I confuse people. About lots of stuff, but in this case, I'd like to address the Barbie issue. I have roughly forty of these little plastic folks. I do not collect them. I play with them. I enjoy combing their hair and dressing them and setting up little scenes with them (not that the scenes last long - I do live with three cats and a kid, after all.)
I'm not defining Barbie by Mattel's copyright. "Barbie" is a species name on Jeanie Planet. Males are included. Fashion dolls made by other companies are included. Prepubescent dolls are included. 1:6 scale action figures are included. I'm pretty sure this might horrify a serious collector.
I pick them out by some distinctive feature. A lot of them have unnatural hair colors. Some of them are characters or celebrities. At least one of them was chosen for her bizarre eye color. If they get a name change, that's probably where the name came from. Violet has a purple stripe in her hair (She came with the name Fashion Fever Barbie).
They generally arrive with a name already. Sharpay became Charmaine because I find misspelled dog breeds to be objectionable. Candy Glam Teresa became Candy because I already had a Teresa. Chelsea became Kelly because I couldn't get used to Mattel's change to Barbie's sister's name. (But Stacie remained Stacie because that sister's original name predates me.) I'm kinda arbitrary about it.
Why, you ask. Why would a grown woman spend her energy and money on such nonsense? I could go into all kinds of psychobabble about my messed-up childhood, but I'll spare us all. It ultimately doesn't matter. I enjoy it and it's harmless.
I do have a few rules about play. Like NEVER, EVER leave someone naked upon the completion of play. I get a little upset about that one.
