‘When she dresses like a stripper, she’s inspiring a whole legion of little girls who want to look like kinderwhores.’ Too True

I consider myself a progressive, alright, actually, a liberal, and this whole ‘Barbie’ craze is derogatory to women. A real life woman with Barbie’s figure would not be able to walk, much less stand up. I never allowed ‘Barbie dolls’ in my house. This S&M ‘Barbie’ is going too far. What will they think of next?

Its about time they did something for the Dads! Whooohoooo!!!

Wives take notice!!!

When you go to the Barbie Collectors site that Aisha posted, click on Barbie Loves Pop Culture. Plenty more dolls prior to this one with a similar message.

This is not an “S & M” Barbie, and those that classify it as such are nothing but ignorant reactionaries. I won’t get into the Barbie versus feminism angle in general but I’ll point one thing out. Barbie has often produced “influenced” dolls based on some licensing agreement or event. It may be McDonalds Barbie or Gone With the Wind Barbie. This is absolutely no different. Black Canary has been around, wearing fishnets mind you, since the 40’s and 50’s. I know its only a comic angle, but Canary just became the first official female leader of the iconic Justice League. It’s one of those silly trivial comic points like Superman or Captain America dying, but at the same time it should be noted that the character is a strong female leader and no just some sex pot.

If you don’t care to study the situation fully, shut up. Otherwise you sound like a moron.

And yet, Barbie’s still much better than a Bratz doll…

I believe the commonly used word is prostitot

The uproar is great press for Mattel. I personally think it’s nonsense that people would be upset over this. It’s a special collector’s doll. If you don’t like this particular one for your kids, then don’t get it. If you are really that wound tight that you are going to ban Barbies from your house because of some moral issue, so be it. Probably the same group of people that take issue with several other things in life on a daily basis.

As for the issue of dimensions for Barbies not being real life…it’s the same with boy toys as well. For example, the Power of the Force Star Wars line prior to Episode I coming out had Pujols/McGwire like figures. Sorry son, daddy doesn’t look like that so you can’t play with those. As a matter of fact, those Playmobil characters look a bit stiff too…Go outside and jump around in a circle instead. The Scarlett figure of the current GI Joe line looks like she has scoliosis… maybe Hasbro isn’t being sensitive enough.

Maybe parents should be more concerned about not leaving their 11 month old child in a pool by themselves, to go to the bathroom???

I have to agree with the post that it is still better than the Bratz dolls!

Reality check - Barbie has been around for decades. Adults collect them & I’m sure this is the target market for this doll.

I don’t have a problem with my daughter playing with Barbie. I played with them & did not have issues due to her proportions. Besides, my dd can look at me & her friend’s mothers to see reality any old time she wants.

Come on, would you really buy this for a young child? If so, then perhaps the problem lies with the parent.

Kinderwhores? IMO it is up to the parents to keep their children dressing/acting appropriately. It isn’t Mattels’ responsibility.

First let me start by saying, “I am not a prude”. However, these images cannot help but be harmful to little girls’ image of what a woman should be. Plain and simple. NO redeeming value whatsover. Don’t market it in the toy isle, if you want to focus on the fetish crowd. They will find it if they want it.

I’m an open minded person who believes alternative lifestyles are just an added bonus to our culture, but when it comes to kids it makes no sense to bring sexual imagery into play. Does Mattel like to encourage low self esteem, unrealistic body images (which as a result could lead to anorexia), and sexuality in children? Because Barbie has seem to always set out to encourage these things. It isn’t so much that she has this unrealistic figure, but the fact that repeatedly she’s been dressed up in clothing children should not be wearing. Are they marketing these dolls to adults and we’ve just gotten it all wrong? I don’t think so.
If you’re going to make a doll for kids, don’t put clothes on it you wouldn’t let your kids wear. I’d be seriously concerned if these toy manufacturers have children and be investigating whether or not those kids are safe right about now..

Yes, I will agree that this Barbie is extremely racy but on the other hand if someone is stupid enough to give to a child then they have issues. They’re probably the same people who give their children Bratz dolls, who in my opinion look like hookers and encourage kids to wear clothes that cover nothing. The responsibility to teach our kids is not on the toy companies but us, as parents we have to teach our kids what is appropriate and what is very unappropriate.

As someone who grew up with Barbies and is now an adult with a healthy enough self-esteem, I just can’t get worked up about this. This doll is clearly labeled at Barbie Collector.com as “for the adult collector over 14 years old,” as are several other dolls on this site. There’s a huge population of grownups who collect these special edition Barbies; I myself have a few that let me indulge my nostalgic tendencies.

