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Scheme to give Barbie dolls to primary school children

234 replies

ArabeIIaScott · 21/07/2023 09:18

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/21/scheme-to-give-barbie-dolls-to-150000-children-is-alarming/

'Primary school scheme is ‘gender stereotyping’ and ‘stealth marketing’ by Mattel, experts say'

'Mattell's "Barbie School of Friendship" programme, in which free dolls are given for children to carry out role play exercises, has been rolled out to 700 schools across the UK, "with the potential to reach more than 150,000 pupils", according to the company.'

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230720/Mattel-accused-of-stealth-marketing-after-giving-away-free-Barbie-dolls-to-schools.aspx

'experts have criticized the programme, raising questions about potential negative effects of Barbie dolls in terms of gender stereotyping, questioning the use of research to justify the programme, and asking whether companies should be able to freely market their products through schools."The project makes me suspicious that it may be exploitative", said Philippa Perry'

Scheme to give Barbie dolls to 150,000 children is ‘alarming’

Primary school scheme is ‘gender stereotyping’ and ‘stealth marketing’ by Mattel, experts say

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/21/scheme-to-give-barbie-dolls-to-150000-children-is-alarming

OP posts:
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Needmorelego · 28/07/2023 21:25

@ArabeIIaScott yes those “furry” dolls are quite hilarious but they are based more on the popularity of the Masked Singer show on TV.
Green haired mohawk Barbie I don’t think is part of the current Fashionista range but she would have been sold in Smyths when available.

Original poster
ArabeIIaScott · 28/07/2023 21:13

I regularly visit toyshops. The Barbies in there are blonde and Caucasion, with a very occasional black doll.

But I went to look at Smyths to see the range on offer.

Barbie has gone furry.

https://www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/toys/fashion-and-dolls/barbie/barbie-dolls-range/c/barbie-dolls

Scheme to give Barbie dolls to primary school children
OP posts:
Needmorelego · 28/07/2023 21:02

Here is a Barbie with short hair. Not just short but green and a mohawk ! Her boobs don’t look huge either!

Scheme to give Barbie dolls to primary school children
Scheme to give Barbie dolls to primary school children
Scheme to give Barbie dolls to primary school children
Needmorelego · 28/07/2023 20:57

@RebelliousCow the “long hair” comment was for you.

Needmorelego · 28/07/2023 20:55

@ArabeIIaScott Growing Up Skipper was withdrawn from sale because everyone was pretty much WTF about it.
@FrancescaContini not all Barbies have long hair.
‘Chubby’ baby dolls are hugely popular. Baby Born, Baby Annabell, Argos Tiny Treasure dolls plus dozens of other brands.
People that criticise toys always sound like they never actually go into a toy shop and see what is actually available.

MrsTerryPratchett · 28/07/2023 20:53

Who can go to space? The doll or the child? Haven’t seen the film so wasn’t aware of how aspirational Barbie is…

Barbie has been an astronaut (more than once) since before the US landed on the moon. See it, be it, right?

I'm not saying it's without fault but just seeing the issues with appearance seems like feminism-lite. I'd rather Barbie with her boobs than Paw Patrol and all the other series with their token female. Barbie might look like a porno but she is aspirational. In almost every other way.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie%27s_careers

FrancescaContini · 28/07/2023 20:47

MrsTerryPratchett · 28/07/2023 20:41

Whatever happened to a chubby Tiny Tears? Why can’t kids play with baby-like dolls?

Because as the Barbie film says, if girls only play with baby dolls then they can only be mothers. With Barbie they can go to space, be a doctor, vet, whatever.

Who can go to space? The doll or the child? Haven’t seen the film so wasn’t aware of how aspirational Barbie is…

MrsTerryPratchett · 28/07/2023 20:42

anyolddinosaur · 28/07/2023 16:41

IF (and that's a big IF) Ruth Handler didnt know it was a sex doll you can be sure the company making barbies did. If you googled barbie you used to get a lot of porn sites. They have managed to push those down the ratings with the film but porn hub still has lots of the videos.

If we could only have things that weren't mentioned in porn, we'd have nothing. It's hardly women and girls' fault that men make porn out of everything.

MrsTerryPratchett · 28/07/2023 20:41

Whatever happened to a chubby Tiny Tears? Why can’t kids play with baby-like dolls?

Because as the Barbie film says, if girls only play with baby dolls then they can only be mothers. With Barbie they can go to space, be a doctor, vet, whatever.

AndOnTheRiverFlows · 28/07/2023 20:02

This thread made me question if my ideas about Barbie need updating so I went looking to see the new ranges of body shapes. Am I right in thinking it's just tall, petite and curvy that have been added? This article compares them to real life sizes:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35670446

And the research cited in this article looks at "ultra-thin fashion dolls" and the impact they might have on girls' body image:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/03/11/playing-barbie-just-child-may-increase-eating-disorder-risk/

Then if you're interested in the consumption/environmental angle there's this article for good measure:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/07/19/barbie-oppenheimer-movies-anthropocene/

It's a no thank you from me.

Curvy Barbie alongside outline of average young British woman

How does 'Curvy Barbie' compare with an average woman?

Three new types of Barbie have reached the UK. But how close do they come to representing the average young woman?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35670446

Original poster
ArabeIIaScott · 28/07/2023 19:34

https://www.perthnow.com.au/entertainment/the-man-who-designed-barbie-chose-lovers-that-looked-like-her-and-if-not-sent-them-to-plastic-surgeons--c-11008669

Article on the male designer who created Barbie.

