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Original poster

What do you think about Barbie? Honest opinions please..

93 replies

Socci · 30/10/2005 20:57

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GeorgieVickyLou · 30/10/2005 21:00

Wouldn't bother me, but then i am grateful for anything other people want to buy DD

Happylocketsthesmiler · 30/10/2005 21:00

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Aimsmum · 30/10/2005 21:01

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piffle · 30/10/2005 21:02

I'm a no barbie in my house but than dd is a huge tomboy and I was surrounded by barbies as a kid so I am deeply hypocritical - if she ever wants them heaven knows what I'll do...

Original poster
Socci · 30/10/2005 21:05

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winnie · 30/10/2005 21:08

I refused to buy them for dd but other people felt sorry for her and she ended up with 17!

piffle · 30/10/2005 21:08

I'm not sure, the mass drowning of the market I think.
I used to love mine as kid (only the horsey one mind) but they were kinda rare IYKWIM
dd is not a dolly kinda girl and I have had 11 yrs of an anti doll boy (ds) so I guess I'm out of girl practive and dd shows every intention of being a tomboy for many years to come

polly28 · 30/10/2005 21:09

harmless fun,girls aren't stupid enough to think they have to be like Barbie,they just like playing with her!

TinyGang · 30/10/2005 21:09

Barbie fever is mercifully short lived. Older dd loved her - or the idea of her, then went off her almost overnight.

I think you could take a little girl and isolate her from birth on a remote island, and she'd still find out about Barbie.

I like Barbie because although she turns up all luscious long legs and tiny bum her hair looks like a fright-wig within a few weeks. So hah! to you Babs!

motherinferior · 30/10/2005 21:11

Isn't she based on a Nazi sex toy or something?

Loathe her but am hypocrite about the Barbie-free status of the Inferiority Complex, as the dds have apparently played extensively with the B-objects chez childminder. They use 'barbie' as a generic term, it emerges, for any vaguely bosomy doll.

philippat · 30/10/2005 21:11

dd (4) has loads of shelleys (the little girl barbie) and she adores all the barbie ballet-based films (which at least do have Barbie as a strong clever woman beat the odds). I've so far held off the bigger proper barbies, still have a real problem with the body shape and quite a lot of the style of clothes. Mind you, Bratz are much worse...

piffle · 30/10/2005 21:14

and it was fun piercing her ears with pins [shock}

3PRINCESSES · 30/10/2005 21:15

All of my dds love barbie. I however, like to point out to them at every possible opportunity that REAL WOMEN DON'T LOOK LIKE THIS.

Germaine Greer writes brilliantly about it in The Whole Woman. Basically, Barbie started life as a German porn doll, marketed at middle aged men and sold in newsagents. Her vital statistics are incompatible with life (ie, there isn't enough room in her abdominal cavity for all her vital organs) and with feet that size in relation to the rest of her body she couldn't stand up.

And yet, all this seems to fall on 3 small pairs of deaf ears...

madmarchscare · 30/10/2005 21:17

Barbie's a slut, you need a nice girl like Cindy .

Amanda1 · 30/10/2005 21:17

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Hulababy · 30/10/2005 21:18

I have no objection to them at all. As far as I am concerned they are just another doll. DD loves all this stuff. So, yes, she has some - although mainly she goes for the Disney Princess versions, rather than Barbie herself.

Passionkiller · 30/10/2005 21:19

DD's all love Barbie, I was a Cindy girl though so I feel a bit of a traitor.

madmarchscare · 30/10/2005 21:20

That aside, I think girls are playing with Barbie younger than they used to be and wouldnt buy one as a gift. Glad I have DS so I dont have to get into all that (not that boys cant have dolls blah blah)

Original poster
Socci · 30/10/2005 21:21

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WigWamBam · 30/10/2005 21:23

Four year olds neither know nor care that real women don't look like this, or that their vital statistics are not compatible with life, or that her feet are so small that she could never stand up in real life. They just like playing with dolls.

I can see why some people don't like them (and I'm not exactly over-keen myself) but little girls don't look at their toys the same way that adults do. We know that they're selling an unattainable image; 4 year olds don't - and by the time they work it out, they're too old for Barbies anyway.

tamum · 30/10/2005 21:24

I was never allowed Barbies, my granny finally took pity on me and bought me a Sindy when I was 10. Consequently of course I let my dd have them. I mainly got her Shelly dolls, but she's got a fair few Barbies too. I don't think she's dim enough to be fooled into thinking that Barbie has an ideal body shape. I wouldn't worry Socci- she's had quite a few as presents, I think they are fairly common currency

madmarchscare · 30/10/2005 21:24

Good point WWB, we must do that a lot as parents/adults.

motherinferior · 30/10/2005 21:24

I still relish DD1's comment a couple of years ago that 'Barbie is an alien'

Amanda1 · 30/10/2005 21:25

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Batters · 30/10/2005 21:55

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