To think that Barbie advert can piss off?

[TammySwansonTwo]

Starts with a small girl giving a lecture to a room full of adults, then switches to showing her actually playing with barbies. Then says something about how when you're playing with Barbie you can be anything you want to be.

Huh, really? Like something other than an anatomically inaccurate sexualised image of a woman? DFOD.

Anyone seen it?

hahaha

my youngest are wild about smurfs at the moment. Shall we fear for their future?

I really like the ad. Also I swear its years old, how come you're only just seeing it now?

No idea, I don't watch TV that much - at least not live TV. Now I have kids I see a lot more kids adverts, although try and stick to BBC so they're not seeing them!

Yeah. Smurfs. Haha! /eyeroll

If it were just Barbie, I'd agree with you. It isn't though is it? Girls don't play with barbies in a vacuum.

I think the “girl” LEGO is far worse, actually.

See also pink versions of anything.

it's the juxtaposition of telling girls they can be anything they want while forcing unrealistic standards on to them that really irked me.

The thing is, you can be into makeup and look very done-up etc, but also be all of those things. It isn't one or another, and I like that very much.

It is still very true that beautiful women are assumed to be stupid.

but also true that some of the most successful women are beautiful.

So you are saying the advert is a contradiction ? You think it means girls are being told to be beautiful and well turned out when they are CEO or a vet or a whatever?

What we don’t want to do, I hope, is make young girls feel bad or vacuous or stupid for liking make-up and fashion. Or even, dare I say it, for wanting to look like society’s version of beautiful.

Of all the sexist toys that annoy me, Barbie isn't up there.
I played with Barbies as a child and I'm pretty confident and happy with my body. I think it is much more important to instil a love of movement and physical activity in your children than to worry about the images of bodies they are exposed to.

I am pretty sure I have seen some fat barbies in a supermarket fairly recently. Wrong on so many levels!

My sons grew up playing with He Man dolls.
They must be really damaged now, because they didn't grow up to have He Man's unrealistic physic.

physique

Is it the Barbie in a Hijab that upsetting you?

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/barbie-hijab-muslim-woman-ibtihaj-muhammad-fencer-olympic-us-mattel-doll-a8053401.html

My son has tried his hardest to have huge muscles like THE HULK

He’s most disappointed he’s not green either

Before you talk too much about the previous 50 years of Barbie as just being eye candy..

I was anti Barbie. Over 20 years ago my 4 year old daughter challenged me on it.

• You don’t like Barbie mum, why?

-Well, I don’t thinks she’s very clever (poor attempt to convey ‘not a good role model’ to a 4 year old, would word it differently now)

• yes she is, she’s a vet, an astronaut, a teacher, a dancer...

Well argued (btw the astronaut doll was from 1965) and both my daughters had Barbie from then on. Both are now adult, good jobs, living confident, independent, fulfilling lives. Barbie was a (small), positive part of their childhood.

Barbies and dolls with similar proportions are more aesthetically pleasing not due to beauty standards but because to make them look human like you have to stretch proportions. Everyone knows if barbie was real she’d be 8 foot and in a wheelchair as she wouldn’t be able to walk.

Again, so many obtuse and ridiculous comments, trying to make it about something it isn't. At no point did I say that women can't be intelligent and beautiful - if you honestly read my comments and that's your conclusion then there's zero point trying to have a discussion.

so many obtuse and ridiculous comments

only trying to keep up with the OP

You are being obtuse yourself imo you are not clarifying what you are objecting too and then sighing that we are to ridiculous to understand you.

My DD loves Barbie. She has fat barbie and dark skinned Barbie. She also has a fitness instructor Barbie, a rider Barbie and a couple of sappy looking Kens who wouldn't know one end of a drill from the other.

I played with Barbies as a kid. I have a professional job.

I don't think Barbie is evil, but I do think they use too much plastic and that shade of pink can make your eyes bleed.

Look at some of the other dolls on the market - all huge eyes and weird shaped heads. Why do Barbies get all the stick?

I think it is a really good question to ask why Barbie hasn't been changed to a more realistic shape. Why wouldn't the manufacturers give her more realistic proportions unless they still hold Barbie to be the ideal woman?

The ad does seem to give the message that girls can be anything they want, so long as they are also beautiful. Cos that's what matters.
Of course Barbie couldn't be anything she wanted because with those proportions she wouldn't even be able to stand up!

Brilliant. How do you make it through life with such razor sharp wit?

Is there fat barbie? Haven't seen that one. I also hate dolls with big heads and skinny bodies and those bratz with the stroppy teen expressions.

Well this thread hasn’t gone the way the op wanted has it!!?