It is just like anything else…don’t buy it if it doesn’t reflect your values. If either of my children saw that doll and made a comment about the outfit, I’d just say in a neutral voice, “Yeah, she’s wearing tights with diamonds on them” and move on to something more appropriate without getting upset. If my young niece saw it in the Wal-Mart toy aisle and asked me for it, I’d say, “No, I think that outfit is a little too grown up…let’s choose something else.” And that would be it.

While I agree that children are over-sexualized these days, this doll is clearly aimed at adults. The adult thing to do is to keep that in mind and then to steer the children to alternatives that meet your standards. Getting worked up about the mere availability of something will just make a kid wonder what all the fuss is about and want it even more. I see my job as guiding my children’s choices, not taking away other people’s.

where do you draw the line between freedom of expression and censorship?

do barbies pose a threat to perpetuating negative body image amongst children in todays society? of course!

is a barbie in fishnets something that should be marketed towards kids? i don’t think so

truth be told, with everything out there from britney spears, to tila tequila parents shouldn’t be focusing on protecting their children from the world as much as taking time to spend with their children, and talking with them, to equip them how to make good moral decisions.

children are insecure, sexual beings with an insane amount of curiousity
whatever you are hiding from them, they will find. on the internet, from their friends, etc. etc. so are you gonna ban barbies from your house? cut the tv and internet chord? keep them from talking to other kids?

well that’s your choice.

As the proud owner of 36 “vintage” Barbies, I think I can speak on the topic. My grandmother gave me all the dolls - at birthdays and Christmas. I was still getting them into my college years as a bit of a joke. After about a dozen typical Barbie (Pretty & Pink, Angel Face…) she declared that she was sick and tired of blonde Barbies (we’re all brunetts). That year I got a Black Barbie - this was the 80’s, she was actually labeled “Black”. After that it was all International Barbies - my collection is the color of the rainbow.
As for playing with them, I would dress my favorite Barbie in a white sundress, arm her with a cocktail sword and play Amazon Barbie Heros. In 7th grade I got an A on a history project because I dressed my Barbie in pilgram clothes and made her part of a diorama. (Ok, it helps when your mom can sew).
It should be noted that my parents bought their little girl lots of cap guns(I had an M-16 from the TV show SWAT), stick horses and cowboys hats, Adventure People (guys in canoes and jeeps), Star Wars figures, Tonka Trucks and shoe box full of Hot Wheels.
It’s called balance people! If Fish Net Barbie is the only thing the poor girls have to play with, then it might give them the wrong ideas. But girls like other stuff too - even if they let their Barbies drive the Tonka Truck - mine did!
Oh, and at the age of 10, it never occurred to me that Barbie’s chest was too big. My Sindy doll’s head was too big - that freaked me out more!

I played with Barbies as a kid clear up to junior high — when I was a kid, girls played with dolls until much later ages and didn’t grow up so early. I was bright enough to realize Barbie was a doll and not a real girl and therefore didn’t expect her to look like me or me to look like her. It’s a TOY. So I didn’t have self-image “issues” due to playing with her or her odd proportions. I should hope today’s girls are also bright enough to know the difference.

It’s exactly what american culture wants its women to be, no matter if they are underage or not. You can’t fault Barbie for mirroring this sick american culture we have going where women of every age are treated badly. Open them legs up Barbie and do what you were put on earth to do. Please those men and women, and keep your mouth shut girl! Cut the hypocrisy. Clean it up if you worry.

Oh, this just goes right along with those energy drink look alike cans the brewers are filling with alcohol to push to your kids. AB starts ‘em early. Now where did all the candy cigarettes go?

I played with Barbies as a kid and am looking foward to sharing the ones I saved from my childhood with my daughter. As someone else said, if my daughter wants to see reality, she can look at me and her friends moms to see that Barbie isn’t reality. I didn’t think I had to look like Barbie anymore than I thought babies actually came from cabbage patches! To me, this is just another thing the media is making into a bigger deal that kids probably wouldn’t have even thought twice about had it not been made into an issue.
If you don’t like what Barbie is wearing, don’t buy it and move on with your life! Parents have to be able to talk to their kids about what is appropriate rather than hope someone else will do it for them.
I have to agree though, that companies are trying to make kids grow up too early, that’s where I step in. Clothing manufacturers are making shirts and skirts shorter, that’s when it’s my job to make sure my kid wears things that are age appropriate. I don’t expect Mattel to teach my child about a positive self image any more than I expect the school to parent my kid. Oh wait, a lot of people DO expect teachers to be parents so they don’t have to be responsible….