Barbie Ban

A West Virginia lawmaker is proposing a state-wide ban on the sale of all Barbie dolls and other dolls that 'promote physical beauty to the detriment of girls' intellectual and emotional development.'

What a load of crap.

Regardless of whether or not you think playing with Barbies harms children's self esteem (I'll get to what I think about that in a minute), how should the government have any control in whether or not the toys are allowed to be sold in that area? Why do we think that we should have a say in what is available for people to buy - or not buy - for their kids. Hello?! We're not talking about lead-based paint here. We're talking about a doll.

I felt the same way when NYC discussed passing those laws about what kinds of food could be served, and what types of oils were allowed to be used for cooking. Wow! I may think that the food served at the Heart Attack Grill is unhealthy, but I definitely don't think that the government should be legislating a ban for any other people who choose to eat there.

And, according to the article I read, the sale of Barbies has already been banned (in 2006) in the town of Montpelier, VT. So as ridiculous as this sounds, it's not even the first time something like this has been proposed (or even passed). We already have laws in several states telling parents how and when they can discipline their children (there IS a difference between discipline and abuse); before you know it, we'll have government-mandated children's TV program schedules and approved playtime activities.

If you don't like Barbie dolls, that's perfectly fine; don't buy one for your kids. Everyone should have the right to decide what's best/appropriate for their own family, but don't outlaw other families who don't share the same concerns from buying a toy that they loved playing with for their own children.

Personally, I don't understand where all of the complaining about Barbie comes from. I had one Barbie doll and one Ken doll growing up and I LOVED playing with them. My sisters both had a couple of dolls (Skipper, Midge, Princess Jasmine, etc.) and we all three played together with the dolls. We spent hours in make-believe Barbie Land, entertaining ourselves. How else do you think my parents ever got any time to themselves?

Kids don't think Barbie should make them feel bad about themselves unless they're told so. I never realized that Barbie had unachievable proportions until I was older and heard someone say that. I never felt like I had to look like her either. All of our Barbie dolls were different sizes and colors, but we just played with them - we didn't have to compare ourselves to them. And, it's not like I had an unusually high self image or anything - when people used to tell our parents how cute/pretty we were as kids, I thought they were just saying that because they felt sorry for us... because we were ugly. (But I think that had more to do with Sam Billiter calling me ugly on the playground than what dolls I played with).

Even though I was a little insecure as a kid, I didn't have a self-image problem, never developed any esteem/image issues, and never related how I felt about myself to my favorite Barbie doll. I never likened my self image to Barbie - not how she looked, how she dressed, how smart she was, nothing.

About the only thing I learned about how I look from playing with Barbies is the effect of a bad haircut... my poor Barbie never looked quite the same after I took the scissors to her head! After seeing those effects, I definitely had a motivation to keep those things away from my own hair.

I never thought that Barbie was so beautiful that it made me look like an ugly duckling... I guess I was too busy tying her to the ceiling fan and making up conversations between her and Ken in our living room to think about that stuff.