What do you think of Barbie? Would you let your children play with Barbies?

[Nancyg56]

I sorry for that, but we don’t need girls to have the mindset that it is hard before they even have a chance at it.

There is a vast difference between a doll saying math is hard and a child mimicking the doll so much so that the kid decides the subject is hard.

To be fair, I am biased. I find math and algebra to be hard. I am 62 and still struggle with Algebra, so much so that a professor finally told me that there are times when one must accept that there may be an area in which I would not excel.
I graduated with high honors, am an accountant and still cannot get A and B to get along with C.

 

[Kae]

I loved my Barbies. I like most dolls I had a Tiffany Taylor Doll that my grandma made clothes for, and the sunshine family. My DD also played with Barbies.
Kae

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I loved my Barbie stuff when I was a kid. I still have that stuff in my Dad's attic somewhere. My step-daughters were never too big into Barbie. Of course they are too old to play with toys now.

 

[Aurora79]

I loved Barbie, and if I had a daughter I would absolutely let her play with them. I have a son and I’m not bothered he plays with half naked WWE figures. He knows these are toys and the vast majority of men are not jacked up like that.

For what it’s worth, I would also let DS play with Barbies, but alas he has no interest.

 

[low-key]

yes then and yes now

 

[Hrhpd]

What do you think of Barbies? Would you let your children play with them? Do they send a bad message?

I have noticed many of Barbie's clothing styles now look cheap and tacky nowadays.

With those styles I can't believe Barbie ever dressed this classy a decade ago!

What happened? Did Mattel want to save money? Did they want to follow current fashion trends? Do today's parents approve of these styles?

What are your thoughts on this?

That is quite the collection

 

[kuhltiffany]

Barbie is one of the stupidest "toys" ever. If it was a real person, technically with those dimensions, they wouldn't even be able to stand. By the time kids have the dexterity to use the clothes, they aren't interested in playing with dolls anymore anyway. I have never bought one and will never. My mother bought one for my daughter when she was little, she thought it was called a "Darby" until she was 6 or 7

 

[elphaba91]

My sisters and I LOVED Barbies when we were kids and I would absolutely allow my (hypothetical future) children to play with them. Our Barbies were whoever we wanted them to be and were just another way of exercising our imaginations; thinking back, all our favourite childhood toys and games were like that, from dolls to cars to LEGO. I remember when we went to the States in 1999 we went to Target (the only place we went apart from Disneyland!) and all bought Barbies because there was a much bigger range than what was available in Australia at the time, particularly with different races and skin colours. I’m thrilled that there are now even different body shapes available. With respect to clothes, there definitely was some trashy stuff available in the 90s/00s. I can distinctly remember though, my greatest desire for Barbie fashion was a pair of basic blue jeans (which I never found!).

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

 

[aprilgail]

i did not ban them- but my daughter didn't really like to play with barbies. I did ban these dolls called Bratz though- they looked like hookers!

 

[ronandannette]

i did not ban them- but my daughter didn't really like to play with barbies. I did ban these dolls called Bratz though- they looked like hookers!

They were truly dreadful. It brings to mind a clip I saw on youtube once about a lady who was "saving" Bratz dolls by obtaining them from different places (garage sales, swap-meets, etc.), melting the paint off their plastic faces with solvent and then re-painting them as much much more modest and demure little girls.

 

[gwynne]

There are lots of areas in raising kids that require boundaries. But Barbie? NBD. I'll save my hard no for more important issues.

 

[hereyago]

Barbie has had it going on for decades.

She has been with Ken for how long?

She can do anything, be an astronaut, teacher, Presidential Candidate.

She has a townhouse, she likes to camp and has her own camper, has a plane and helicopter.

The fashions she has go with the times.

 

[E&Cmom]

I loved Barbies of a child and they did not ruin me. My girls had some but they were not their favourite toys. They seemed to favour animal toys ( my little pony, Littlest Pet Shop etc) more than doll toys with the exception of my eldest and American Girl Dolls. They did enjoy the Barbie Movies though. I liked them as well.

 

[E&Cmom]

i did not ban them- but my daughter didn't really like to play with barbies. I did ban these dolls called Bratz though- they looked like hookers!

I could not stand Bratz dolls. My friend and I had a pack never to buy each other kids these. Luckily my girls did not like them either.

 

[Hrhpd]

As a child, I do not ever remember associating what my doll looked like or how it was marketed to real life. It was how I played with the doll. I never realized that Barbie's figure was controversial until I was an adult. I never saw it as more than plastic.

Some of my fondest memories are of my mother sitting with me and playing "Barbies" as Barbie went to work as an executive, went to college, and otherwise functioned as capable woman. As an adult, I can now appreciate the time my mother took to play with me and to model an independent woman. It is not the doll. It is how the doll is played with.

 

[bjscheel]

Barbies were one of many toys my girls used in extensive pretend play- along with Care Bears and Build a Bears. Very involved stories and multi-day plotlines.

My youngest in particular was drawn to Barbies and their pretty dresses and hair. I didn't mind. She is 17 now and does like dresses, heels, and makeup. But she also loves her Jeep (I guess Barbie had one of those) and wants to work in a National Park (Tour Guide Barbie??) LOL​

I didn't get into Barbies until I was more like upper elementary so for me it was just dressing them and fixing their hair rather than storylines. I did try making clothes myself- the easiest was to take a square of fabric, cut out head and arm holes, and tie a strip of fabric around the waist.

 

[MrsPete]

I played with Barbie dolls in the 70s. The clothes were my favorite, and I learned to sew in order to dress Barbie nicely. I have no memory of thinking I should look like Barbie myself. I also had Holly Hobby and did not want to look like her.

My kids played with Barbies in the 90s. Again, no harm. Neither of my girls is obsessed with pink high heels. Neither is trying to look like Barbie.

Best advice I ever heard about Barbies when my own kids were young: Allow Barbie (because, if you don't, you create a forbidden fruit), but don't allow her to "live large" in your house. That is, allow a couple of the dolls and extra clothes ... but don't buy the monster-sized dream house, the RV, the Corvette. Don't allow her to become the focus of your kids' toy chest.

I never realized that Barbie's figure was controversial until I was an adult. I never saw it as more than plastic.

Ditto. I think much of the Barbie-hate is adult over-thinking.

 

[Colleen27]

Only one of my kids ever really got into playing with Barbies and other similar dolls. She had a three-story dollhouse and everything. The other two kids really couldn't care less about most dolls, and gravitated more toward Legos (oldest) and art/craft toys (middle). It never really occurred to me to analyze their toy preferences all that deeply. I mostly just bought them what they were interested in and more of what they played with a lot, unless I had a specific objection to something (they wouldn't have gotten "math class is tough" Barbie, for example, but neither would I swear off the whole brand over it).

As far as the "cheap and tacky" clothing, part of that has to do with Mattel moving to a merchandising model similar to the one Disney (and many other major brands) uses - one quality of product for the more expensive stores (ever check out the Barbie section at FAO Schwartz?), another line for the mid-range (Target, Kohls), another for the lowest end (Dollar General, Walmart), all bearing the same logos. Just as the Disney licensed clothing you buy at Walmart isn't as nice as what you get at the Disney Store and the Schwinn bike from Kmart isn't the same as the Schwinn from the neighborhood bike shop, the Barbie dolls and outfits you get at Dollar General aren't as nice as the ones you find at toy shops.

 

[Kitty 34]

I'm kind of in the camp of who cares if you played with Barbies or not?? And if doing whichever was detrimental to your health......so sorry.

I'm waiting now for the thread about playing with Matchbox cars or not.