The Barbie Movie

I couldn't go see it in the theater, being hard of hearing.  Had to wait for home video.  Totally worth the wait.  What a roller coaster!

A lot of the complaints about this movie can be summed up as "it's feminist propaganda".  DUH. Barbie has always been a feminist.  She was invented during the heyday of Donna Reed and June Cleaver, with the stated mission of demonstrating to little girls that possibilities are not limited to being a wife and mommy.  She never needed a man - a movie in-joke that makes me want to hug poor ole Ken.  

I love all the little references to Mattel's history.  Weird Barbie's minions are all discontinued dolls.  The residents of Barbieland live in Dream Houses. There is even a sly reference to the Bratz lawsuit.  Rhea Perlman plays Ruth Handler's ghost.  Barbara Handler has a cameo.  (Ruth created the doll, named it for daughter Barbara.)    

Lots of cameos.  Many celebrities asked to be in this movie and got cast, basically, as extras. 

SPOILERS AHEAD 

Barbies know of The Real World, where they believe the invention of the Barbie doll completely wiped out patriarchy.  When Barbie confides to her friends that strange things have been happening, the consensus is that she's malfunctioning.  She goes to see Weird Barbie, who got played with too hard and is now the local seer.  Weird Barbie sends her to The Real World.  

In the real world, the only ones who know of Barbieland are the executives at Mattel.  There's an interesting bit when Barbie is being told (by Sasha, the girl who outgrew her) how she's bad for the self esteem of girls is juxtaposed with the Mattel executives talking about how the doll is empowering women.  

The Mattel executives find out about Barbie's crossing over and seek her out, trying to avoid a repeat of "the Skipper incident".  Barbie and Ken are quickly discovering that her invention did not obliterate patriarchy.  (This is really the only point I took issue with -- none of the women they see hold any kind of power, anywhere.  In 21st century LA.)  

The executives at Mattel are all male, which could be true in real life.  Mattel was always at the forefront of hiring women and minorities, but even now men hold most powerful positions in corporations.  These men appear (at least to me)  sincere in the belief that the doll is empowering women, and that it is a good thing.  

Ken comes to see that he's the victim of a matriarchy as toxic as the real world's patriarchy ever was.  Barbie is fleeing the executives, with the help of Sasha and her mother Gloria.  The malfunctions Barbie was having, we learn, are the result of Gloria projecting her adult concerns onto the doll.  Ken beats them home.

Barbieland is no more - it has become Kendom.  Barbie and her human friends join forces with Weird Barbie and her minions to take Barbieland back.  I won't give away more than that... there's only a few minutes left after the beach battle fought with tennis rackets and volleyballs.  

Final point - I once laughed at the idea of a Barbie movie getting Oscar nominations.  Not now.  They made it work on all levels, at the same time.  They overthought Barbie even as they made me giggle.  

Muffling The Demon

I considered "Silencing The Demon" as a title for this blog, but let's be honest.  She's never silent, even when I'm at my happiest!  I just had a really lovely holiday season and all she wants to talk about is the things I didn't get.  Ingrate, that's what she is.

For anyone new to my blog, or my head space, I'll explain.  Feel free to skip ahead if you already know about Sybrie The Tenth, aka The Demon.  I suffer from a form of Clinical Depression, with a touch of anxiety and sprinkle of persecution complex.  I use humor as one of my coping methods - humor that some may find offensive - and joke about having ten personalities.  (A riff on the old toothpaste commercials "nine out of ten dentists".)  Sybrie The Tenth is a demon locked in a cage in the back room of my brain.  To use more professional terminology, I have personified my mental illness.

That said, I want to offer tips for anyone out there dealing with a demon of their own.  Your demon need not be Depression for these to (maybe) help you.  Feel free to modify my methods if they don't quite work for you - one size doesn't fit all in this case.

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1. Do what you enjoy.  I struggled for years with my "inappropriate" interests - dolls and story telling, specifically.  My doll play evolved into novels that will probably never see publication. (More on that in a bit.)  I went through phases of trying to be a serious collector of said dolls, and even of giving them away en masse.  What I didn't realize until I went to college in my late 20s is that Play Therapy is a very real thing, and not just for children.  In a nutshell, the very things I felt shame for are probably what's kept me reasonably sane!

