B+C+B+C+B+C: The Barbie debate

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

The Barbie debate

I always planned to definitelydefinitely keep Barbie dolls out of my house. Not that they're the devil, but simply because there are far better toys to play with.

However, just today, Brianna discovered my stash of old Barbies - complete with their antique travel case and full wardrobe - in the shadows of my parents' basement. And she fell in love.
She spent the whole morning playing with them, taking Lily and Courtney along for the ride, of course.
Bennett - pictured face down on the bed - did NOT approve. He wanted them to play tag with him and they refused of course. Funny how he naturally rejects their girly toys. I don't encourage or discourage his involvement with stereotypical feminine fun.
He's just - as much as I disdain this cliche - "ALL BOY."
Anyway, so the girls love the Barbies... and Brianna is begging to take the stash back to Bountiful with us next week. I'd be more content to let those big-boobed tiny-waisted high-heeled bimbos continue to sit and rot in the basement for another 20 years. But maybe I'm being too dramatic and over-thinking this? Will playing with Barbies really turn my daughters into superficial materialistic divas with body image issues and unrealistic standards of beauty?! Or are they just being little girls, playing instinctively and happily with dolls...

I think body image has less to do with "the media" and "toys" and more to do with what SHOULD be the prevalent influences in a child's life - their parents, home life, family, etc. So many like to blame these outside influences, instead of looking at how their own behavior and choices affect their child. For example, when I hear Brianna say, "look at my Barbie, she's so beautiful!" I can choose to ask, "why is she beautiful?" and help coach her into, "she's beautiful because she's kind to others and strong and makes good choices and always tries her very best." Stuff like that. The good brainwashing.

I do NOT want to be one of those uptight feminists. And I definitely don't want my daughters to be that way. I see those women as perpetually unhappy. And what is most every parent's goal? To see their children grow up to be truly happy.

So while you'll never see me at Toys R Us buying the latest greatest Barbie.... these little nostalgic dolls and their antique wooden travel case might find a place in on our van on the way home (after I go through and discard some of their most atrocious fashion pieces. Those 80's tube top dresses are where I definitely draw the line!)

1 comment:

Jordan and Crystal said...: ha ha. Are you sure your barbie collection isn't as precious as your pez collection??? Just leave them at grandmas and tell her they are special toys that we get to play with at Grandma's house. I agree there are so many better toys out there. I don't want to do barbies either. They just look so fake and gross. Cuter dolls and things now. I gave all my barbies but the kids do play with some at Grandmas house which is fine to me. good luck whatever you decide.; July 25, 2013 at 5:11 AM

Quotes I want to remember

"The Lord knows our bearing capacity, both as to coping and to comprehending, and He will not give us more to bear than we can manage at the moment, though to us it may seem otherwise. Just as no temptations will come to us from which we cannot escape or which we cannot bear, we will not be given more trials than we can sustain."
- Neal A. Maxwell

"It is a fundamental truth that the responsibilities of motherhood cannot be successfully delegated. No, not to day-care centers, not to schools, not to nurseries, not to babysitters. We become enamored with men's theories such as the idea of preschool training outside the home for young children. Not only does this put added pressure on the budget, but it places young children in an environment away from mother's influence."
-Ezra Taft Benson

“Perhaps there has never been a time when we had greater need to pray and to teach our family members to pray. Prayer is a defense against temptation. It is through earnest and heartfelt prayer that we can receive the needed blessings and the support required to make our way in this sometimes difficult and challenging journey we call mortality.”
-Thomas S. Monson

“Live the gospel as conspicuously as you can. Keep the covenants your children know you have made. And bear your testimony! Don’t just assume your children will somehow get the drift of your beliefs on their own.
-Jeffrey R. Holland

"We hold in our arms the rising generation. They come to this earth with important responsibilities and great spiritual capacities. We cannot be casual in how we prepare them. Our challenge as parents and teachers is not to create a spiritual core in their souls but rather to fan the flame of their spiritual core already aglow with the fire of their premortal faith."
-Neil L. Andersen

"Certainly there are times when getting the family together to read the scriptures does not stack up as a spiritual experience worthy of a journal entry. But we must not be deterred. There are special times when the spirit of a son or daughter is just right and the power of these great scriptures goes down into their heart like fire. As we honor our Heavenly Father in our homes, He will honor our efforts."
-Neil L. Andersen

President Hinckley admonished both men and women to be nurturers. He said, ‘How much more beautiful would be the society in which we live if every father . . . and . . . mother regarded [their] children . . . as gifts from the God of heaven . . . and brought them up with true affection in the wisdom and admonition of the Lord.’ ”
-Susan W. Tanner

"Children are like trees. When they are young, their lives can be shaped and directed, usually with ever so little effort. Said the writer of Proverbs, 'Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it' (22:6). That training finds its roots in the home. There will be little of help from other sources. Do not depend on government to help in this darkening situation. Barbara Bush, wife of former U.S. president George Bush, spoke wisely: 'Your success as a family, our success as society, depends not on what happens at the White House, but on what happens inside your house.' "
-Gordon B. Hinckley

“I give counsel to husbands and wives. Pray for the love which allows you to see the good in your companion. Pray for the love that makes weaknesses and mistakes seem small. Pray for the love to make your companion’s joy your own. Pray for the love to want to lessen the load and soften the sorrows of your companion.”
-Henry B. Eyring

“Reverent behavior is not a natural tendency for most children. It is a quality that is taught by parents and leaders through example and training. But remember, if reverence is rooted in love, so is the teaching of it. Harshness in our training begets resentment, not reverence.”
-Margaret S. Lifferth

"There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children. What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else."
- M. Russell Ballard

“As parents, we should remember that our lives may be the book from the family library which the children most treasure. Are our examples worthy of emulation? Do we live in such a way that a son or a daughter may say, ‘I want to follow my dad,’ or ‘I want to be like my mother’?”
-Thomas S. Monson

“Security for our families comes from learning self-control, avoiding the excesses of this world, and being temperate in all things.”
-Kent D. Watson

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

The Barbie debate

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