The Resurgence just posted an article on how to protect your daughter from Barbie. And they are serious.
Now, I have no daughters. Just the four boys. I have a daughter-in-law, but she didn’t show up until she was past her Barbie years (so far as I know).
Yep, me and the boys always skipped the pink aisle at Toys R Us. The only thing I know about Barbie is that my two older sisters had Barbies. I could comment on the effect Barbie had on them, but I have to see them every Thanksgiving and Christmas, and so I’ll not go there. Besides, I have no idea what effect Barbie had on them.
I do know what effect Barbie had on me. My sisters made me play with the Ken doll while they played with Barbie and her sister Skipper. This involved being very close to actual girl dolls, and I just prayed that none of my friends would look through the window and see me around the pink doll house with the pink carrying case with the pink dolls wearing pink dresses. But I got over it.
I got over it by virtue of the GI Joe action figure (not anatomically correct — and I was entirely good with that). The point of GI Joe was to wage war. Which was very cool and fun. GI Joe did not attend tea parties. He threw grenades at tea parties.
I had two: a spaceman GI Joe with the Gemini space capsule and an Australian jungle fighter GI Joe with a flame thrower. And so my friends and I pretended GI Joe burned the bad guys (played by Barbie and Skipper when my sisters were away from the house) to a crisp. He also had hand grenades and a machete. And that was even better than a space capsule.
My friends and I tried to figure a way to get his toy flame thrower to shoot real flames, but all our experiments failed. For years, I dreamed of owning my own flame thrower.
Now, GI Joe was buff. There was not an ounce of fat on my military action figures at all. They were built like linebackers. And I’m none of the above.
So does GI Joe warp boys? Well, I’ll admit to being warped, but I don’t think GI Joe is the source. Playing with the Ken doll with my older sisters, however, has definitely lefts traces of PTSD.
But, of course, I look at this matter strictly from a testosterone perspective. I have no basis at all on which to understand the impact of raising girls in the Age of Barbie. My kids played with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (Turtles on a half shell! Turtle power!)
So for those of you who know what you’re talking about (i.e., not me), what do you think of the advice from The Resurgence?
Hogwash, simply Hogwash !! I too had the GI Joe and tried to blow up everything in site. Also had a Batman Utility Belt and cape.. which I believe had no ill effect on me as I know I quit running around in the cape VERY shortly after college !! I also had a BB gun, a sling shot and could make a spear out of anything longer than 3 feet !! OK, so I shot my sister with the sling shot but it cost me…dearly..
We worry about Harry Potter because of goblins and witches.. but have no concern in the least for the Wizard of Oz. That was our generation and we didn't turn out cooky so it's OK…with it's witches and flying monkeys…
I worried about the tatooed as if it' were a disease until God showed me it was no worse than my pride. God loves tattoed people. And, because He is God and He is able He even loves the Pierced.
I think we worry and fret as if God isn't going to be there. I think He never leaves. Could be that I believe that because my Mom once told me that if I were to ever do anything inappropriate that she would know (as she twirled the fly-swatter like a baton through her fingers). God was on HER SIDE !! You know what, she was right !!
I played with Barbies and I think I turned out OK.
Barbie is tame compared to Bratz! Neither are advisable for girls – they promote an unrealistic sexualised stereotype.
Wendy, I like my women sexualised 🙂
Jay,
i think you're right that plenty of kids play with toys that may seem questionable to some and yet they don't suffer any noticeable harmful effects in the long run. (i played with all the violent toys and still turned out to be a pacifist.)
But imagine this: Suppose you for some reason your family had to move to the middle east. (And also suppose you have young children.) When you move there you find out that the toy stores there are stocked full of these action figures–Action figures in the form of terrorists and extreme Islamic fundamentalists. The figurines came with suicide-bomb-vests or airplanes for them to hi-jack, etc. So like how G.I. Joe's are 'the real American hero,' these toys are, say, the Al Queda counterpart. The toys are outfitted and equipped for kids to pretend the figurines are carrying out terrorist activities against 'all the corrupt Western empires.'
Would you buy them for your kids and let your kids play with them? If not, why not?
