This Captain Marvel Toy is Problematic for Women

The new Marvel superHERo film Captain Marvel starring Brie Larson is flying into theaters this march, and carries the sobering task of being the Marvel cinematic universes first solo superhero film to be lead by a woman! It also has the large shoes to fill following up on the most excellent film that was 2017’s Wonder Woman. Disney and Captain Marvel star Brie Larson have been tarveling and speaking about the importence of a film like Captain MArvel for women of all ages.

With Brie Larson herself leading the charge in regards to diversity and inclusion when it comes to the reporting of the film. Larson has been an outspoken advocate for women and women’s rights these last few years and hopes that Captain Marvel can be an icon for women to look up to.

With the marketing in full swing we have seen lots of Captain Marvel merchandise, including toys and clothing. Most of these toys are aimed at younger individuals, which makes this latest toy so disconcerting and uncomfortable.

While the toy of Brie Larson itself is fine, it is the terrible placement of the dolls “Action button” that flies in the face of everything Captain Marvel stands for. The button in question is located in her chest, right on her breasts. In order for one to press the action button, one must “Push” and “Squeeze” on Captain Marvel’s breasts to get the lights and sounds. Now many toys have “Action buttons” that trigger sounds and light, however, most of them are located on the back of a doll or action figure so that it does not get in the way of play. So the question must be asked, who thought in this era when women must deal with objectification on a daily basis that it was appropriate to place the button on Captain Marvel’s breasts, forcing the player to press them every time they want to play the sounds and lights.

Objectification and consent is very important in this modern day, and Captain Marvel’s film is trying to empower women to be in command of themselves, a doll like this sends the wrong message and is disrespectful.

Rachel Velazquez
Rachel Velazquez
Feminism. Activism. Equality. Poli-Sci major with a minor in journalism. Looking forward to an equal future.

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13 COMMENTS

  1. Makes me wish I were a kid again, because back then, this would’ve been just another toy. Today, though, people seem to be overly sensitve to almost everything resulting in articles like this one.

    • I’m inclined to agree. My 4 year old daughter has several singing Disney dolls (Elsa and Anna from Frozen, Moana) and all of the “action” buttons are located on the dolls’ chests. At no point has the placement of the button ever come up in discussion (my wife is big on gender equality and rights) nor have we ever thought the button placement sexualized the doll.

  2. You would think someone in the PR department would have caught on to that before giving it a green light on production. Maybe they are understaffed 😉

  3. Toys have been made like this for years. They are not uncomfortable in any way. Sorry journalist, you are digging for something to write about. This is pretty lame.

  4. The first sentence already contains inaccuracies.

    “[Captain Marvel] carries the sobering task of being the Marvel cinematic universes first solo superhero film to be lead by a woman!”

    Wrong! Elektra (2005) was the first Marvel cinematic universes first solo superhero film to be lead by a woman. It was an awful movie but it was clearly the first.

    But they also said Black Panther was the first solo black as man super hero, ignoring Blade and Spawn. So this seems to be par for the course.

  5. No… no, they’re not… light and sound buttons are almost universally on the chest. The character’s symbol, most of the time, because it makes a natural seam so that the separation around the button doesn’t interfere with the design. The only time the buttons are on the back of the figure are when the character doesn’t have a symbol or some kind of jewelry on their chest. Good example here, there were recently a line of mermaid barbies that had a jewel in their chest, right where the cleavage would be, that acted as the activation button for lights and sounds. This is nothing new.

  6. I imagine you view most things as ‘problematic’

    Calm down, you’re trying too hard to be a HERo during a crisis that doesn’t exist.

  7. HAHA!! This is pathetic. No way is the writer serious; they’re CLEARLY making up an issue to look for attention. In NO WAY is this toy sexual.

    Also, there are far too many capitalization and punctuation issues in this article for the writer to be a professional. This is great stuff. I almost wonder if the whole thing is satire.

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