What happened to Barbie?

Mug Shot

This past Christmas Maddy asked for a Barbie doll. Let me back up a little...Maddy had wanted a Barbie for almost a year especially after playing with Aunt Kimmy's old Barbie. So what's the big deal with giving a 3 year old girl a Barbie you ask? Well in my mind a girl's first Barbie is a big deal, a right of passage of sorts. Owning a Barbie is a big responsibility for a little girl. All the clothes and shoes, taking care of the dream house, keeping her head attached to her body, and don't forget driving the Barbie Corvette now known as the Glamour Coupe. So we wanted to wait until Maddy understood what taking care of a doll meant. Thanks to Santa Claus, Barbie has now been a resident in our house for a month now and I have have to ask.... What happened to Barbie?

If you have little girls or granddaughters you know what I am talking about. For lack of a better word...Barbie is indecent and that's being polite! When consulting Santa on which Barbie to purchase David and I where appalled at our options in both dolls and in wardrobe choices. We looked at 3 different stores thinking we just weren't looking in the right place. I thought "maybe there are two different lines of Barbie clothes; one for teenagers and collectors and then a collection more appropriate for little girls." Well there wasn't, what we saw is what we got. We thought long and hard on whether or not we should really let Santa bring Maddy a Barbie but in the end we decided that Maddy would be heart broken if she didn't get a Barbie on Christmas morning. So Santa selected the most modest Barbie he could find and several outfits, all of which are way too skimpy as evidenced in the picture below.

The Wardrobe

Barbie is supposed to instill confidence and reinforce the idea that girls can do and be anything they want. I am not so sure that Barbie does this anymore. Just look at Barbie...how many women do you know that actually look like Barbie? I don't know any. These days with all the pressure young girls and teenagers face to look and act a certain way I don't think they need a doll to add to that pressure. I realize it's up the parents, mainly moms, to talk to their daughters and reinforce that they are beautiful no matter what but let's be realistic here.... we aren't always going to be there when our daughters are playing with Barbie or when they are talking to their friends.

I also realize that Barbie isn't going to go away and in fact David and I don't have any plans on taking Maddy's Barbie away (maybe we should). Instead I want to find a more age appropriate "fashion doll" and that's exactly what I (we) did. Over the next week or so I'll be announcing a new "business venture" here on the blog. It's still in the planning stages and we are waiting on inventory to arrive but I will tell you it's "Bury Cute" and everyone with a little girl is going to need at least one. So stay tuned....