Barbie is an iconic figure, and sometimes I hear some comments about how Barbie is an unrealistic figure to young girls, with her size and figure. Personally I have always been a fan, as has
Barbie is an iconic figure, and sometimes I hear some comments about how Barbie is an unrealistic figure to young girls, with her size and figure. Personally I have always been a fan, as has my two girls. I truly believe that children don’t discriminate, it’s something that is taught not programmed into their brains. This is especially true when it comes to size, my 11 year old daughter has no idea that Barbie is thin, she accepts people for what they are, as she knows everyone is a different size, we are all unique and it’s OK to be different, even if that happens to be big, small, bald…the list goes on. You do not make horrible comments if someone is big, the same as you don’t make comments about smaller people. Barbie is what she is.
A Barbie doll is a great tool for some many reasons, used in therapy sessions for children to act out issues they may be experiencing, the list is pretty endless. But what I love most is that Barbie can be whoever you want her to be. She will happily be a farmer, a cook, a model or even play football…all with a smile on her face. I think this resonates into children, you can be whoever you want to be, the world is your oyster.
So when I saw this video, it summed it all up to me…it makes so much sense…have a watch and see what you think….
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I like the idea of it but I remember buying barbies for my niece and struggling to find positive role models. I settled on “pet doctor” (i.e. vet) and college student (who had a short skirt and knee high boots). I think the proportions and appearance do matter. However much they might not obviously notice at that age, all those subtle cues are going in the mind. I don’t think anyone thinks it’s wrong to be pretty, tall, thin but unattainably so is not good. Seeing the girl playing with the dolls at the end kind of shocked me how crazy the proportions are. Great they’re not all blonde and white any more and hey! Glasses! Must be intelligent right? But come on. They could really do more.