Strawberry Shortcake
What happened to the sweet little modest doll? She has now been remade into a sleezy lass with tight jeans, a midriff, and an attitude, telling you to call her on her i-phone…
Most go to college to learn philosophy. I go to Target. By simply cruising the aisles of my favorite store I can more or less tell where the social and moral barometer is registering in the world. Of course, as I navigate my way looking for diapers, my cart reflexively turns toward the toy isle (the fact that my kids are steering it in that direction might also have something to do with it).
It was in these isles, filled with plastic, jabbering, and sometimes mindless toys, that I that I encountered an old friend—Strawberry Shortcake.
For those girls growing up in the 80’s, Strawberry Shortcake was a sweet, innocent little doll, who along with her altruistic perfume scented friends, battled the evil Purple Pie Man, and his equally nefarious counterpart, Sour Grapes. She was quite Chassidish, looking, too—she sported long striped stockings (even in summer), wore a modest dress with an apron, and even had a bonnet. She was indisputably harmless and modest, and along with her pink spotted cat, was the epitome of ‘sugar and spice and everything nice’.The Strawberry Shortcake who greeted me that day some two decades later was not the girl I remembered. She looked more like Strawberry Frappe-No-Sugar-Low-Carb-Café-Latte doll. She has been revamped with a pair of denim pants. Gone is her Little House on the Prairie Bonnet. She wears a bucket hat, and a sweater tied around her waist. But more jarring than her dress is her attitude. She’s got attitude.
Now most people (husband included) might think that I spend too much time at Target. That‘s beside the point. The point is that these dolls are marketed for a certain audience. The old Strawberry Shortcake apparently did not have sell-appeal. What girl these days is happy playing with a simple doll, whose sole career consists of churning out pies and being a good will ambassador to the world?
Strawberry Shortcake these days is portrayed with arms crossed. She looks at her potential buyer with a look that says, “Call me on my Blackberry and let’s go to Starbucks and then head on down to my loft to burn some music onto my i-pod touch.” Or something like that. She probably turned that cute little strawberry shaped house into a bunch of studio apartments for her and her now similarly attired trendy friends.
Truth be told, I don’t know exactly what Strawberry Shortcake is up to these days. The toy company that churns out these cute little emancipated girl dolls are trying to appeal to my daughter’s generation. Would my daughter’s secular counterparts be interested in a benevolent doll, who tries to heal the world with her pies and good deeds? Or does my daughter’s age group identify more with the discarded skirt version? “Put on some pants, girl! I am Strawberry Shortcake—hear me roar!” Gone is her modest innocence. She has gone through a complete physical and spiritual metamorphosis, unfortunately, much like the girls of today.
There was a time when innocence was the one thing you could attribute to childhood. It was a given. Navigating to the girl’s section, I take a look through the racks in the hopes of finding something modest for my daughter to wear. Instead, I sift through a selection of tight little pants, and tight little shirts, and whatever skirts they do have make miniskirts look conservative! The clothing, even for this particular size seven or eight is so—suggestive. When did the clothing manufacturers decide to stop dressing our children like children? When did they start to dress them like little adults in revealing clothes? We used to wear shorts and tanks in the summer as kids, in our secular existence, because we didn’t know any better. But now, even the typical shorts and shirts come with an attitude: Shirts with adjectives such as “Princess,” “Bad Girl,” or even “Brat” splayed across the front are standard fare in the girl’s department. It’s not surprising then that a sweet little doll could not survive in such a market. She has to appeal to a new slew of girl’s who want to be Brittany Spears when they grow up. So much for woman’s lib.
Despite the reconstructed version of Strawberry Shortcake, I am still drawn to the tiny bit of innocence underneath her new facade. I, like most of my generation, want to relieve a little bit of my childhood through my children. So –I bought the doll. With a catch, of course. This Strawberry Shortcake is going to be re-made into the Yiddish version of Strawberry Shortenkuchen (kuchen is a coffee cake in Yiddish). Our Strawberry Shortenkuchen is going to take a little trip to the seamstress with us, to get those denim pants turned into a skirt. She may not bake pies in this house, but you bet that she’s going to learn to make Challah.
As Jews we must constantly engage in a spiritual battle with a world that feels the need to recreate the role of women—and their self image—in something as inconspicuous as a Strawberry Shortcake doll. The message is loud and clear: Yesterday’s values are not sell-able to a new generation. Discard the skirt, discard the modesty, add a pinch of attitude…and voila! Must our children also fall prey to the whims of the secular world? We must always be aware—and take care—as to what messages we are sending our children through the objects we bring into our home, even in the form of a seemingly innocent twelve inch doll.
I know I may be crazy. Who takes a doll to the seamstress? Well—the one who wants to sew– or rather sow –the seeds of Yiddishkeit into their child’s soul.
Let us hope for a time when all Jewish girls everywhere will tote their own Strawberry Shortenkuchen dolls through the streets of Yerushalaim. May we soon merit seeing a world where women are valued for their internal beauty and strength—may it be speedily in our days, Amen!
Tell us what you think!
Thank you for your comment!
It will be published after approval by the Editor.