Target’s new ‘girlie’ superhero line is about to make parents very happy

Move over, Barbie. DC Super Hero Girls action figures are coming to share the Target toy shelves in March.

Based off of the DC Comics web series, the line of fearless female superheroes and the villains they battle includes Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl, Poison Ivy, Bumble Bee and Harley Quinn. The figures, made in collaboration with Mattel, are created with “strong, athletic bodies that stand on their own in heroic poses.”

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It’s about time — these badass female characters deserve some playtime.

While there is a host of female characters in comic books, few of them have made it off the pages and onto toy shelves, while Batman, Superman and other male characters are standard toy box staples. So parents are more than ready to see these as part of an overall shift in the choices companies are presenting children when it comes to toys and other merchandise.

Playtime is looking better and better these days. Finally we’re beginning to erase the lines that say boys should play with X and girls should play with Y. We’re starting to make changes so that children are encouraged to or at least not discouraged from playing with the whole damn alphabet.

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Target is definitely one of the leaders in this movement, announcing last summer that it was getting rid of “boy” and “girl” sections in the toy and bedding sections of its stores. Others are following suit, because they realize this is what parents want, what children want and what is best for society at large.

It’s not just a bunch of politically correct pandering either, as some would like us to believe, or some trend. Rather, science shows that gender-neutral toys help empower children and that the more diverse the toys, the better. Experts say children benefit from playing with all kinds of different toys and that they develop more skills and grow into more well-rounded individuals when they’re exposed to more.

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So superhero dolls that show these awesome female characters are just another step in the right direction. There should be strong superheroes of both sexes for girls and boys, and villains and princesses and every other sort of character too. The world is a diverse place, and play is how children begin to form their views of the world. Bringing diversity into the playroom in all aspects is a subtle but important way to teach things like acceptance and gender equity from a young age, and we hope to continue to see more and more toys that help do this in toy boxes everywhere.

Before you go, check out our slideshow below: