Life without Barbie?

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-30-2008
Life without Barbie?
9
Wed, 03-04-2009 - 2:20pm

I'm all for sending positive messages to girls about appearance, but really ... I wouldnt buy an unattractive doll to give to a child.  So what gives?  There are many cute and pretty dolls out there to choose from  so i dont know what good it will do to ban Barbie.


Ditch the doll? Lawmaker targets Barbie


West Virginia state delegate says iconic toy overemphasizes beauty to girls


TODAY staff and wire

updated 9:21 a.m. ET, Wed., March. 4, 2009



Barbie could get an unwelcome present for her 50th birthday: outlawed in West Virginia.


A state lawmaker proposed a bill Tuesday to ban sales of the iconic Mattel doll and others like her.


The Barbie Ban Bill, proposed by Democratic Delegate Jeff Eldridge (D) Lincoln County, says such toys influence girls to place too much importance on physical beauty, at the expense of their intellectual and emotional development.


"I just hate the image that we give to our kids that if you're beautiful, you're beautiful and you don't have to be smart," Eldridge told West Virginia news station WOWK.


The delegate concedes that the chances of getting the bill passed are slim, but adds that he stands behind it.


"I knew a lot of people were going to joke about it and poke fun at me," Eldridge said. "I couldn't get anybody to sign on the bill with me but I said I'm still going to introduce it."


A Mattel spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. The Barbie doll officially turns 50 on March 9, and the toy maker has made big plans this year to mark the anniversary.


Barbie has had her foes over that half-century. Critics say the doll promotes materialism and an unnatural body image.


The bill has been sent to the House Judiciary Committee.





Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.


iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Wed, 03-04-2009 - 4:38pm

Barbie wasn't invented when I was growing-up. I had baby dolls & pretty China dolls but none with adult proportions.


I've always thought Barbie was a little freaky. My DD had one & liked dressing it as did all her friends.


Cougar Barbie


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjDmCEJokZs

 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Wed, 03-04-2009 - 4:47pm
Some will never be happy with themselves however much plastic surgery.

 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2007
Wed, 03-04-2009 - 5:11pm
I was about 7 when they first came out.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-09-2001
Wed, 03-04-2009 - 6:11pm
ROFL! How our legislators love to waste their time and our money! Eyeroll. :O There's a lot more wrong in our society that still brainwashes children with old patriarchal sexist roles, from when our children are born. Color of clothes, blankets, paint and cartoons on nursery walls. It only gets worse as kids grow, with the toys they are bought, the clothes we dress them in, yada yada, yada. The movies and cartoons and even magazines, and books that drive the message home: girls do these things, boys do these. Legislating banning Barbie will hardly correct the skewed mess. Ho hum.


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Edited 3/4/2009 10:36 pm ET by gypsywolfwoman


Blessings,

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-30-2002
Wed, 03-04-2009 - 10:35pm

This is so funny. I never had Barbie, I had Dawn dolls, they were miniture Barbie type dolls. My neice inherited them, then my dd got Dawn and Barbies from my neice. My dd breastfeeds the Dawn dolls off of Barbie. I don't think that is promoting an unhealthy image at all. She asked for a "Boy Barbie" for Christmas and got one. He's got dark hair and a tuxedo, she simply calls him "Groom." He and Barbie give Baby Dawn and the other baby sister group hugs, give them baths and put them to bed. No body image issues rearing it's ugly head, actually a promotion of strong family values going on if you think about it. Groom does quite a bit of cooking in the Barbie dream house too, while Barbie Mom is at work.


I think we have a LOT more in society influencing our dd's about their looks than Barbie.



iVillage Member
Registered: 01-22-2009
Thu, 03-05-2009 - 12:06am

I used to have Barbie and Midge date.

Avatar for claddagh49
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-20-2004
Thu, 03-05-2009 - 9:18am
You are so right. Don't they have anything better or more pressing to do than to pick on Barbie? Sheesh. What a bunch of morons. My step-mom never liked Mr Manchin or whatever the heck his name is from WV. she despised him in fact,LOL She said he was a crook. She actualy bought me my first Barbie at age 8.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Thu, 03-05-2009 - 10:43am

"Groom does quite a bit of cooking in the Barbie dream house too"


Good for him!

 


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