whatwhiteswillneverknow:

Dear Hasbro…

WTF? Seriously. WTF? 

Before I go any further, I want to say that yes, I love nerf stuff. But this is an insult to my intelligence. Like really.

My elder sister, who I love dearly, taught me a lot. Stuff like… video games, playing card games, board games, sports and rough housing. She got me into art and when I was good at it, she nurtured me and it helped me become a graphic designer.

She was my mother, my inspiration… and I love her dearly and she loves me, even though we grown to have differences in opinions about stuff.

So… why is this a slap in my face? Because I have 3 nieces. 1 is in college and was a third degree Black belt when she was THAT girl’s age. And the other two are 4 and 2. When I look at them and talk to them, you know what I call them? 

“Boss”

Why? Because the world is trying to tell them who they are. So, instead, I give them options. I want THEM to tell me who they are. I told both of my nieces “you don’t owe me hugs. If I ask for one, you can choose to give it to me, or not.” And their parents agreed with me. When they refuse to give me a hug, they instead opt for a dap, which I gladly accept.

So, I refuse to force them into becoming a society-accepted female that loves pink and will shot a gun called “Sweet Revenge” or have them using a “Heartbreak Bow”.

What I will do is tell them that they can be whatever they want. All my younger brother want to do with his daughter is show her EVERYTHING and let her choose how she will grow up. (And he’s a hardcore gamer, BTW.) I play with them and remind them that they can love any color they want, they can do whatever they want and let NO MAN (not even me) control them. 

So, no, Hasbro… I am NOT buying this. 

P.S. – WHY was this in Barnes And Nobles? It’s bad enough that you have it in Toys ‘R Us and I avoided talking about it… but this was in a BOOKSTORE without the male versions. Trying to push this on us, huh?

The thing I really dislike about this toy, is not that it exists, but that it’s clearly marked “This is the girls version, for girls only, no boys, this is the one we made for girls.”

Like is some way the regular version wasn’t already being played with by girls.

The design on it is awesome though!  I think they should have just made a bunch of color shifts and packaged them as an all genders product.