as i've been working at sears, i've had the opportunity to put away a LOT of toys. one thing i've noticed is that, for the girls, especially their dolls, they all seem to have the same types of messages. (you may not agree with my views, but a lot of this comes based on the fact that, since i was brought up LDS, i tend to have a different view than a lot of people) one of the messages that seemes to be sent all the time, which i'm highly in favour of, is that they need to learn childcare, and to beome mothers. i'm fine with that. another mesasage that seems to be getting sent a lot (this is more found with the stupid bratz and barbis.), is that you should find a job that doesnt require any brains. barbi has come out with some "i can be" barbi's. its showing possible carreers for when they grow up. the idea itself isnt bad, its the things they are saying the girls can become. dog walker, baby photographer, art teacher. notice, they can be a teacher, but it cant be a chemistry teacher, or a physics teacher or anytihng like that (and i'm fairly sure they would never promote becomming a park ranger). they arent encouraging anything that uses much of a mind to do. certian skills, sure, but nothing that really requires thinking. then there's the bratz dolls. they are just...as my coworker described them "they are trying to get the girls to become sluts" great description of them. on the back of one of them (i think it was a bratz sportz one) it said "we know that it doesnt matter how well we play, but how hot we look when we win" sorry, i just have a problem with that. it doesnt matter how well we play? since when? thats not how it is in the real world, sorry. it only matters how hot we look when we win? um....no. how can you even expect to win when you promote not carring how well you play? its just...wrong! honestly, its not right. girls are way influenced by what they play with, and, no matter how much my daughter would want it, i dont think that _any_ girl should play with them. look at them. what kinds of morals is it teaching?! none! when i was growing up, at least we had some decent dolls to play with. i'll make sure to save them, and then my girl will have something that istn quite so...blech.
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You may find it interesting that Mattel makes both Barbies and the American Girl Dolls (which, I think you'll agree, are a far cry from the blech of Barbie). I think it may be slightly more recently, too, that Barbie became more boring in her careers. In 1998, they actually put out a NASCAR driver Barbie (okay, so I don't know if that is an exceeding amount of brains, but it is... still somehow in a different category from being a dog walker). In 1984, she got to be an astronaut; I think you can still find the army/navy etc. Barbies at some stores.... and evidently they even made Barbie as a foreign ambassador! Now if that isn't an interesting career that says you can do anything!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie%27s_careers
I once actually found a site that had pics of all of these (I was writing a paper or something on the subject) but I seem to have lost it somewhere.
Bratz, though, I agree, are stupid. Wish they would just kind of disappear off the face of the planet.
By the by, I'm not sure that the views expressed here have anything to do with being brought up LDS... its more about being brought up as a self-respecting woman: One who values her brains over her bosoms... who relishes her ability to think... and who is not of the opinion that having guys falling left and right for her is the be-all and end-all of a woman's life.
I'm trying to imagine a Park Ranger Barbi and all I can come up with is a barbi in green pants screaming about a broken nail.
Can I offer a different solution. Don't buy your daughter dolls. Buy them tools. Or chemistry sets. Or math involved video games. If you want your daughters to think - give them toys that will make them think. Hauling around a doll is nothing to be proud about. Knowing whether that screw requires a phillips or a flat head is a lot more to be proud about.
actually, mattel also makes hot wheels cars. i thought it was rather interesting. but, i'm glad that at one point, barbie actually had exciting jobs like being an astronaught, and and ambassidor.
i would buy my daughter tools, however, since i would hope that she has friends that she plays with, she's going to have dolls with which she will be playing. and, there are some girls who refuse to play with things like tools and such, and will go only for the dolls. its a matter of the child.
"Hauling around a doll is nothing to be proud about"
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with dolls, Sean. After all, if kids use their toys to help role-play their adult lives, then dolls (so long as they aren't encouraging you do be a brainless anorexic bimbo) are great! Encourage them to be a mommy or a daddy! The point may be more to be well-rounded in the toys your kids have available, I think, (i.e. a good mixture of dolls and chemistry sets and rock collections and telescopes and legos and tools and crayons... and lots and lots of books- or does that go without saying? *grinneth*), and then let them decide what they're really interested in playing with.
Of course, being that I don't have kids, I could be falling into that trap of "You always know just how to raise kids until you have your own."
giving them lots of different things to play with works well. but, i've noticed (it could be just cause thats what they've been given as presents) that rachel tends more to play with doll like things, and dante to play more with cars and trucks, and more masculine type things. though i've been hoping, and trying to get rachel more interested in other things (she's taken up lots of reading, and reading after she's supposed to be asleep. like certian aunts...). but, i'll agree that, no offence bonjean, you probably are falling into that trap of "you know how to raise kids till you have your own". each kid is different, and they all have their own personalities, their own likes and dislikes. some girls will go for playing with only dolls, some will go for also playin with things that arent dolls. (i tend to think it has to do with their friends as well, but that's besides the point)
The US has a record number of girls dropping out of math and science classes. We have yet to have a girl President and there isn't any solid likely candidates either. We're lacking in Female soldiers, female CEOs, Female firefighters and Female owned companies. We can't even seem to get a female to the final table of the World Series of Poker.
Yes, there is nothing wrong with lugging around a doll, except that women in this country are weaker for it. If we want our children to role model, let's have not just role model for one particular aspect of life. Women aren't just birthing canals. Therefore, giving a girl a doll might be sending the wrong message.
well true, each kid is different, and personality will play a role in what they end up deciding to play with in the long run... but that may be the best reason WHY to have a good variety- at least then you have the option open if your daughter decides she hates dolls. :) Personality will always win out.
I remember once watching Rachel playing with cars and trucks with Dante... Dante was saying "Vroom! Vroom!! Crash!!!" and Rachel was saying "No see, Dante, This is a mommy car, and this is the daddy car, and this is the little baby car...." :D
"We have yet to have a girl President and there isn't any solid likely candidates either."
*grinneth* What, you don't think that Hillary is a likely candidate? (She is doing fairly well in the polls, last I heard... with the Democrats, at any rate.)
I'd be the first to agree with you that there is a definite shortage of women in all kinds of occupations and places, and that we definitely need more of them... but I would really like to hear your justification for the argument that dolls (not Barbie, necessarily... just dolls generically) make girls think that they are nothing but birth canals- make them weaker and less likely to do something interesting with their lives. After all, I know for a fact that one of my best friends, who is aiming to be a nuclear physicist, played with dolls when she was younger. I also know that my sister who is in the Army (another occupation dominated by men) also had dolls when she was younger. Okay, I suppose those are both anecdotal evidence, but since I'm no longer at the university, I don't have access to JSTOR or Ebsco anymore to be able to do a thorough lit review on the subject *heavy sigh* so if you actually have something to back that up, I'd be interested.
Otherwise, I'm inclined to think that girls dropping out of math and science classes has less to do with them playing with dolls and more to do with a lack of encouragement from various sources- i.e. teachers, parents, high school counselors, etc... I am also convinced that some of the lack of women in various male-dominated occupations has less to do with dolls and more to do with a general societal perception by (the men) who hire for such companies that women are less desirable in such occupations... for instance, the glass ceiling effect in business.
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