plaything

They are also popular among children as simple playthings.

But for Ani, this reduces her to an object, a plaything for men to have fun with and abandon as soon as they’re finished.

“Looking back, I believe I was recruited purely as a potential sex partner or plaything for Al Fayed, hence the questions at the interview to establish if I was a virgin,” Margot says.

“Mohamed Al Fayed was a monster, a sexual predator with no moral compass whatsoever,” she says, adding that all the staff at Harrods were his “playthings”.

“Monster High” is one of many film projects in the Mattel pipeline derived from popular playthings, including American Girl dolls, Hot Wheels, the Magic 8 Ball, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots and Polly Pocket.