How do you feel about barbies?

[Deleted]

Dec 11, 2015 11:22:01 GMT -5 pooh8402 said:

I love barbies, I played with them for a long time as a kid, and I never thought about body types at that age. I do like that Barbie has a bunch of careers to show girls that they can do anything.

I can't get it up about princesses either. I loved Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast growing up. If a girl likes princesses, she likes them. My parents taught me that I don't need a man to do stuff for me, I didn't get that message from cartoons or dolls.

Frozen was sooo good in this respect. It's all about Elsa learning to accept herself and the sisters saving each other (I've seen it like 6k times recently so it's really fresh in my mind, lol). Since it was such a huge success, I hope Disney learned that this is the way of the future with these kinds of movies.

[Deleted]

The only Disney movie DD is into so far (and I blame daycare) is Frozen. She's so excited to have some Anna and Elsa stuff that I'm excited to give it to her.

I loved Disney movies and I'm a kickass engineer that doesn't need a man to do anything for me. But I do ask them to do things for me I don't want to do.

[anna7602]

I let DD play with them. Her interest peaked in about Kindergarten. She is much more into American Girl now and DS is the one who picks up her Barbies and carries them around the house.

I played with them as a kid and don't feel like I have a terrible complex or poor body image as a result. Being around people who were nothing like me, some of whom were quite xenophobic, did more to make me feel "other" than playing with a busty, blonde doll.

[Deleted]

I like Barbies. 

DD has a bunch of my old ones and she's really getting into it. 

Of course she does the princess/makeup thing but her Barbies also plant corn and feed calves and play in the mud.  

Whatever. It's so good for imagination and I don't say to her, "Look at the proportions of her bod! She's perfect!" 

She's playing and using her brain and nowhere near a screen so rock on.

[ilikedonuts]

DD1 got one as a birthday gift (DH's best friend's wife actually asked if it was okay to buy it for her and I was like "buy whatever you want!"). We have a bunch of Frozen dolls (that are basically barbies) they also got for birthdays. My kids actually have no interest in them. (Bitty Baby and American Girl are the winners along with legos and duplos).

I really don't even care about the whole body image part of them. I just had no real interest in them growing up so its not something I was like 'oh my girls must have them!" unless my kids become interested, I don't see them being a thing in our house.

[Marmee]

My MIL owns/lives in Ruth Handler's (creator of Barbie) childhood home and I want to make that house into a Barbie Museum someday. With 4 daughters I think we've got enough to start already...lol. I'm probably the biggest GBCNer

[thejen626]

I love Barbies, played with them myself, and both of my girls love them. My kids prefer the ones that look like 12 year olds and 5 year olds (smaller, flat chests, etc) so we have more of those than the adult ones.

I don't allow Bratz or any other skanky dolls in my house

[anna7602]

Also, @marshmallows, I get what you are saying, but Barbie, to me, has that quintessential "all American" look that no one in my family has ever had. If anything, I think you look a lot more like Barbie than I do! So I'm not going to buy that I don't hate her just because I don't currently struggle with my weight.

[bbonanza]

Is this where I can admit we have a 4 gallon plastic tote that holds all of the Barbies, Princess, Ever After High, Monster High and Winx club dolls my girls have? They are all also practically naked, lol, and all their clothes get interchanged. They are the most played with toys in our house though, and so finally this Christmas they are getting a KidCraft Doll house (not Barbie Dream house). Oh, and there are few Mermaid Barbies in their bathroom upstairs. As a pp said, the stories that unfold when they are playing with them are pretty cool, the dolls become anything they want them to be.

And I love how they play together, sometimes each taking turns leading the play. I don't think they've ever said anything to me about Barbie's figure, etc., only that she has boobs like Mommy. I had a few Barbie's growing up and my sisters and I would play for hours, building houses, towns, etc. around the lives we imagined for them - one of my favorite memories.

[spk926]

Eh, I feel like I shouldn't allow or like them because of her body and all that. BUT, I loved barbies as a kid and hope DD will as well. The best was when my family ordered pizza and they had that little round plastic thing in the middle of the pizza. My sister and I would fight over who got to keep that and add it to our Barbie furniture collection. My sister actually learned how to sew because she wanted to make her own clothes for her Barbies. We still have those clothes and all our old Barbie stuff to this day. I'm glad my parents kept it all.

DD is getting this for Christmas so I guess we'll see soon how she likes them.

[SJ]

I haven't read any of the other posts.

I feel a little conflicted about Barbies, but we will probably allow them. DH doesn't want to encourage princesses & Barbies, but I can't imagine we'd ban them or anything.

I played with Barbies growing up and don't see any negative effects personally, but I do think about the wider message they send. I was more into American Girl dolls & other toys, but had plenty of Barbies.

ETA: if h & @kirkette are on board- good enough for me! BARBIES FOR EVERYONE!!

