Saturday, November 10, 2007

I Hate Barbie Dolls

I always said that my children would never own one of these dreadful creatures. Frankly, I’ve never understood the doll’s popularity. It doesn’t make the least bit of sense to me to give a little girl a skinny, little 11 ½ inch doll with boobs and expect her to be able to dress and undress it easily. I can’t even do it.

A well meaning “friend” insisted that my daughter’s life would not be complete without a Barbie doll, so she gave her one on her fifth birthday. Soon, Barbie began accumulating a sizeable wardrobe. Eventually, the original Barbie was joined by other members of the Barbie family: Ken, Skipper, Barbie that blinks, Barbie with growing hair…I can’t remember all the fabulous, fluffy names. But, the interesting things was that my daughter only played with these dolls when other playmates initiated the idea. Barbie never fulfilled any big fantasies or dreams for my daughter. She was a source of irritation and frustration. The clothing was difficult to get on and off. Worse of all, the arms, legs and/or heads came off fairly easily, and this is very upsetting to a child!

Why do we encourage this aggravation? My vote is for nice, big, cuddly baby dolls. If toys are for teaching, why not instill loving and caring attitudes with baby dolls, rather than emulating rock stars with “Barbie and the Rockers” and all that paraphernalia that goes along with that? Children only get one chance to be children. Can’t we help them enjoy it by making sensible toys?

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