Most of my family doesn't read my silly Barbie blog with its photo stories.  But that's okay.  They get that it means a lot to me.  They don't try to shame me... at least not seriously.  I make the photo stories, I play with my dolls, for me.  I've found a whole community on-line to play with!

I have a budget and my bills get paid.  I can adult when I must.  If I've taken food from any one's mouth to buy toys, it was my own.  The only time we should feel shame for what makes us happy is if it hurts others.  Don't let others dictate what you should and should not enjoy!  Be the weirdo!

2. Limit toxins when possible.  This includes, but is not limited to, humans.  You are not required to associate with anyone who consistently treats you badly.  People who love you can and will hurt you, but if all or most of your contact with any person is negative, remove them from your life as much as possible.

I have a phobia of crowds and therefore crowds count as a toxin here.  When I choose to be in a crowd, I always scope out a quiet corner to slip into if I can't deal.  This comes in very handy at things like family reunions.  If nothing else, I go hide in a restroom stall for a few minutes!

3. Own your weakness.  Despite what certain memes might tell you, mental illness is a weakness. Weakness is not something to be ashamed of!  We all have weaknesses and we should accept that.  Work with and around it.  Admit it.  "Why are you out on the deck in the cold?"  "It got too crowded in there.  I'll come back in a bit."

4. Talk to someone.  They don't even have to understand.  They just need to care - so don't do this with toxic people.  They don't have to be a therapist.  They don't have to be real, if all  you need to do is vent. 

5. Educate.   Yourself and others.  My top recommendation for this is Overcoming Depression by Demitri and Janice Papolos.  They do use a lot of medical terminology, which may be off-putting, so consider yourself warned.  Many of the tips in this blog are based on things from this book.  The book also explains symptoms many don't realize are connected to the mental illness.  I have what the book calls thought latency... basically, if the brain is a computer, mine lags. 

6. Retrain Your Brain.  AKA Cognitive Therapy.  Question your negative thoughts.  Suppose a woman calls me stupid. Is she joking?  Does she have a poor vocabulary and meant some other word?  How important is her opinion of me?  Often, I internalize messages others didn't intend.  I had to teach myself to look at the big picture. 

7. It is okay.  Like many, I wake up every morning depressed.  I've learned to accept that it takes me a few minutes to "wake up slow" and be ready to face the world. 

I put a lot into those previously mentioned novels.  Research, mostly.  There are badly researched books on the best seller lists that read like a third-grader wrote them.  Getting a rejection letter from those publishers....  I can't even.  People have advised me to self-publish, but I've caught a lot of flak during my research for writing about anyone who isn't a white heterosexual female!  I'm not sure if I could handle Amazon reviews of that nature.  I'm not a social creature (I probably have less than 100 Facebook friends, including extended family) and the self-promotion needed for self-publishing is not something I am comfortable with. So I've not done more than dabble with the idea. For the most part, I've accepted that those worlds I created will probably never see mass production.  I've learned to write for me. 

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So many aspects of my life are better since I learned to do these things. She's still in there, rattling her cage and telling me lies, but she's not the boss of me.  Not any more. 

Blind Boxes

I keep seeing these toys that, when you buy them, you have no idea which you'll get or what bits and pieces they will come with.  They remind me of the trading cards my brothers used to collect.  Get a double, trade with your buddy, no big deal.  Usually they just came in an envelope or a tiny box.  I like the "World's Smallest Toys" because they're good for the dollhouse.

Blind boxes have exploded in popularity and now you can buy a thing the size of your head (or bigger) that has a whole bunch of things in it.  Again, if that's what floats your boat, go for it.  But once all is said and done, in most cases, you end up with maybe enough toys to fill a cereal bowl and enough trash to fill a stew pot.

With some of them, the packaging is meant to be used as a play set or display, but even with those there are:  Cellophane-type wrapping on the entire thing, a collector's guide, cardboard boxes or compartment doors for each item, and plastic envelopes for each item.

Since so many are dolls, I see unboxing and review videos, and every time, I'm more impressed by the amount of waste than by the toys.  Yes, reuse and recycle is a thing, but so is reduce.




UPDATE:  I found another one I like.  Five Surprise Mini Brands.  Dollhouse scale, realistic looking, toy versions of actual products.  Minimal waste if you're into the reuse thing.

Hobbies Are Selfish?

Imagine you're in a thrift store and you overhear the following exchange by the baby clothes:

Lady: How old is your little one?

