Is Barbie The Devil

hoodwinked wrote: »

and this is imo what makes her a terrible parent

No, a terrible parent fails to feed their child, fails to nurture them, berates, hits, and otherwise abuses their child.

she would rather upset her child at christmas to further her agenda than give her child the christmas toy they have asked santa for.

No, she's not furthering her agenda. She's weighing up the short-term benefits of gratification vs. the long-term consequences for her childs character. If we gave our children what they asked for, our daughter Sadhbh would be getting a magical necklace that she can whisper to to make people do what she wants, and will allow her to fly should the house go on fire. My seven-year-old son would be getting a Playstation, Xbox, and a mobile phone.

Just this afternoon Sadhbh was at a Christmas party and all the children received Christmas annuals. My daughter, being four, received one labelled "Girl, 2-4" and was immediately upset because she decided it was too babyish. She declared she didn't want it even before she had upwrapped it. Two hours later she was sitting at the kitchen table doing puzzles in it, and we read a story from it for bedtime.

i cannot stand parents who live through their child, let them be children ffs they will be grown up soon enough direct them and parent them to make the right choices for themselves and then maybe they won't grow up to be a barbie.

I cannot stand parents who are ruled by their child, let them be parents and make decisions that they feel are best for their children.

going by her argument my husband should be trying to make his body resemble a lego brick....

That's so ridiculously glib, I hardly know where to start. The primary way children play with Lego is through building and creating, and allowing the characters to interact with the environment the child has made. Barbie is predominantly about dressing and grooming the doll, with the emphasis on beauty and appearance. Interactive play with the dolls in limited by the fact they can barely even stand up without being held, with the child having to hold them. Lego encourages children to imagine what they can do, Barbie encourages child to imagine how they can look.

Some people need to teach their children values themselves and not leave it up to toys to show them all they can be.

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

I had Barbies too - loved them. I can understand though, that writer questioning the way every Barbie is all pink and glittery and stiletto-wearing, even the ones that are firefighting and the like.

My fave Barbie I had as a kid, was this one - her outfit was office-wear for the day, and then you could turn it inside out to become a cocktail dress. It was the biz!

Yeah, same. I had Barbies too - loved to play with them. But I just went through and scrolled some of the outfits for current Barbies and most of them are short, tight, glittery pink dresses/skirts and lots of super high heels. I can understand where the writer is coming from. I also had a look at the Lottie dolls and they're quite cute and do offer more realistic outfit options that are still fashionable. I think the writer did an excellent job of finding a good alternative in this case. Her child will still get a fun doll to play with.

I wouldn't say they're evil, it's just a doll.

I loved Barbie but my favourites were the Swan Lake and Rapunzel dolls. I also got these magazines were they'd be about all of Barbie's adventures and having different jobs. Those were the good ol' days..

fussyonion wrote: »

So would you have your child playing with a wooden train set or perhaps some good sensible books to read?

It's what my parents did with me. I turned out fine-ish.

bodice ripper wrote: »

It's what my parents did with me. I turned out fine-ish.

Just because your parents bought you train sets and books doesn't mean the children of today want the same.

I totally get that you'd be trying to protect your child and I do see where you're coming from, but my opinion is that children don't see these dolls as anything other than harmless dolls.

I never for a minute thought of Barbie as anything other than a pretty doll to dress up and have fun with.

I never wanted to be her, I never compared myself to her..I would have been six, seven or eight years old and they were just the It toy of my generation.

I'm just trying to point out that kids are innocent and they don't see things the way we see them.
I didn't mean to come across nasty in my previous post, I'm just explaining how I see it.