Barbie has always been controversial. The “Math class is
tough” debacle highlighted my formative years.
Upon further investigation, I have discovered the many ways in which
Barbie has erred through the decades. See the top of the list HERE.
But then Mattel recently released a video like THIS
showing girls they can be anything they imagine. My first reaction to this was awesome! Mattel finally got something right
with Barbie. On Barbie’s Instagram page
there are images of Astronaut Barbie, Surgeon Barbie and Firefighter Barbie
dating back as far as 1965. So while it’s easy to get caught up in all of the
mistakes that Mattel has made over the years, one cannot acknowledge those
mistakes without also admitting the successes. (even if her proportions
continue to be grossly inaccurate)
As an alternative, there is
Lammily. This realistically proportioned doll just appeared in the last
year or so and I think it’s a great concept. My wife immediately purchased one
for our daughter. It’s now sitting at the bottom of a box and has received very
little play time. Most everything she
owns is at the bottom of a box somewhere in lieu of an empty box that has been
well played with sitting in the middle of the living room.
My almost 4 year-old hasn’t yet asked for a Barbie. This
makes me pretty happy because it’s one more thing I don’t yet have to deal
with. I suspect I will soon enough, but there’s nothing like putting it off as
long as I can. She’s growing up fast enough as it is already.
But now there’s Talk to me Barbie
in which your child can have a two way conversation with one of Mattel’s
biggest commodities. This is accomplished because Barbie is wi-fi enabled and
uploads your child’s recorded conversations to the Toy Talk website where an appropriate
response is generated. What could possibly go wrong?!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge technology/futurist nut. I’ll
be first in line for a self-driving car. I suspect that in the near future,
everything we say will end up being recorded and saved on some server
somewhere. But for now, while I can’t choose my daughter’s friends or the
conversations she has with them, I can at least choose her toys. (Don’t get any
ideas, grandparents!)
So despite the best of intentions Astronaut Barbie, Surgeon
Barbie and Firefighter Barbie; your presence will not be needed here. I
appreciate the positive role models and commercials encouraging confidence but
until the arched high-heeled feet go away and a more realistically proportioned figure is
represented, Barbie has no future here.
I will probably be eating these words at some
point.
The well played -with box
Better style than Barbie
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