[spk926]

Dec 11, 2015 12:58:36 GMT -5 sxia said:

I hate Barbie. Hate. I have an acquaintance who works for Mattel and used to work on the Barbie line. We do not agree on Barbie.

Seriously, I had one Barbie as a kid, took her skirt off and put it on my My little Pony.
I never bought DD a Barbie, but was TOTALLY into princesses, and now she's into Monster High, which is slightly better because the girls do things. Watching Barbie videos, Barbie had an idea and asked Ken to do programming. Ken (or other guy) built her a program to help her pick out her clothes, it drove me crazy. I told DD it drove me crazy. I'd ask her, "How come Barbie can't build her own robot?" And she'd say, "Mom, it's just a show!"

Even at about age 6, I let DD buy a Barbie book, but only after we talked about how nobody's body looks like that.

It was a good jumping off point for us to talk about Barbie v the Lammily doll, and Photoshopped magazines, etc.

I don't think Monster High is much better than Barbie...

[KaraOrNot]

I loved Barbies growing up and played with them way too long.

FWIW, I have never been thin and have never compared myself to Barbie (or any other doll).

[h]

FWIW, I am far more bothered by the obsession with princess culture than by Barbies. The princess dolls carry with them predetermined stories, most of which are pretty anti-feminist in message (I know there are some more recent exceptions with Frozen and the like). Barbie seems far more open-ended to me.

I also find it kind of odd that many people seem to take issue with Barbie yet do not question pushing baby dolls on girls to the extent that we do. I feel like a system where girls play with baby dolls and pretend to be mothers while boys play with action figure and pretend to take on a wider variety of active roles is in itself problematic.

[jeaniebueller]

Dec 11, 2015 12:58:36 GMT -5 sxia said:

I hate Barbie. Hate. I have an acquaintance who works for Mattel and used to work on the Barbie line. We do not agree on Barbie.

Seriously, I had one Barbie as a kid, took her skirt off and put it on my My little Pony.
I never bought DD a Barbie, but was TOTALLY into princesses, and now she's into Monster High, which is slightly better because the girls do things. Watching Barbie videos, Barbie had an idea and asked Ken to do programming. Ken (or other guy) built her a program to help her pick out her clothes, it drove me crazy. I told DD it drove me crazy. I'd ask her, "How come Barbie can't build her own robot?" And she'd say, "Mom, it's just a show!"

Even at about age 6, I let DD buy a Barbie book, but only after we talked about how nobody's body looks like that.

It was a good jumping off point for us to talk about Barbie v the Lammily doll, and Photoshopped magazines, etc.

Well, my Barbie's owned their own store, and a McDonald's and had her own office! I never watched any of the shows based on Barbie, I don't think they were around when I was a kid. I think you are overthinking this and nowadays I think that the dolls are much more girl power-ish than they used to be.

[matildasun]

My daughter is not a doll kid. Her plastic animals play out all the story lines.

I love Barbies. Over Thanksgiving, I spent every night playing with our old Barbies, fixing their hair and dressing them. My husband and my mother kept laughing at me.

I feel like Barbie is nostalgic and quaint compared to the new dolls.

[boiler717]

I read a book about Ruth Handler and love Barbies even more than I did as a kid. I'd totally buy them for my kids, and I am not a small person either.

[h]

Dec 11, 2015 12:50:16 GMT -5 @marshmallows said:

@kirkette , you are the most polished Barbie spokesperson ever

I feel like @kirkette must secretly be behind the good Barbie ad somehow.

[halfpint]

I have no issues with Barbie. I had tons of them growing up. I think I thought I had Feelings about them for a while, but honestly, my Barbies were business women and doctors and teachers and rock stars and First Ladies and moms and presidents and princesses and queens and...I mean, what more feminist than that?

I still remember the old 80s ad campaign, "We girls can do anything". I like that Barbie is embracing that message again. I never once felt like I needed to look like Barbie - she was a doll, not a real person. Society and magazines and movies and stuff did their own damage as I grew up.

[cinco]

DD1 liked the princess Barbie dolls. They were really good friends with DS's rescue bots. I loved the way my two kids played together with them. I wouldn't consider myself a Barbie lover, but that kind of play was absolutely beneficial for them. Now the oldest is only into AG. The youngest plays with the AG mini dolls in her big Barbie sized doll house.

[tulips]

I have fond memories of playing with Barbies. My grandmom used to make clothes for my Barbies and everything. I don't remember thinking much about how she looked and her body.

I'm not opposed to my kids having Barbies if they show interest. SIL has my nieces old huge Barbie doll house in her basement waiting for us to take when K's older if we want it.

[aspentosh]

I played with barbies and GI Joe together. Just because you're into barbies doesn't mean you're a girly girl and care about your body your body looking like that. Buy which one you think she'd like best.

[winecheery]

I loved Barbies.

