Some of our earliest adventures into entertainment and culture come from the toys we enjoy as children. Yet seemingly agenda-free plushies are now even carrying messages that aren’t clearly signaled to parents and grandparents at purchase.
This one was sent to us by a source that would like to remain anonymous. Thank you to our readers who engage and provide us information each and every day!
On Christmas morning, one of their children received an adorable axolotl Squishmallow plush. Everything was fine until our source took a look at the flavor text that so many plush toy manufacturers place on their tags to add a little narrative fun for imagination play:
Source: Squishmallows Wiki
If you’re having trouble reading that, here you go:
“Chasmen shows off his unique personality through flowing dresses and brightly-colored manicures. Every day is a new chance to make a statement and express himself. He embraces himself for exactly who he is, and he wants you to, too!”
The French text below it is similar when translated, except that it replaces “make a statement” with “take a stand and express yourself.”
This squishmallow is another step in the growing trend of children’s entertainment and merchandise that depicts the merging and bending of traditional gender norms, in this case, a male axolotl wearing traditionally feminine clothing and enjoying vibrant manicures, all the while encouraging children to take every opportunity to “take a stand” and do the same. That Park Place takes no position as to the rightfulness or wrongfulness of such expressions — we only bring this to your attention as it seems newsworthy such expressions of sociocultural concepts are not presented on the frontend of the cultural phenomenon… only buried in a blurb likely to be seen post-purchase.
As pointed out by WDWPro on Twitter, the flavor text is in English and in French, but not in Spanish, while the axolotl species is native only to Mexico City and has been nearly wiped out by urban encroachment. The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates that there are less than 1,000 axolotls left in the world, and perhaps as low as 50. Mexico is also known for being a more nuclear-family-focused, traditional culture, so it is possible that the lack of Spanish text is intentional.
Squishmallows are a product of Kelly Toys Holdings and were an attempt at replicating the kind of products that Japanese toy manufacturers were producing in 1986. Other squishmallow flavor texts discuss unwanted insomnia, depression, and Reiki massage therapy, a controversial spiritualist healing technique that some believe to have demonic roots.
Based on preliminary research, there may be a high number of squishmallow toys that cover topics that parents might not expect to have found under their Christmas tree. Depending on your political and ideological leanings, you may either be pleased or unhappy with that result.
I guarantee you we will be digging into this topic more on That Park Place. We have more stories yet to come on this subject as soon as we can get pen to paper (or keys clicked).
We would not have been able to get the word out about this situation without our helpful source. For that we would like to say thank you, but also to ask that if anyone is reading this and they have come across similar material (especially if it is aimed at children), to please reach out to us at That Park Place or on Twitter
