Goodbye Barbie!

My gorgeous dark hair, dark skinned, five year old Guatemalan born daughter just told me that she wanted hair like  Barbie and that "Barbie is more beautiful than she is." My heart sank. We work so hard, EVERYDAY, to tell our daughters that they are beautiful, smart and strong. We tell them everyday that they are special and amazing. And still Barbie's blonde locks and FAKE body measurements still have the ability to mind screw my daughter.

So goodbye Barbie. I'm selling you at the garage sale. Hello Mulan!

Comments

[teatiiime]

Yes, its pretty amazing the degree to which our little girls' perception of beauty and whats desirable is influenced. I only buy my daughter brown dolls. She has white dolls too that have been given as gifts and thats perfectly fine with me. I dont intend to exclude white dolls any more than I do our white friends and family, its just that I realize in spending my money I am demonstrating to her what I, personally, approve of and find desirable. This past birthday and christmas she got lots of Princess Tiana barbies. I think 7 in all. Several weeks ago she asks for another Tiana Doll. I told her, "No, way. You have plenty Tiana dolls" She says, "No, I want a white one." WTH?? Inside I a sighing and rolling my eyes. But I calmly ask her why she wants a white one and she said "so she could be together with the brown ones." I'm good with that. I wont be buying it. But I can appreciate where she is going with this.

[Denise]

I have tried to avoid my Barbies (much as my mother did with me--she once told me it was her only feminist statement ever) and our 6-year old daughter has one that was a gift (gone now, as a young friend beheaded her and I took the opportunity to make her go away) and a Princess Aurora Barbie. She's not so into dolls and Barbies as she is stuffed animals, and for this I am thankful. However, she told me a couple of weeks ago that the reason that she has not worn the fabulous multi-layered pink & fuchsia tutu that she recieved for her birthday is because "it makes her look fat." Oh NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO................

[Sharon]

Im deathly scared of that with doll does to our "culture" along with other subliminal messages aka Trojan horses. This gets really deep. Im just saddened at some of the everyday stuff that we see around us that influence us or our kids. Wonder why people have this blind respect for "european" when they have pummeled and pillaged there way through history. You can blame TV aswell. Worldwide people have grown up watching tv with happy white families and people of color absent. And now all the blacks show up on COPS! you have no idea, what this has done to the planet right now! The whole planet looks down on the original man and let's white man shovel them as much crap as they can take. Oh and the man that created barbie was a pervert with his own issues, Peace

[Justin Evans]

Haha, just because barbie is hot doesn't mean you have to sell her. What wrong with wanting to look like someone else. Come on people, get with the program!! She has an idol, let her live her dream!! Don't crush them like you do the pecan shells for the pecan pie!

[HeadMutha]

Hi Justin...

Thanks for stopping by and putting in your input. The only thing I have to say is that you actually just don't understand. I know you are just about to graduate High School, found you on FB, and you have no idea what it is like to be a young girl and having to be scrutinized by the world. It's not about living the dream, it's about self acceptance.