Biological:

Lammily’s head manufacture is former Vice President of Mattel (Gander, 2014) creator of Barbie, so with that and the fact that Lammily is supposed to be characterized as a Barbie but realistic it is made similarly. These dolls are made of a plastic material and according to the Scientific American, chemicals that are added to the plastics can be absorbed by the human body which can in theory alter hormones and cause other health effects (Knoblauch & News, 2009). These chemicals can come in contact with a person through air, dust, water, food, and other products. Another material used in the making of these dolls is vinyl, which according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary is a synthetic plastic consisting of polyvinyl chloride. Playing with a doll will not result in a person being exposed to enough toxins to cause large health effects, however, the factories producing the dolls can have toxins released which will affect air pollution. There are some health concerns associated with vinyl pollution, which consist of acute effects, chronic (noncancerous) effects, reproductive/developmental effects, and cancer risk. Some effects are dizziness, drowsiness, headaches, and giddiness. It can be irritating to the eyes and can cause blood clotting. Along with those it can cause testicular damage and has been known to cause miscarriages or defects throughout pregnancy. If inhaled it can cause liver cancer (Vinyl Chloride, 2000). However, these symptoms are only seen in large exposure cases, which can be related to factory workers or people who live near those factories. These symptoms are not going to be as common in a child who is handling and playing with a doll.

Social:

The social affects of dolls have been a hot topic for the past few years in media. The main focus is on Barbie and how her unrealistic body size, perfect hair, and a wardrobe built for a princess may negatively influence girls of all ages and races. Approximately 91 percent of women are unhappy with their bodies, but it is proven that less than five percent of women have a body type that portrays what media claims is perfect (Do Something Campaign, 2015). According to Lamm, he believes dolls are very ‘perfect’ looking. “In real life very few of us have perfect skin. […] Lets give dolls real treatments, like acne, stretch marks, and cellulite,” exclaims lamm on why Lammily dolls are a more realistic version of society (uloop, 2015). According to a study done at Oregon State University by researcher and psychology professor Aurora Sherman girls discriminate on the jobs they can do in reference to the toys they play with. The research asked girls “could you do this job when you grow up,” followed by “could a boy do this job when he grows up.” The girls played with either a Barbie doll or a Mr. Potato Head. The girls who played with a Barbie saw themselves having less career options than the girls who played with Mr. Potato Head. According to the research 99 percent of girls aged three to 10 own at least one Barbie doll. Sherman claimed the most shocking discovery is that it didn’t matter if the girl played with doctor Barbie or fashion Barbie her answers were still the same on what jobs a boy could perform and what jobs a girl could perform. Her study found that Barbie’s ‘Be Anything’ campaign is not influences girls in an aspect of creating a broader livelihood (Register guard, 2014). With the new Lammily doll, researchers are expecting that body issues and shamming issues will decrease. Girls will have access to a realistic expectation of what their bodies can look like.

Cultural

Currently Lammily has one preset doll, she is a Caucasian with brown hair. The diversity of the doll is currently underrepresented. Lamm says that in the future with further support of distributors, funders, and buyers he hopes to create a diverse set of dolls. In the makings today and ready for preorders there is an African American doll being created, she is considered the ‘photographer doll.’ In the further future Lamm is developing a Ken Doll, which for those who don’t know is the male of Barbie’s. The dolls clothing is more diverse and is categorized as more realistic. The outfits are things that the average girl would wear on a daily basis versus the dresses that Barbie comes with usually. For studies most of these are done in relationship to social studies. Due to the newness of the dolls and focus mainly on Barbie itself there are few studies done outside of the United States at this moment on how the doll may influence those around the world.

Economic

According to The Foundation for Economic Education there are three things a doll salesmen must look at for greater sales. The first is the sell of dolls is primarily done through targeting a specific audience. In the case of Lammily dolls they focus on ages three through 12 primarily because these are the ages that Barbie Dolls are popular between. For most of the dolls created they also have to target the adult audience, parents and grandparents who are purchasing the dolls for the girls. Lammily’s focus is on making a realistic social outlook that makes girls feel like their appearances are normal, that acne, stretchmark’s, and cellulite are apart of growing up and changing bodies. Second the company must pay attention to the market. Many doll companies do this by creating different cultural dolls so that they can focus on ones that match the girl’s ethnicity. However, it has been shown that girls don’t just want one ethnicity of a doll they want them all. Lammily at the moment only has one doll but is working towards creating other ethnicity. Third the company must have a successful product. This is done by creating a brand that is representative of the target audience, once a young child wants the doll then its only a matter of time that they ask their parents, put on wish list for holiday gifts, and parents start looking into to buying (Morris, 2003). The economics of this doll primarily affect both men and women; this is the case because the target audience is young girls. These young girls, however, cannot purchase toys themselves so like stated earlier it is both parents, grandparents, friends, etc. buying these dolls for the girls.

Educational

Lammily currently has one purchase that can be considered educational. They have the Period Party. Lammily’s website claims “the fun way to explain the menstrual cycle to kids.” It includes an educational pamphlet, a pair of panties, 15 reusable pads and liner stickers, and a calendar with dot stickers. On the topic of puberty there were many reviews by news outlets.

“To start teaching girls, who are playing with dolls, about their reproductive health, their menstrual cycle, their periods, is something that we need desperately, not only as a mom, but as a gynecologist.” –CBS’s The Doctors

However, the outfits created for Lammily dolls are created based on different cultural outfits. This can be educational without having an explanation because it is giving children a chance to see what other cultures wear and the packages show different locations and how they look. The dolls also come with a passport, which shows that they travel and have been around the world. With the different accessories and outfits that are slowly being created Lammily is becoming very cultural.