Scheme to give Barbie dolls to primary school children

[ArabeIIaScott]

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'

Raises hand! Love a good cardboard box. The uses are endless.

DD loves a cardboard box and will happily spend an hour or two getting creative with one.

But her ridiculously huge collection of barbies has been incredible for teaching her about diversity, inclusion and other real world issues. For example, I noticed she wasn't playing much with the barbie in the wheelchair. Through some role play, I was able to find out this was because "you can't play with us because we're doing gymnastics today and that won't work because of your wheelchair" - my daughter learned a really valuable lesson that day about adaption and inclusion. It would be difficult to teach her the same thing with a cardboard box.

One of her barbies even has wider hips which means she struggles to fit in a lot of the clothes - so while barbie still very much subscribes to western beauty ideals, we have been able to have some conversations about that too - in an age-appropriate and engaging way.

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.

@ArabeIIaScott yes cardboard boxes are great. I used to use them to build dolls houses and furniture for Barbie and Sindy dolls 😂

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!).

That the Barbie prototype is a german sex doll doesnt surprise me in the least.

I got rid of the last of my ten year old daughter's boxes a few months ago. It had contained our fridge freezer and transformed into a fairy castle.

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.

'"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.'

Barbie was based on a sex doll. I'm not sure it really matters whether Handler was aware of that fact, although it seems unlikely that she didn't. The Lilli doll was created to satisfy male sex fantasy. The fact that someone thought this was a great thing for little girls doesn't prove that it's not a porn-based fantasy figure.

Couple of other articles:

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/barbie-controversies-greta-gerwig-mattel-ruth-handler-sex-doll-sexism-racism-1234792205/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-12323723/The-curse-Barbie-dolls-two-creators-bitter-enemies-marred-tragedy-one-fired-Mattel-financial-crimes-spend-millions-prostitutes-cocaine-shooting-himself.html

@ArabeIIaScott the Barbie of 1959 is very very different than the Barbie of today.
Products evolve over time. Many products out there were not so great in the beginning but have now completely changed to better (and vice versa).
You can’t compare 1959 Barbie to the modern ones and what they represent.

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.

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.

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.

'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.

Is straw clutching related to pearl clutching, BTW?

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

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.

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

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

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

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?

Not forgetting the super-perky boobs

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

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).

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.”'

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.