sustain:if:able kiwi

Ello comes to church and society

Ello-opolisgodly play.

Last week I offered a prize to anyone who could guess the link between Ello and Church and Society.

Entries included the following;
1. Against gender stereotyping – the blurb for the toy says “Ello pieces are easy to connect and the sets come in fun themes geared for girls.”
2. Pick-and-mix spirituality – “The pieces are extremely versatile, providing endless options for all types of imaginations and moods. Bead, build and be brilliant!”
3. Unleash you creativity – “With the Ello-opolis Character Builder Set, create totally different people, places and jewelry with an assortment of exclusive character builder set pieces.”
4. Building character – see above.
5. Liberation theology – Build a set of people and then remove arms and legs etc. to show the oppressive forces within society and religion.
6. Having fun with stuff.
7. Shopping for identity among the smogasboard of possibilities. There is an implicit rejection of the grand narrative and false homogenity of Barbie.
8. Identity, reality and meaning are constructs and are particular to the user. The user is able not only to construct their own reality, they are able to affirm themselves and their reality through construction (as opposed to Barbie and her singlar narrative). The dolls take on a reality that looks very similar to the users or what they would like their own reality to look like. ‘a stand-alone creation system’ with 110 pieces.

These are all very creative and imaginative guesses. In true postmodern spirit, this is a self-judging competition. If the contestants feel they did guess correctly and warrant a free book, then can they just email.