Another
Barbie drama…
Ok,
we’ve heard it all before – Barbie is bad for body image. For anyone, but especially for girls. I played with Barbie when I was a kid. I loved taking her and her friends and Ken
outside in her camper and creating worlds of stories that entertained me AND my
brother and sister for hours. Yes, my
brother played Barbie with us. There was
no way he couldn’t – we were thrown out of the house together every day and
there was no one else to play with except his sisters. He was cool about it. We would play with them in the backyard, in
the woods, in the flower beds. Barbie
had great outdoor adventures, and when it rained we hung out in our bedroom and
played there – turning bookcases into mansions.
We nailed blocks of wood together and covered it with old carpeting to
make custom furniture for her. Old
boxes, Breyer horses, milk cartons, etc.
We reused and recycled before it was the thing to do. Even the pets came into play. Cats and dogs were monsters we played
around.
One
thing Barbie did not do was throw up or binge eat. We did get her pregnant a few times, by Darth
Vader – not Ken, but she was just a regular girl with some good friends. Barbie did not give me an eating disorder and
I suspect this rings true with a lot of girls.
She did not skew my body image.
No, I learned my bad body images at school, music videos, and people who
thought it helpful to point out that I was chubby or pleasantly plump. These images and phrases can bring fresh pain
if I let it, but I am not going to let it today.
I
defend Barbie. Yes, she’s pretty, she
dresses well, has every accessory under the sun and has lots of great
friends. Barbie can be a stay at home
mom or she could be a doctor. The thing
is, Barbie could be anything. She could
out deal Walter White because Barbie excels in everything she does, and if he
tried to shoot her and stuff her in his duffle bag that his doll comes with,
well I’m pretty sure she would be able to wrestle the gun away and take him
down like a good cop would, because Barbie would make one damn tough cop. I’m sure she could even eat a doughnut or two
without gaining an ounce.
I
think the mom who did the on-line petition was justified in her actions. We need more figures like Barbie and less
heroes like White. I think it’s too bad
that people are lashing out against her for it.
I also think they are idiots if they want their kids to play with a meth
dealing doll. Lots of great imagination-play
right there. Maybe they’ll be able to
get a chemistry set and create their own meth recipes. If you have no clue what I’m talking about
check this out:
And for the record, I do have body
image issues. They came from the girls
in my class and the classic “you know you’re fat when” tests. The one I remember was if you put your legs
together and you can’t see daylight between your crotch and thighs. Then you were fat. I was also told by a boy I had a crush on
that I was pear shaped. It just sounded
bad. Barbie had nothing to do with
it. I was beyond her at that point.
Let’s cut the doll a break. I really don’t think she’s as evil as a lot
of people would want one to believe. And
let’s not buy our children meth making dolls this holiday season. It just seems very, very wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment