We've talked a lot about Bratz dolls and how many moms think they encourage girls to dress like hookers (although some say she's just a doll and parents are the ones who must guide our girls).
But what are your thoughts about Barbie? (I will confess I collected Barbie for years until I could no longer support my habit - I loved the costumes and designer gowns)
I recently was sent an email about how Barbie's latest career is of swim instructor (the playset that retails for $15 includes Barbie with sunscreen, kiddie pool, float tube and float board plus two little swim students) -- timely for marketing to little girls given that right now we're all running to any body of water we can find just to cool off.
I remember getting Army Barbie (not that I wanted to enlist, but my Dad did serve our country so I just wanted to have her), doctor Barbie (I get too quesy around blood), police Barbie (again, dad was California Highway Patrol), vet Barbie (allergic to dogs and cats so not a good career for me), and a few others that don't come to mind now.
Do you have similar memories or not? Do your girls like Barbie for her "careers" or for her fashions?
Arizona Moms Editor Yvette Armendariz shares stories about raising her kids and tips for busy parents in her Time-starved (goddess) Mom blog. She and her husband are raising two children, ages 8 and 11.
I loved Barbies growing up
I loved Barbies growing up and I love the fact of what they have done to help them grow into this day and age! I think Barbie is much more suited for teaching our young ones about making "career" moves and bonus, she looks great and is fashionable. The ONLY thing I don't like about Barbie is the fact that over the years her waist is ridiculously small and I don't want to have that portrayed to my child. I hope to see Barbie be a "size" 10/12 in the next few years and offering more job titles to go along with her. Don't forget there was also Astronaut Barbie, Teacher Barbie and Pet-sitter Barbie to name a couple more "career" Barbies!
"It's not to late to become who you've always wanted to be..."
I forgot about some of
I forgot about some of those. :)
And they came out with Wonder Woman Barbie. I loved Wonder Woman growing up. Incidently, I didn't look at Lynda Carter as a sex symbol, or dream about looking like her. I just wanted to be like her because she fought injustice in the world and she was nice. And yes, I thought she was pretty, but that wasn't her main appeal.
My mom, though, always kept me grounded in reality. :)
Arizona Moms Editor Yvette Armendariz shares stories about raising her kids and tips for busy parents in her Time-starved (goddess) Mom blog. She and her husband are raising two children, ages 8 and 11.
Oh, and I realize super hero
Oh, and I realize super hero isn't a career, but what kid doesn't dream of being a super hero? :)
Arizona Moms Editor Yvette Armendariz shares stories about raising her kids and tips for busy parents in her Time-starved (goddess) Mom blog. She and her husband are raising two children, ages 8 and 11.
I agree on that!!! My son
I agree on that!!! My son tells me every day he wishes he had superpowers lol!!!
"It's not to late to become who you've always wanted to be..."
I loved Barbies and I
I loved Barbies and I actually handed some of mine down to my daughter and she LOVES them!! She loves them for their fashion more so than their career. I remember Pink 'n Pretty Barbie & Twirly Curls Barbie which came with this hair contraption that was suppose to twirl her hair. I loved Skipper and there's so much to do about her any more. My daughter has my skipper & Ken dolls that I had when I was younger.
I think my daughter likes
I think my daughter likes her Barbie's for both their "careers" and for her "fashions". I also think it's a thrill to see how many Barbies she can actually accumulate in her life time. She has the Irish step dancing Barbie, Sleeping Beauty Barbie, Pool Barbie as well as Ken (so they can hang out together), Barbie on horseback and others that are floating around here somewhere. Each holds their immagination for my daughter so I just think she is happy to have as many as she can..
Lisa_SchneiderCipriano is a discussion leader in the North, North very tip of Phoenix for arizonamoms.com. She has 6 year old triplets.
I have to admit, I still
I have to admit, I still like Barbie -- career or not. She is a fantasy - and so I've always explained to my girl she's not real (not that Julia's said she wants to be stick thin with big breasts like the doll).
But I mostly love the gowns and Barbies from different countries wearing those gorgeous traditional fashions. I love the period gowns (I have a Barbie and Ken set as Guinevere and King Arthur) and wedding dresses (Verg Wang) and the angels. I was a little crazy there for a while. Stopped buying them around the time I had my daughter, as money needed to go into other more important things. :)
Funny, though, lately my daughter has been fascinated by my old collection. She wants me to take them out of my case to play with them, but I've told here these are special ones for mommy and her.
Arizona Moms Editor Yvette Armendariz shares stories about raising her kids and tips for busy parents in her Time-starved (goddess) Mom blog. She and her husband are raising two children, ages 8 and 11.
I loved Barbies growing up.
I loved Barbies growing up. I still like to play Barbies with my daughter. My favorite one growing up was Rock Star Barbie. She had shiny silver and pink hot pants and came with a Rockette cassette tape.
jesshod is a mommy to 2 girls (ages 6 and 1) and is an arizonamoms.com discussion leader living in Surprise.
I think I loved barbie for
I think I loved barbie for her fashions. I didn't really care what she did as I made all my barbies ballet teachers anyway. The min I got mine home there closes would come off and on went the leotard and tights and tutu. I had the entire barbie dream house turned into make shift dance school with dorm rooms for my skipper ballerinas. My friends would come over to play (the ones not in ballet school with me) and say "where's barbies kitchen?" I would explain that ballerina's for one don't eat and two that was studio A... My mom just laughed. I guess I did this for yrs...
I don't like the bratz dolls at all...
Elizabeth is a discussion leader for arizonamoms she writes about everything from her needing mommy advice to crazy and silly stuff that happens. She lives in the West Valley with her husband and 3 children.
I think my daughter has
I think my daughter has ballet teacher Barbie, with a perfect blonde bun on her head!
My dolls were about romance and fashion. I don't think I worried about her paycheck or job much. Really what job requires so many ball gowns??? So, I don't think I can credit my strong feminst beliefs to my Barbie play, but it was great fun.
My daughters (the 9year old and the 2 year olds) love Barbie too. What can't that girl do? (Besides bend her elbows?)
Lovemy4 is a discussion leader for North Central Phoenix, tired mother of 4 great kids and wife to one great husband.
These stories remind me of
These stories remind me of the elaborate story my friend Emily and I did when we were younger. We basically had all the "kids" (skipper and Strawberry Shortcake babies because at the time they didn't have Barbie babies) run away from home and live in a forrest. We played this way for like a month until we realized that no parent would ever let their kids just run away and not look for them lol...Now a days I'm not sure that would still be a "true" statement though (with all the neglect stories we've had lately). It was fun though!!! Oh and we always gave our Barbies what we felt were the most beautiful names like Bridgette, Brooke, and actually had arguments over it! I miss being a kid some times!
"It's not to late to become who you've always wanted to be..."
When my first daughter was
When my first daughter was about 1 or 2 her aunt and uncle gave her her first barbie doll as a gift. I had never wanted to buy her any, and was secretly disappointed they would be so stereotypical. (I was kind of judgmental then). We kept it around for about a year and then when I cleaned out her toys I donated it with some other things. I just didn't ever want her to get too involved with girly girl things or get caught up in looks. Something about barbie just bothered me! Well, several years later I have two girls now and they have about 10 barbies and a Ken doll they play with off and on. It's just not a big deal anymore, as they play with a wide variety of toys and neither seems obsessed with looks or girly things.
I myself was never too into barbie, just in pasisng. I just want my girls to know they can do and be anything...I think I'm achieving that.
Ms. M