“I often think about the expression on his face when he described the doll’s voluptuousness,’”said close friend Stephen Gnass.
“When he talked about Barbie it was like listening to somebody talk about a sexual episode, almost like listening to a sexual pervert.”'

Even during LA’s decadent Sixties and Seventies, few people threw parties like Jack Ryan, who hosted weekly ‘medieval banquets’ at his vast mock castle banquets at his vast mock castle. 

Inside the shocking life of ‘sex mad’ Barbie creator

Jack Ryan was the eccentric genius who designed Barbie and who, having made a fortune from the royalties of one of the most popular toys ever created, then spent his life pursuing real-life versions. 

https://www.perthnow.com.au/entertainment/the-man-who-designed-barbie-chose-lovers-that-looked-like-her-and-if-not-sent-them-to-plastic-surgeons--c-11008669

OP posts:
tryingtobeagoodhuman · 28/07/2023 19:30

ArabeIIaScott · 28/07/2023 17:19

'The notion that Barbie was born out of a "sex toy" is clutching at straws at best, unless you're still living in the 1950s.'

It's not a notion, it's simple fact.

It's not a fact though, is it? The Lolli doll was 'novelty toy' originally aimed at adults. But it was hardly a sex toy (i.e. a device used for sexual pleasure).

Original poster
ArabeIIaScott · 28/07/2023 19:25

Speaking of super perky books, here is 'Growing up Skipper', whose breasts start to grow if you wind her arm. I wish I was joking.

s

Growing Up Skipper Demo

Here's a demo of what happens with the Growing Up Skipper doll. Visit us at http://www.simplysoldstore.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=14s&v=yWXj1NJ32Vs

OP posts:
FrancescaContini · 28/07/2023 19:12

RebelliousCow · 28/07/2023 18:55

Whatever their 'skin colour' - they've all got abnormally long legs, long hair and archetypically 'beautiful' faces.

Show quote history

Not forgetting the super-perky boobs

FrancescaContini · 28/07/2023 19:11

ArabeIIaScott · 28/07/2023 17:19

'The notion that Barbie was born out of a "sex toy" is clutching at straws at best, unless you're still living in the 1950s.'

It's not a notion, it's simple fact.

I don’t understand that “notion” sentence - makes no sense.

I once heard that if Barbie were a real adult woman, she wouldn’t be able to stand up properly - something to do with the dimensions of her anatomy? Maybe it’s an urban myth but if it’s a fact, it’s a bit unsettling.

Whatever happened to a chubby Tiny Tears? Why can’t kids play with baby-like dolls?

RebelliousCow · 28/07/2023 18:55

Needmorelego · 28/07/2023 18:12

@ArabeIIaScott again have a look at the actual range of dolls available now.
You seem to be basing your opinion on an outdated idea.

Whatever their 'skin colour' - they've all got abnormally long legs, long hair and archetypically 'beautiful' faces.

Original poster
ArabeIIaScott · 28/07/2023 18:47

No matter what the dolls look like now, they were originally based on sex dolls. That won't change.

OP posts:
Needmorelego · 28/07/2023 18:12

@ArabeIIaScott again have a look at the actual range of dolls available now.
You seem to be basing your opinion on an outdated idea.

Original poster
ArabeIIaScott · 28/07/2023 18:10

I don't think anyone is suggesting telling children the Barbie doll is modelled on a sex toy. Just perhaps that it has roots that may mean it's inappropriate for schools to be tacitly promoting it as an exemplar of female emancipation.

OP posts:
Needmorelego · 28/07/2023 17:21

@ArabeIIaScott yes but I doubt a bunch of Primary school children in 2023 will know that - or need to.

Original poster
ArabeIIaScott · 28/07/2023 17:20

Is straw clutching related to pearl clutching, BTW?

OP posts:
Original poster
ArabeIIaScott · 28/07/2023 17:19

'The notion that Barbie was born out of a "sex toy" is clutching at straws at best, unless you're still living in the 1950s.'

It's not a notion, it's simple fact.

OP posts:
NumberTheory · 28/07/2023 17:12

CremeEggsForBreakfast · 28/07/2023 15:26

Literally the third sentence of that article 🙄

"It’s not clear that Ruth Handler — a business executive on vacation from her home in California — knew what Lilli was."

She saw a doll and was inspired. That's it. Barbie is nothing to do with porn.

Show quote history

That the creator didn’t even realize it was a sex doll doesn’t make Barbie any less based on a sex doll. It just shows that the 2020s is not the only time women have been oblivious to misogyny when they promote it.

tryingtobeagoodhuman · 28/07/2023 16:43

ArabeIIaScott · 28/07/2023 14:30

I know that schools probably won't be using the free barbies in this way - but also think it's unfair to write barbies off as regressive, when the brand have clearly worked hard to change for the better.

It's good that some steps have been taken to widen the range. I remain sceptical that a multinational commercial producer of plastic toys is worthy of a presumption of altruistic motives, I'm afraid.

And I am struggling to get past the fact that 1. this doll was born out of a sex toy and 2. nobody ever seems to mention this fact when discussing Barbie's history (first I'd heard of it on this thread!).

Nobody is presuming altruistic motives. Mattel are a business, everything in the business world is geared towards selling more products. That's capitalism and underpins anything we buy our kids.

The notion that Barbie was born out of a "sex toy" is clutching at straws at best, unless you're still living in the 1950s.

anyolddinosaur · 28/07/2023 16:41

IF (and that's a big IF) Ruth Handler didnt know it was a sex doll you can be sure the company making barbies did. If you googled barbie you used to get a lot of porn sites. They have managed to push those down the ratings with the film but porn hub still has lots of the videos.