Do all girls, irrespective of their age, love dolls?

Freud thought dolls were a basic manifestation of the Uncanny, the familiar-but-unfamiliar; Rainer Marie Rilke hated dolls and their "horrible dense forgetfulness." But only recently has scientific research on whether children have innate, gender-based toy preferences — whether girls really do just love dolls — begun in earnest. read more

Newsweek reported just last week that little girls are outgrowing Barbies as early as 8, and that Mattel has been so worried about this that they keep trying to produce "hip" and "cool" dolls like the My Scene Barbie dolls and the new Flava dolls to keep the interest of "tween" girls (girls 9-12 years old). The Bratz dolls have effectively exploited this 'tween market, taking market share from Mattel in this age group. read more