Diva Starz

Article 4 of my Reading Research Article Collection.

At one point or another, we have all found ourselves wandering through the toy sections of a large hypermarket, like Target. What do you notice when you travel through each aisle?  In her article, "'I'm in a bad mood. Let's go shopping': Interactive dolls, consumer culture and a 'glocalized' model of literacy," Victoria Carrington takes a close look at Diva Starz, a line of interactive dolls aimed at young girls for current model of literacy. Carrington argues that "these dolls have much to tell us about the construction of children as consumers, our views about 'childhood', and the models of literacy instruction most appropriate for giving children the skills and knowledge needed to deal with the complex pedagogic texts characteristic of childhood in contemporary consumer culture" (pg. 83).

These dolls are visually unique. There is a symmetry of oversized body parts, with eyes that dominate the face and the entire physicality of the dolls. The exaggerated eyelashes and eyeshadow emphasize this dominance. The eyes with permanently dilated pupils take up a third of the face. They have a small mouth and nose, and no ears. These Divas parallel standard Barbies by height, production, and packaging. However, unlike a standard Barbie, Divas talk to you and to each other.The Divas have their cultural pedigree inscribed on their faces. The facial formation is typical of anime and seems to reflect its increasing influence on contemporary consumer culture. This connection to anime characters connects the Divas directly to entire genres of popular culture -- films, computer games, comic books, and all related merchandising. These dolls are a blending of western and Asian cultural forms.

Carrington explains how the Divas are teaching young girls how to be consumers as well as 'girls'. "Divas demonstrate how to use many of the accessories of the modern childhood presumed by the dolls – mobile phones, stereos, diaries.They also model consumer activities and discourses such as malls and shopping, and each child’s development of desire for and purchase of the doll models the processes of adult consumption" (pg. 89). Many of the key themes identifiable in the recorded dialogue and on the packaging relate to social acceptance, secrecy, ownership and contemporary relevance. They offer demonstrations of how to be older - the kinds of concerns, conversational topics and thematics which characterize older girls; they offer friendship and peer acceptance - not only be providing friendship ('I just know we'll be the best of friends') but also by giving little girls the savvy and street smarts to find peer acceptance ('Let's go to the mall with our friends...'). they even manage to invoke the theme of 'retail therapy' ('I'm in a bad mood. Let's go shopping' and 'I'm so sad. I so need a new school outfit') (pg. 89).

Example of Diva Starz:

When girls assume roles of femininity through playing with these dolls, they are engaging in literacies beyond the scope of traditional models. Carrington argues that "the emergence of consumer culture and the dominance of information technologies in the workplace and as a cultural icon have resulted in a change in the nature of 'text'" (pg. 93). Messages can now be transported across time and place in an increasing number of media and modes. The texts of popular culture often speak directly to 'you'. They do not offer an alternate time, space, or reality. Instead, they are firmly rooted in the here and now. Carrington stresses how these texts are highly relational in ways beyond traditional children's textbooks.These texts rely heavily on a direct connection to the world outside the text, in direct contrast to the texts traditionally associated with childhood. In this sense, the texts of consumer culture are outward looking. Their role is to engage children with the flows of consumer culture rather than insulating them in a distinct, child-appropriate world (pg. 94). As a result, we must now understand 'text' to extend beyond print.

Children require new and different literacies, as they are operating in new and different social landscapes characterized by new texts and technologies. As Carrington points out, toys are one such text - "one such medium for transporting a message across time and place" (pg. 95). Diva Starz then, are pedagogic, training children in appropriate ways of being and making known selected discourses and knowledges. The take-home point from Carrington's article is that "as educators, we must ask ourselves what kinds of literacies are best matched to successful participation in this world of multi-modal and evolving texts.



Carrington, V. "'I'm in a Bad Mood. Let's Go Shopping': Interactive Dolls, Consumer Culture and a 'Glocalized' Model of Literacy." Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 3.1 (2003): 83-98. Print.