Many toys help produce and reinforce beauty standards, particularly through toys such as dolls and beauty products targeted towards girls and young women. [[Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]] beauty standards dominate representation in popular media and toy marketing in many places around the world.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|last=Whitney|first=Jennifer Dawn|date=2013|title=Beauty Made Plastic: Constructions of a Western Feminine Ideal|url=http://jlsl.upg-ploiesti.ro/documente/Arhiva_nou/2013_2/08_Whitney.pdf|journal=Word and Text: A Journal of Literary Studies and Linguistics|volume=III(|number=2)|pages=119–132}}</ref> Common features emphasized in these images are of white people or characters with fair or tanned skin, tall and slender bodies, thin waists, and long blonde hair.<ref name=":02" /> Such features are widely associated with beauty, simultaneously creating associations of darker skin with unattractiveness, and in the process, creating and reinforcing existing racial hierarchies within beauty ideals.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Marway|first=Herjeet|date=2017|title=Should We Genetically Selevt for the Beauty Norm of Fair Skin?|journal=Health Care Analysis|volume=26|issue=3|pages=246–268|doi=10.1007/s10728-017-0341-y|pmid=28324196|pmc=6061025}}</ref> The impacts of Eurocentric representation and beauty ideals also go even further than children’s toys. Research has shown that Black influencers on social media platforms typically receive lower salaries and experience greater difficulty arranging or receiving sponsorships and brand deals, as well as widely face slower rises to popularity on social media compared to White influencers,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Tran|first1=Alison|last2=Rosales|first2=Robert|last3=Copes|first3=Lynn|date=2020|title=Paint a Better Mood? Effects of Makeup Use on YouTube Beauty Influencers' Self-Esteem|journal=SAGE Open|volume=10|issue=2|doi=10.1177/2158244020933591|s2cid=220928885}}</ref> contributing to the overall lack of representation in beauty-related media.
From digitally editing model's skin to resemble the plasticity of a doll or promising young girls that they can achieve the perfect, unblemished appearance if they follow a certain makeup routine, the features of toys such as the [[Barbie]] doll are idealized branded in popular culture and media.<ref name=":0302">{{Cite journal|last=Whitney|first=Jennifer Dawn|date=2013|title=Beauty Made Plastic: Constructions of a Western Feminine Ideal|url=http://jlsl.upg-ploiesti.ro/documente/Arhiva_nou/2013_2/08_Whitney.pdf|journal=A Journal of Literary Studies and Linguistics|volume=III(2)|pages=119–132}}</ref> Advertisements for beauty and makeup-related toys targeting girls often promote products by using phrases such as "get perfect skin" – a marketing strategy that instills the belief that those who use these products will achieve a Barbie doll or princess-like appearance that is widely considered ideal.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Thyne|first1=M|last2=Robertson|first2=K|last3=Thomas|first3=T|last4=Ingram|first4=M|date=2016|title="It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness": expectancies associated with tween makeup ownership|journal=International Journal of Consumer Studies|volume=40|issue=5|pages=543–551|doi=10.1111/ijcs.12299}}</ref> However, many toy companies have made attempts to expand their definitions and representations of beauty by creating dolls and characters from diverse backgrounds. Products such as [[Bratz]] and [[American Girl]] include dolls of different race and ethnicities, providing more children with characters they can relate to.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last=Seow|first=J|date=2019|title=Black Girls and Dolls Navigating Race, Class, and Gender in Toronto|url=https://doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2019.120205|journal=Girlhood Studies|volume=12|issue=2|pages=48–64|doi=10.3167/ghs.2019.120205|s2cid=199151196}}</ref>
Despite their efforts, however, both American Girl and Bratz have faced some criticisms since their creations.<ref name=":13">{{Cite journal|last=Seow|first=J|date=2019|title=Black Girls and Dolls Navigating Race, Class, and Gender in Toronto|url=https://doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2019.120205|journal=Girlhood Studies|volume=12|issue=2|pages=48–64|doi=10.3167/ghs.2019.120205|s2cid=199151196}}</ref> For instance, the American Girl dolls are only offered in a few ethnicities and the individualized personal narratives that accompany each doll represent a contrast between the European and non-European dolls. For example, based on their narratives, the Mexican immigrant doll, Josefina, who is tied deeply to her ethnic and cultural roots would have a harder time adjusting to new environments compared to the Swedish immigrant doll, Kristen.<ref name=":13" /> Bratz dolls have also garnered criticisms by cultural critics who claim that the oversexualization of their race and clothing serve to promote and reinforce the otherness of minorities.<ref name=":13" />
