The day finally arrived. The little girls were all playing on the lawn, one of them with a tub of Barbies that they could almost sit in, another with a fold-out Barbie house. My daughter was playing with them. She came in and declared, “I want a Barbie!”
As someone who struggled on the edge of an eating disorder in my teens, I want to foster a good body image in my daughter. Then again, I don’t believe in making certain toys off limits, because I believe that will lead to a child who covets that toy. I had simply ignored the issue of Barbies, and we were happy with those little rectangular Playmobil characters and with stuffed animals and baby dolls. Until now.
Now, I did not play with Barbies. My sister did, and she does not appear to strive to have a tiny waist and an oversized chest. I played with Strawberry Shortcake dolls and marbles, and I am neither interested in having a giant, strawberry-smelling head nor keen on being round and roly-poly. I don’t think that our playthings had a profound effect on our body image.
That said, I would prefer to see more realistic female bodies on soft toys. Baby dolls are fine. My daughter has one doll that has a big belly and nurses her babies. That’s fine too. Playmobil is totally unrealistic, so I’m cool with that. But Barbies?
Of course, I had to bring myself down to earth again. Is my daughter interested in Barbie because she conforms to unrealistic standards of female beauty? Of course not. She likes her because she has accessories and because the other kids have a house that Barbie can play in. After looking up Barbie alternatives, I discovered a couple that I thought were engaging. Feral Cheryl is a Barbie-size fair trade doll that is – ahem – very anatomically correct and has tattoos to boot. I’d play with her. However, the ones that my daughter chose to buy with her birthday money were The Only Hearts Club. These dolls are made for the vaguely concerned about Barbie mom market. They are Barbie-sized, with soft arms and legs and child-like features. Some have different skin tones and hair colors, so they actually look like the real children your children would play with. Most importantly, they have accessories.
Where do you stand on the to Barbie or not to Barbie question?
