Have You Heard Of Lammily – A Healthily-Proportioned Doll

I was disgusted this week, when I learned of yet another female who wants to look like a manufactured doll. If you haven't heard, a 16-year old named Lolita Richi is having her 10 minutes of trashy fame by claiming that she looks like a doll naturally, without the use of cosmetic surgery. Her proportions, of course, are improbable and experts, who apparently have nothing better to do, are weighing in saying that her looks are not natural. According to eonline.com, the teen says “she wanted to look perfect and noted that all women should want that, too.”

The problem with looking like a doll is that it's NOT perfection, but someone else's idea of perfection. I'm not sure if that someone else is a designer or manufacturer, but it has become, to some degree, society's ideal. And we know the proportions of most dolls are unrealistic and unhealthy.  They suggest to girls that they, too, should do all they can do look "perfect."

 

That's why I was happy to learn of Lammily, a doll with “realistic” proportions. Her creator, graphic designer Nickolay Lamm, based her dimensions on averages of data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (to learn more about the creation of Lammily, click on this article from The Atlantic).

As you can see, Lammily isn't super-skinny or sexy. Her boobs wouldn’t cause her to tip over in real life and it look as it she actually eats. Nor is she fat. She's healthy and natural looking, without the whorish make-up some of the dolls on the market sport (i.e. Bratz dolls, Monster High, etc.). Her wardrobe is pretty and contains pieces most girls would wear and we would let our daughters wear. Lammily looks fit yet fabulous. She's a great alternative to some of the current dolls on the market which have looks that are unattainable and, to some degree, not appropriate for their target audience.

Is she someone else's image of what a girl might want to look like?  Sure, but Lammily's motto, "average is beautiful" reminds girls that it's okay to be themselves and that they don't have to embrace society's image of perfection.  To learn more about Lammily, visit https://www.lammily.com.

If Lammily catches on, maybe there will be more girls who will see the beauty in being healthy and accept themselves for who they are, rather than take outlandish and unhealthy measures to attain unrealistic ideas of “perfection.” One can only hope. 

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Thank you for reading!   

How To Make A Voodoo Doll And Why I Let My 8-Year Old Make One

If you follow me on Twitter (and please do: https://twitter.com/IsItHotInHereMM), you know that recently, my 8-year old said she wanted to make a voodoo doll. She got the idea from some dumb ass Disney show. At first, I was a little concerned that she wanted to make one of ME (aka "She Who Yells A Lot"), but as it turned out, the victim is her brother. Whew! So why him? “Payback, Mom, payback,” she said. Among the list of his transgressions: 1) He tackled her the other day when they were wrestling 2) Last YEAR, he tackled her on the beach. She had her mouth open and wound up eating sand (Lesson: Always close your mouth when wrestling with your brother.). She's PISSED at him, big time. So I let her make the voodoo doll. Was I in my right mind? Yes, and here's why:

While voodoo dolls are associated with evil, they're actually meant to gain influence over whomever you're making the doll about. Diva is 8; her brother is almost 14. She weighs maybe 45 pounds; he's heavier and taller. She is jealous of him and the privileges he gets because of his age. If making a voodoo doll makes her feel better, I'm all for it. 

Here's how we made it:

1. We took an old shirt the Teen had outgrown. The doll is more “powerful” if you use a personal item from the victim.
2. I drew and made a template out of cardboard. I did it freehand, but free templates can be found here: http://www.allcrafts.net/dolls.htm.
3. She cut the material out using the template.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Since Diva did not want to sew, we used a glue gun to glue the two pieces together, leaving a hole for stuffing.
5. This particular doll will not be washed, so I used part of a plastic grocery bag to stuff it; then she glued the hole shut.
   
   
   
   
   
6. She then used markers to color the doll so that it looks like her brother. Note the red sweatshirt that the kid wears, no matter what the weather. On 100 degree days, he STILL wears the shirt outside.
   
   
   
   
   

Diva was giddy at the prospect of having influence over her brother while he had decided, quite kindly, to play along with the premise of the doll. He was at a friend's house while the doll was being created, but my daughter still took great pleasure at making the doll do a split, stand on it's head, etc. When we went to pick Junior up, she asked if he'd done the split or felt anything weird. He answered that yes, he inexplicably HAD done a split and had had a headache just at the precise moment when she was playing with the doll. “MOMMY, IT WORKS,” she yelled.

Because I helped her make the doll, I explained that it won't work all the time, which gives us some wiggle room when she wants her brother to do things he just can't be bothered to do. When she finds out the truth, my explanation will be that I wanted to see her to see what a wonderful creation she was capable of making and that I just wanted her to have fun. My sense is that she's going to become bored with the doll pretty quickly. In fact, as I write this, neither she nor I know where the dang thing is.

It's hard enough being a little sister. If making a voodoo doll empowers her, makes her feel better, then I'm happy for my daughter. More power to her! 

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Please check back in with me soon!  Oh, and check out my boards on Pinterest at  http://www.pinterest.com/isithotinheremm.