Toy Soldiers

Gabriel Hudelson
Oct 17, 2019
6 min read

Mattel, maker of the infamous Barbie doll, recently announced their new “Creatable World” line of gender-neutral toys for children. To which I posit a couple of quick thoughts.

Either-Or

In creating a “gender-neutral” doll, Mattel has presented a striking apologetic for the reality of God’s design for the sexes. These dolls come in kits that include traditionally masculine (short hair, pants) and traditionally feminine (long hair, skirts) accoutrements. The reality of male and female is not lost here- those elements remain.

The lie being advanced is that the sexuality in question is not inherent to the person (doll) in question, but is a matter of choice. And therein lies the issue, even though it is being presented in such a binary way.

It is worth noting that the simple fact that you have to intentionally design an inanimate (inherently sexless) toy to be “gender-neutral” is an incredible statement on just how deeply the reality of sexuality runs into the fiber of humanity.

The truth of the matter is that most kids, when playing with these dolls, are going to either have the doll “be a girl”- and will do so by choosing the stereotypically feminine accessories- or they will have the doll “be a boy”- and put on the short hair and the trousers. At the end of the day, unless they’ve been thoroughly trained in Woke Play, kids are going to play with these dolls in a way that reflects the reality of the two-gender construct.

That’s because kids can see. It’s not about the creatable world- it’s about the observable one. It would take an alien with absolutely no understanding of the human race about 5 minutes at Wal-Mart to understand that humanity breaks down into two basic categories. (Gen. 5:2)

Almost Realistic

It’s also interesting that Mattel had to lower the age of the doll design to make the dolls look gender-neutral. You can’t have a gender-neutral Barbie because- well, her gender is quite obvious. But since prepubescent bodies are shaped generally the same, and since no one puts detailed genitalia on children’s toys…

But therein lies the point. The only way this line of dolls is possible is because no one puts detailed genitalia on children’s toys. (Which is, of course, a very good and appropriate thing.) If they did, children would shortly discover that there are two kinds of genitalia, and only two.

The only way these dolls have escaped that reality is by concealment.

Creatable World

The title of this line of dolls is an interesting insight into what man, in rebellion against God, truly wants. We want to create our own world. No rules, no Ruler. No laws, no Lawgiver. Just me and my unfettered desires.

Humanism says “I am not a creature. I am the creator (at least as far as my own experience is concerned). I’m the master of my fate. I’m the captain of my soul.”

And the serpent joins in with a gentle “did God really say..?”

But that’s the truth of the matter. God really did say. He said that 2+2=4, He said that C+G = harmony, He said that Red + Yellow = Orange, and He said that Man + Woman = Baby. We are living in His created world, and it is not our creatable world. That’s why we have to make “Creatable World” dolls, so we can do in the play world what reality prevents in the real world. We make dolls without any prescribed, inherent gender. But every one of us is assigned our own gender at conception. Male and female created He them.

God made us in His Image and bound us by His Law. We make a toy in the image of our rebellious imaginations and set those toys free unto insanity.

He Who sits in the Heavens laughs. (Ps. 2)

And then we give those toys to our kids. This will cause a deep moral chaos and bear very sad fruit in the lives of the next generation. Teaching children that the rules of math have no value would harm them mentally. But teaching them that the rules of sexuality have no value will harm them morally… and it will certainly mess with their minds as well.

This puts an exclamation point on the responsibility of Christian parents to pay attention to what their children watch, read, listen to, and play with. If the toys didn’t matter then Mattel wouldn’t be acting like they did. These are toy soldiers, and they are designed to wage war.

If people weren’t eating it the devil wouldn’t be poisoning it.

As my dad says, play is practice for life.

God has entrusted these children to us that we may raise them in His Ways. That means teaching them in accordance with both His Word and His world; to do anything otherwise is to sin against them and against Him. (Deut. 6)

We have been entrusted with malleable hearts. We know what Jesus said about those who lead the little ones astray. (Luke 17:2)

I, for one, don’t care to try underwater millstone dancing.

What The Children Want

What did the researchers learn? “The kids didn’t want to be told that boys had to play with cars and girls had to play with dolls,” Culmone said… As for the parents, researchers found a growing concern around gendered toys for their children — though a generational divide on the subject was certainly evident, Chidoni said. “While this was something that was really innate to the kids, it was something that, in some cases, was a little bit harder for their parents to understand,” she said. The New York Times

I won’t belabor this point, as my last post did so sufficiently, but it is worth pointing out once more that this is a very, very poor argument, for (at least) the following reasons:

Yes, it is innate to children not to understand the reality of sexuality… how would they know unless someone taught them? It’s harder for their parents to understand because their parents have, well, participated in the reality of sexuality, and they know how it actually works. So this is kind of like saying “our new 2+2=5 toy really resonates with kids, but adults are struggling to adjust.” Very true. Also, bad argument. Kids will more readily accept anything they are taught by the adults in their lives, including error.
Yes, kids don’t want to be told what they can and can’t do. But that’s the whole idea behind raising kids. You have to teach them what they can and can’t do. So saying that the kids much prefer to be able to play with whatever toys they want, while being obviously true, should be couched in an understanding of a few other truths. Kids would also much prefer to be able to play with loaded firearms or take the family car for a spin. Also, just because they don’t want to be forced to play with a certain toy because of their gender doesn’t mean that they will not naturally gravitate towards a certain toy because of their gender. Little Johnny may want to be able to play with the Barbie dolls. He also may want to pretend that they are machine guns or basketball players. Long story short, the fact that kids do not want to be told what to do is more a rebellion thing than it is a gender-exploration thing; it says more about their sin nature than it does about their male or female nature. (Pr. 22:6)

Hath God Said

To conclude, I would like to return to the serpentine one-liner- “Did God really say..?” When all the debating is done and the dust is settled, the stats are counted, the logicians lay down their pens- at the end of it all, and regardless of the conclusions of the kings of the earth, the ultimate question is “Hath God said?” He is Creator. He is Lawgiver. He is Savior. He is Judge.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:26-28 (NASB)

Yes, God has said. His reign and authority are as inescapable as tomorrow’s sunrise. You can stay inside. But the walls won’t hold out the light forever. So don’t try. Kiss the Son. Come to Jesus and become what you were created to be. The alternative is not freedom. It is bondage to sin and condemnation to judgment. (Ps. 110)