My Barbies were moms, Drs., teachers, artists, heroes, rockstars, fashion designers and astronauts. They battled dinosaurs, and aliens. They were rich and poor. They lived out every book I'd ever read, ever movie I had seen. We actively sought out Barbies that had different hair colors, and skin tones, as they became available. I did not once compare myself to my dolls.

My role models were my mother, my friends' moms, aunts, etc. Real people.

DD recently showed interest in a Rapunzel barbie, because of the purple dress. It's her fav color; she has never seen Tangled. I have saved some of my Disney barbies and will give them to her when she is a bit older. I have zero issues with princesses too. I like that DD is into all kinds of things; art, dolls, animals, books, trucks, trains, glitter…she can test it all out to see where her true interests lie, as far as I'm concerned.

Honestly? My body over-awareness/issues stem from being an actor/dancer, lol My toys had exactly zero effect on that.

[h]

Dec 11, 2015 15:20:44 GMT -5 @this said:

Dec 11, 2015 13:14:37 GMT -5 h said:

FWIW, I am far more bothered by the obsession with princess culture than by Barbies. The princess dolls carry with them predetermined stories, most of which are pretty anti-feminist in message (I know there are some more recent exceptions with Frozen and the like). Barbie seems far more open-ended to me.

I also find it kind of odd that many people seem to take issue with Barbie yet do not question pushing baby dolls on girls to the extent that we do. I feel like a system where girls play with baby dolls and pretend to be mothers while boys play with action figure and pretend to take on a wider variety of active roles is in itself problematic.

I agree with all of this. And a year ago I was all, "Yeah! DD will NEVER watch the antiquated princess stories! Rah rah!"

Now she's obsessed with Sleeping Beauty (omg consent nightmare) and Ariel (literally she wins a guy without SPEAKING - just on looks LOLFML). 

There's a line in Part of Your World where she sings, "Bet they don't reprimand their daughters" and I'm always like, "You're a spoiled jackhole! Parents SHOULD reprimand their kids, dumbass!"

I mean, here I am though. This is my life. lol

I get it. There is a laundry basket full of swords and light sabers in our play room that we all refer to as "the weapon bin." Having a weapon bin is hardly reflective of my values or what I planned for my kids, but it happened.

I would not prohibit my kids from having princess dolls--they just give me more consternation than Barbies. Basically, in a hypothetical world in which I had a daughter or son who wanted to play with such things, Barbies would come after Ruth Bader Ginsburg action figures but before princesses on my list of preferred toys.

[mrssandro]

The whole princess phase passed as quickly as farts in the wind. <BUTT Humor>

[mrssandro]

I loved the original Shirley Temple version. This version was good but not as good as Shirley. I literally cry every single time the girl reunites with her father. Ok, confession I just watched it last month again.

This movie ranked up there with Secret Garden which I watched about 10 dozen times.

[imojoebunny]

I have no feelings on Barbies. DD had a bunch when she was small. Now, they have been replaced with Monster High Dolls. I just cannot muster up the energy to be outraged by a doll or a princess.

I think kids get a lot more information about self image from their parents and peer group. If you spend lots of time on beauty, and emphasize that in your home, then your child will feel it is important, and to some people, it is. Same goes for peers. DD goes to a somewhat hippy dippy school, where if people spend time on their appearance, it is to look professional, not sexy, but I have other friends whose kids go to schools where fashion and how you look is a competitive sport for parents and kids, even at 9. My kids also see few commercials, thanks to mostly watching Netflix or DVR, which I think really helps.

[imojoebunny]

Dec 11, 2015 16:08:27 GMT -5 @kirkette said:

And even if you're a girly girl, you can still kick major ass!
That's my philosophy, as I leave boys in my dust, as I race in my bright pink and/or sparkly running skirts. 

LOL... one of my good friends did the Primal Quest Adventure race, and finished.  That girl can rock some 4 inch heals, just as well as, she wears sparkle exercise gear.  Girly girls can kick butt!

[h]

Between the Barbies, @this's paper dolls, and @kirkette's pink sparkly kick ass-ness, this thread is kind of making me want a girl.

Are any of you willing to arrange a marriage between your daughter and one of my sons so I can at least be guaranteed a bad ass DIL?

[vanillacourage]

Dec 11, 2015 15:40:46 GMT -5 @this said:

Dec 11, 2015 15:30:05 GMT -5 h said:

I would not prohibit my kids from having princess dolls--they just give me more consternation than Barbies. Basically, in a hypothetical world in which I had a daughter or son who wanted to play with such things, Barbies would come after Ruth Bader Ginsburg action figures but before princesses on my list of preferred toys.

FUNNY YOU SHOULD MENTION.

This is LITERALLY what DD and I are doing tonight thanks to vanillacourage 's SS gift!

I love this so much!!  ETA I was also very curious about why I was tagged in a thread about Barbies...  #boymomprobs