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Original poster

Barbie, Princesses etc - harmless or perpetuating female stereotypes?

77 replies

WhenSantaWentQuietlyMad · 11/12/2006 21:57

Luckily I have not got to this stage yet with dd1.

However, round someone else's house the other day, the children were watching a Barbie film (12 Dancing Princesses as I remember). It was just so ludicrously sexist - at one stage the "mother" said to the girls "You are no better than a common maid".

Am I over-reacting or should I try to resist the onslaught of negative role models for my dds?

OP posts:
Original poster
WhenSantaWentQuietlyMad · 11/12/2006 22:32

BP - I love being patronised by a pre-schooler. Wish my dd would come out with THAT!

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paulaplumpbottom · 11/12/2006 22:36

I saw agirl today in a middrift playboy bunny top. She must have been 4 or 5. Why would someone do this to their child? Am I oldfashioned?

Original poster
WhenSantaWentQuietlyMad · 11/12/2006 22:38

No Paula - the chattering classes are there with you. Playboy - positive role model?

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essbee · 11/12/2006 22:39

Message withdrawn

paulaplumpbottom · 11/12/2006 22:41

Well Hugh Heffner won't be getting a dime of mine or DD's money. There is sooo much pressure for them to grow up so soon. How am I going to keep her a child for as long as she needs to be?

essbee · 11/12/2006 22:41

Message withdrawn

NappiesGalooooooooooooria · 11/12/2006 22:41

thankfully i only have boys so wont have to dwell much on the subject. but personally think all that pink crap is just vomit-worthy.

like i say, damn good job i have just boys. no idea how i'd cope if i had a dd who liked all that sh1t

Original poster
WhenSantaWentQuietlyMad · 11/12/2006 22:41

I know, essbee, but don't you ever get a pit of the stomach feeling when reading fairy tales? I sometimes think - why don't little boys dress up as helpless objects of female desire?

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Original poster
WhenSantaWentQuietlyMad · 11/12/2006 22:42

PPB - you sound like me - have you considered becoming a crofter on a Scottish estate just to insulate the dc from all the malign influences?

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essbee · 11/12/2006 22:50

Message withdrawn

paulaplumpbottom · 11/12/2006 22:51

I'm not sure what a crofter is, but I have thought about having a situation that is a little more innocent. She is only 3 and I'm worried that as she gets older she'll want the Btraz and Playboy junk. I guess in the end you can't protect them from it just try togive them the best cornerstone possible and resign yourself to saying no all the time.

Oh No!!!!

I'm going to be my mother.

Original poster
WhenSantaWentQuietlyMad · 11/12/2006 22:53

Essbee - I suppose ds's are no more clued up about the world, and just as likely to pick an inappropriate role model. Deep down I know that I shouldn't worry about this. I just feel so "icky" about the whole Pink Princess thing. So far I have pandered to it, but I am starting to rebel.

I have a hidden card up my sleeve this Xmas - Animal hospital - {prays please be a vet or a doctor or something}

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paulaplumpbottom · 11/12/2006 22:56

My DD loves the Animal Hospital.(Don't waste money on the helicopter)

essbee · 11/12/2006 22:58

Message withdrawn

essbee · 11/12/2006 22:58

Message withdrawn

Original poster
WhenSantaWentQuietlyMad · 11/12/2006 22:59

Essbee - I lusted after the girl;s world head and eventually after years of lobbying I got it.

I probably had girly toys, but I just cringe now.

She will probably turn out OK no matter what, I spose.

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poinsettydog · 11/12/2006 23:00

Accept these things as part of the world around them and have conversations about them. Talk about such issues openly and humorously. I think that's the only way to "resist the onslaught"

Original poster
WhenSantaWentQuietlyMad · 11/12/2006 23:07

poins dog, you are so right, thank you. I can't really go it alone and ban Barbie - it will just make it MORE interesting for her. However, I can begin the Barbie/Princess backlash campaign, and give her more interesting convos with her girlie mates!

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Tortington · 11/12/2006 23:12

barbie is a slut.

singsalot · 11/12/2006 23:59

I failed to resist,
I never encouraged my dd(5) to like these things either, the thing is she isn't obsessed, she wanted a Barbie, saw it in a charity shop window, so I got it, she insisted it should be put away for her birthday, she sometimes plays with it, but has no idea of the extent of the merchandise that goes with it(no t.v), I also got her a Barbie cake for her birthday(barbie doll stuck in a cake), so she has charity barbie and cake barbie,

dd doesn't have lots of girly friends and none that are really into barbie, it seems to be power rangers with her friends, she hasn't watched it, but is pink power ranger Rosa, which is worse?

I also think if you try and deny them the pink fluffiness of it all then our kids might turn into barbara cartland - she surely never had a barbie as a child?

maybe we are on the slippery slope now, she only wants a barbie horse for xmas, £10 in t.k maxx

magicstaronthefarawaytree · 12/12/2006 01:02

dd always asks for barbie becauase her friends do. but we have 1 and she rarely plays with it. too busy racing round the house. I always wanted a ballerina sindy and all the bits, and I am more handy andy than domestic goddess.

fortyplus · 12/12/2006 01:06

ds2 had a Barbie for his birthday when he was 2
He had fairy wings when he was 3

He's 11 now & shows no signs whatsoever of being a bad influence to young girls!

Original poster
WhenSantaWentQuietlyMad · 12/12/2006 08:53

Thank you all for your replies.

I suppose you're right magicstar and fortyplus - my dad spent my whole childhood teaching me DIY and stuff, and I was definitely programmed to think of women as 'the same as men'.

However, I am definitely more girlie than my childhood would have suggested.

No TV helps I bet, singsalot, so that the influence isn't wall to wall 24 hours a day. I think that i will have to keep an eye on what they are taking in at a young age, and be ready to say "What a ridiculous thing to say" next time I hear a princess told "You are no better than a common maid".

Food for thought, but not something to be overly worried about is my conclusion. I try not to get too uptight about anything these days.

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paulaplumpbottom · 12/12/2006 10:30

I also think that we should forget that while we are just as good as men, we are women and its fun to be feminine. All the fluffy, sparkly pink that adult women hate is just ways for little girls to exagerate their femininity. I don't neccessarily think there is anything wrongwith that.

Stockingsofdinosaurs · 12/12/2006 11:22

Maybe the Playboy mums think pornography is all about female empowerment and think the Bunnies are great rolemodels.
I just don't get why anyone would dress their kids or decorate kids' rooms with a sodding jazzmag logo!