–guy
We live in a fallen world. Barbie is no less so than GI Joe. I still remember my Tarzan underpants from when I was four, beating my chest and hollering and jumping off the sofa. I moved on to toy guns and then was allowed to begin deer hunting with Dad when I was 13. We also played with firecrackers, cherry bombs and M-80s and built things we could blow up. That was fun, but it was funner when I got to go to automatic firearms training and explosives familiarization training. We got make all sorts of bombs and blow up trucks and vans etc. with TNT and varieties of synthetic explosives. I still hunt and would still play with explosives if I had access. I assume many women (and men) are still impacted by the "unrealistic sexualised stereotype" of Barbie and other female images. We still live in a fallen world.
I have three daughters, two of which are old enough to play with Barbies. The Barbies they play with are the Barbies that characterize fairytale princesses. I have watched these movies with them and have been encouraged by the moral content and lessons taught in these movies. My daughters even have the dressups from these particular movies and I find nothing that raises an alarm so far. While there may be some "barbies" that might present cause for alarm, it cannot be said of them all. As a minister and a parent it is something I try to remain aware of.
Google "life size Barbie" and you will find some interesting articles, and not all of them are in precise agreement on her proportions. This web site – http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20055694-1… – has a photo that is interesting – and it would be interesting no matter long her dress was or how much her swimming suit covered.
If it is about role models (which I think is at least part of it) the following statement is to the point (from the article):
This is not to be brushed aside as "hogwash", but in fact quite serious. This is the way the prince ofthe world shapes his slaves; therefore it i worth discussing it. I mean, playing "GI-Joe" and "blowing everything up" should not be the ideals Christian parents teach their boys. Neither is being a "super-pink wonder woman" the ideal a Christian daughter should strive for.
What does it mean to fgrow up as a Christian boy/man or girl/woman? What are the role models and specific glories of each gender according to God's plan? As soon as we have come to accept these, we lose our interest in Barby and GI Joe.
Alexander
Laymond, GIRLS play with Barbies, not women… Sigh. Barbies lead to the objectification of women. Your comment was demeaning.
Alexander,
Is this case you and I are in agreement all the way. The point of my first comment was that the things that seemed neat to me as a child also seemed neat to me as an adult – only on a larger scale. I was born a few years after WWII and machine guns and blowing things up were on display in the culture I grew up in. As Wordsworth said " the child is father to the man" and I assume there is some truth to that when it comes to females as well. Raising a child is a serious matter and w/o a doubt it is difficult to do it in such a way as to overcome the values taught by our society/culture.
Hesed,
Randall
Your comment was demeaning. yeah, I know , but not nearly as much as Pauls. I was joking, Paul was serious.
Heard of the new "Divorce Barbie"? She comes with all Ken's stuff!
See what Alexander got started! LOL
I don’t know what you mean, Alabama John … I was dead serious about it anyway (a usual). So there’s nothing to LOL.
Alexander
Alexander, have a sense of humor.
Cussing in NT times didn’t start with Paul and you seldom hear his quoted
Maybe she thought if you, who are in your own words always so serious, could say one vulgar word it was acceptable on this site.
You never know.
The LOL was because I don’t for a minute believe you had anything to do with that post, doubt it was even anyone we know. Probably some nut!
Lighten up, enjoy this life God gave us. Its beautiful and full of laughter.
Look around, God sure has a sense of humor!
I just had a week with Ecclesiastes (so sobering) – and I have to work tremendous overtime. I’ll be off in a few minutes for another “bright and sunny day” at the printing machines.
The rest lies ahead; and I shall eat and drink and see some god things here as my share of all the labour (this verse brightened up my week quite a bit). But now I am really tired.
But Christ is my sun, my joy and my strength – as well as my resting place.
Alexander
P.S.: But I was – after rereading – quite surprized that some agreed with my comment. That’s also relaxing. Otherwise disagreements tend to tighten me up quite a bit.
Good Alexander,
Some who have had the hardest experiences are those that find the most humor in things.
They have learned to seek that for themselves.
Look for it!!!
Look at my picture – it#s al but serious 😉