To Barbie or not to Barbie?

[mrsruffallo]

I never wanted dd to have one, but her friend has a couple and ny dd loves them.
She has told me she wants to save up for one-what do you think?

Our DDs are inundated with images of 'beauty' that are unattainable - on mag covers where models have been 'tweaked' to look perfect, on TV, and in the toy shops too.

I don't approve of Barbie - she's the pinnacle of American tat in my eyes - the beauty queen pageant winner - and so I won't have her in my house.

I can't stop every negative image of womanhood in the world, but I can stop them in my own home as a matter of principle - and I do!

We'll have to agree to disagree on that point, I had Barbie but the reason I don't diet or worry about whether I am the perfect shape is simply because my mother never. Most important influence on your life.

Absolutely agree, Rantinghousewife, about the role of the mum. Hopefully, my DD will grow up to be as militant and proactive as me, sticking by her principles in all things, even if they seem trivial to others : )

I will let dd have Barbies and Sindys and cheapy dolls that look a bit odd from the market because I had so much fun playing with them.

I wouldn't want the whole paraphernalia though, part of the fun was making clothes out of sellotape and bits of cloth. And my dad stuck some carpet on our shelves to make a barbie house.

Oh, and if any doll had short hair (many came from car boot sales!) they became men .

Barbie and Sindy were never role models for us as far as I can remember - maybe Skipper (the teen one with no boobs).

These are little girls, thet have no idea of size zero, or boob jobs. they want to play, its innate give them a action man and they will stick a dress on him. its us that has the fascination with size zeros and big boobs, and our (and dont deny it) slight inckling to be drop dead barbie gorgeous. its us that is pushing our negative issues about ourselves onto them.

I disagree, I'm afraid, NormaJean. Subconscious images count for way more than verbal reasoning.

Do you also ban fairy stories with pictures, hobnob?

By banning them will you not just make them more curious and therefore yearn for them more - surely that can't be healthy

I agree with you Hobnob about subconscious imagery and get slightly depressed when I realise what dd is exposed to in life... I am one of those mums who changes nursery rhymes

BUT honestly, who wants to look like Barbie? She is just too weird and her feet are all funny and hoofy. I would like to do what my parents did and provide us with a variety of wierd looking dolls (we mixed up all the different types together - we had short fat dolls from Rainbow Brite too) who all then had their own very strange lives. It was much more about our imagination than the prescribed worlds of Bratz or scary as fuck Barbie and her Crapping Dog for example...

I have a daughter, 22 months. Anything pink sparkly and girlie and she is jumping around saying wow. barbie is all those things, thats what draws them not the size zero and pert boobs. instill confidence, and self belief, thats the trick.

Mine have an assortment of various shaped/sized dolls/teddies/plastic figures including Barbies. They are all treated pretty much the same depending on how suitable they are for the current game being played.

Is this ajoke??

You cant really think a barbie is responsible for how little girls turn out/view themselves? No way! Do you really think little girls are thinking how Barbies dont look like real women and more like porn stars? They have no concept of such things.
And as for suggesting dolls should be size 14 and have hairy legs?? I dont have hairy legs, thank you!.

What is wrong with little girls pLaying with dolls that are fantasy?Even if they grow up liking all girly, pink things, isnt that ok? ITS OK TO BE FEMININE!

What reasons do you give your children for not allowing them?

My dd's have had Barbies. I've noticed she has quite a short lifespan before they progress to Bratz.

I know the pc thinking behind Bratz and Barbies but the girls just play with them as they would anything else. If you say no they will only want them all the more.

Cant beleive parents would actually stop their kids having a doll! Its a bloomin' toy!

So long as a toy is suitable for their age i wouldnt have aproblem. Dont have adaughter but if i did, i would love to buy her dolls including Barbie and see her play the way my sister and I did.

Cant understand why we have to be PC about toys!

Whats wrong with little girls wanting to dress dolls up and themselves and wanting to be pretty?

Its nothing to do with Barbie the way women are portrayed, its the media and how things have become these days. When i was little, female mags were different, there ws no talk of size zero etc. barbie/Sindy was around then. Times have changed.

I just dont get this "dont like Barbie" or "dont like toy guns"

I read an article about a mother who banned toy guns etc from her house for her 2 boys.
One day she found they had tied their younger sister's doll to the leg of a chair & were trying to chop her head off with a WOODEN SPOON.
She realised that it didnt matter whether the children had the real toys or not, they would still pretend & play the same old games we all played as children.

I had Sindy and my brother had action men. He also had toy cap guns & cowboy outfits.
I dont have a boob job like Jordan and my brother does not live in the Wild West

bigbadwolf - i feel your pain! tbh if someone gives dd a second hand one or she picks up one int eh charity shop fair enough, i agreen with teh whole making clothes thing but i will not be sucked into the market crap. dd recognizes the barbie logo and all the signiture stuff which really bugs me. she is a little girl not some marketing wet dream.

Absolutely mistress!

I used to be a nursery nurse many yrs ago. Of course toy guns wrent allowed, but the kids used to pretend they had guns by using plastic carrots!

I TOO, havent had boob job and DP had action men and even a real pellet gun and hes the most placid man ever! Not aware that he has killed anyone.

I dont like my ds having guns for the simple reason he gets all silly when playing with them, otherwise i wouldnt care.

my daughter is 8 yrs old and she has Barbies,bratz(grrr) and my scene dolls she loves them!! I can't see what the problem is you have to think in the eyes of the child they are using their imagination and making up story's which I think is a good thing.I would rather my dd play with her dolls than sit in front of the tv.My ds has ation men and they are quite often going over to barbies house for tea!!.......lol.
For goodness sake give her a few barbies and take up knitting and knit her some nice clothes for barbie,an old box can be a bed,we bought most of our barbies and action men from charity shops.Let her have her fun!!
Ok I hate Bratz dolls with their pouty lips and super skinny bodies and their prostitute looking clothes but I still let her have them she sees them as dolls nothing else.

plus all my DD does with Ken & Barbie (yes she has a Ken) is act out Sleeping Beauty
I had to buy her a Ken for Xmas as she kept using DS's action men for the kissing and he didnt like that

I had Pippa when I was younger.
I used to put action man & Sindy in my brothers tank, and then miraculously they had a baby! Pippa!

LOL Mistress!

Its realy harmless isnt it?

blimey, they're only dolls - wait till she progresses onto fecking Bratz

DD1 to friend 'My mum doesn't like Bratz, she thinks they look like tarts off the telly and are airheads'.

We have a house full of the bloody things.

lol @ tarts of the the telly.