Thanks so much for the accurate and very interesting explanation on Bloomers.
Congratulations...
...on finding your root. :P
I was never a fan of Strawberry Shortcake because I hate the synthetic smell that emanates from her... but this just makes it worse.
I feel like decades from now we'll look back and refer to this as the "Remake Era."
I hate both makeovers
I hate both makeovers but this newest one is especially infuriating.
I'm just really anal about my '80s icons. DON'T. TOUCH. THEM.
PillowQueen - Charlotte aux Fraises! Eeee! I also knew her as "Fraisinette" (rough translation: little strawberry) since I'm from Quebec. In the cartoon she was Charlotte but most of the merchandise was Fraisinette. Never got why but yeah.
Y a pas à dire, j'adore le
Y a pas à dire, j'adore le Quebec et ses versions Francisées des choses ^^
"If homosexuals are gay then lesbians must be extatic!" - Same Sex In The City
Hmmm
umm
Ken
Nice. I had "Totally Hair Ken" (where Ken had the flowing plastic locks of Barbie instead of a hard sculpted 'do,) which my mother affectionately referred to as "Totally Gay Ken":
lol at strawberry slutcake
anyway - why have they ditched the red hair and red apparell? why has she suddenly turned pink and green?
she looks more like a watermelon. an anime/disney/mylittlepony teeny-bopping watermelon.
im not sure why they are trying to target the young girls market in the first place. the main consumers of strawberry shortcake i know of is my gran - and i think she'd be more into buying little cute-as-a-button-red-nostalgia-icon rather than little-slut-watermelon.
aww that's wack!
yeah the sxifying of children's cartoons is getting outta hand.
I mean she's dressed fine or whatever but whereas the 1980's SS looks innocent, the new one looks like she'll tell the whole 5th grade you like this guy and then write mean things about you on the bathroom wall and then give the guy you like a handjob.
I got a dick like a mule...with a big dick.
HAHAHAHAHA...
oh...man...I new she looked familiar to me.
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Cloverfield? 1-18-08-underground.com...
Jordbær Marie
my lilttle sister i 6 and she likes the new one better
in Denmark it's called "Jordbær Marie"
Force Fed Strawberry Shortcake
I was essentially force fed Strawberry Shortcake when I was a young girl. No matter what I asked for for Christmas, I was either given the Strawberry Shortcake version or the Barbie version...either way it was pink. Pink Strawberry Shortcake walkman. Pink Barbie mobile remote control car. Pink frakkin' skateboard. Pink bike. The only "pink" thing I ever asked for was a Pink Floyd album. You know what I got? A goddamn pink Strawberry Shortcake album.
But, I'm a little sad they're making over the Care Bears. They were my favorite...in retrospect I think it was because they were asexual and didn't make me feel all conflicted. (But when I asked for Bedtime Bear, I still ended up getting Love-A-Lot Bear...who is pink.)
If I sound bitter, it's because my favorite color is blue.
Okay seriously this is pain
I can't belive it...they jsut bratz-ified her. I'm not very suprised, i just wish they were a tad bite more....original?
On even greater make over (sarcasm) do anyone remember the 80' troll? you know chubby cute assexual little things with super long silly hair?
Now look what they did to them:
...Cant girls just freakin be kids? I really liked my barbie but god knows i loved LEGO and to just play outside and to draw and not be centered on how i looked? Or what what the "in" thing. I just wanted to have fun. :(
are you serious?
that's not a joke right, about the troll dolls? cause that just doesn't make any sense at all.
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Cloverfield? 1-18-08-underground.com...
Yup!
Totally not joking. Ever since i was required to write essays, always one of them each year was on hypersexualisation of girls. Trought the year i gathered information. Last year as i was searching for information on Bratz and how they affected teenage girls, i found a well built article that spoke of the bratsz, barbie and trollz. I was quite suprised to say the least. If you want the official website:
http://www.trollz.com/home/
Also if you look for "trolls" its very hard to find almost any information. Also the article on wiki speak about it at the end:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_doll
LMAO! Slut Trolls!!
Oh God!! I didn't know they were even female!! WTF?!?
LOL@ the Goth one in purple. You know she's at least bisexual.
I got a dick like a mule...with a big dick.
lmao...
oh that was a good one.
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Cloverfield? 1-18-08-underground.com...
ahh!
I see nothing wrong so I
I see nothing wrong so I will not be jumping on the hate bandwagon.
-Nathiest
the devil is in the details
Whats with 86ing the cat(z)
not surprised- The utter crap that is shoved down the throat of young girls these days is absolutely horrendous.
Honestly im a bit surprised they didn’t change her name to include something with the all too fashionable "Z INSTEAD OF AN S FOR ABSOLTLEY NO REASON!"
like they've done to every cutesy-'sassy' little pissant product-
For example.
Trollz.
Bratz.
the insipid line of "PETZ!" video games featuring but not limited to "Horsez","catz" and "DOGZ!" *shudder*
At least its not "ZOMG! teh BRANDNEW ZTRAWBERRI SHORT CAKEZ!!!!111!!ONE!"