Second Lady: I don't have a little one.  I use this fabric for a hobby.

Lady: You take from impoverished babies for your hobby?!  That's very selfish!  You should be ashamed of yourself!  

(BTW - this did not happen to me.  It happened to a member of the on-line doll community.)

Who made anyone the boss of what we can and can't do for hobbies?  Even if you think the hobby in question is dumb, or selfish in this case, why attack a total stranger?  Hobbies only appear selfish until you look at the bigger picture.

Hobbyists contribute.  Second Lady's money goes to supporting whatever charity runs the thrift store, or simply to a local business.  My father quilted and often his work sold at his church's fund raisers.  That money went on to help others.  He gave them to family, which both saved money and spread a little joy.

Hobbyists are less likely to act out harmfully.  Why do I write novels I'm too scared to submit to publishers?  Why play with dolls at 52?  Why have a flowerbed?  Why collect anything?  So I don't lose the few marbles I have left and hurt someone. 

Flower gardeners (both the chaotic sort and the neat grouping sort) spread joy and help pollinators keep the planet functional.  Vegetable gardeners do both and feed people.  Collectors just might have something that can put Junior through college.  Art of any sort fills proven psychological needs.

Hobbies are not selfish. 






 

Project Mc2 doll

I've been eyeballing these dolls for a while now.  They're aimed at getting girls interested in STEM classes (always something I can get behind) and have joints at knees, hips, wrists, elbows, shoulders, and neck.  However, they have huge noggins and I've heard not of the best quality.

I found one for $7.50.  A standard Barbie (joints at neck, shoulders, and hips only) generally runs 7-10 bucks.  I've never seen a Mc2 doll with painted eyes.  Usually they have "glass" eyes.  Maybe that was the reason for the low price.  She did still have the giant head, but that wasn't a problem, since she was going to be the body donor for a head swap.

Her included science project was a plastic volcano and the classic vinegar-and-baking-soda directions.  Her joints are slightly flimsier than in similar dolls, but she didn't fall apart when I undressed her.  (Yes, I've had knock-offs do that.) 

I compared the skin tone to the gals awaiting a head swap and made the switch.  New head promptly fell off.  Her neck was even skinnier than Barbie's!  I have figure out how to keep that head on, but remember seeing that in a DIY blog.   

Then I noticed it.  She was only 10 inches tall.  Lucky for me, the face mold on the doll I used was "less mature".  She is a bit more developed than Skipper and friends, but so are the High School Musical dolls and Alex, so it worked out well.

Not bad for the mark-down price.  Especially considering the lack of articulated 10 inch dolls.  My other young teens are jealous!

The Fashion Doll Market

Lots of news reports tell us that Mattel is foundering, that their signature doll lines are losing money.  I've been thinking about why that is and what they (and other companies) can or should do about it.  I realize the odds of anyone in power at those companies seeing this are slim.  I just want to get it out there, maybe stir up some conversation about it.

Monster High pushed Barbie off her throne a few years ago.  The first time I saw a Monster High doll, I was intrigued.  The offspring of classic movie monsters as fashion dolls?  And look at the articulation!  The striking hair colors and face paint!  Detailing on the wardrobe!

They lost their appeal for me, though, upon further inspection.  For one thing, I find them way too skinny and their heads are disproportionate.  They look like a lemon balanced on a chopstick.  I've never been a fan of anime eyes on dolls, either.

As I understand it from Monster High fans, the problem with the line is that product quality has fallen.  The Monster High dolls have lost the fantastic detailing.  The face paint is suffering - these formerly dynamic personalities are beginning to suffer from Vapid Face.  Yet Mattel's prices have remained the same, or even gone up.

Barbie doesn't seem to be suffering from a quality assurance problem so much as a customer feedback one.  They introduced different body molds and skin tones and reintroduced the sisters, which gave the line a boost, but then Mattel... sat on their hands.  I've yet to see those new body molds on anything but the Fashionistas and the sisters are stagnating while Mattel pushes 200 dollar dollhouses that can spy on you.

The sisters could be a cash cow. They could bring back the "sharing sisters" sets or even just make the sisters individual fashions.  I've heard that Skipper will be getting some friends, but Stacie has none.  And, oh, the play set potential!  Yet all Mattel gives them is yet another horse or dog.  Those horses really drive the price up, too.

Articulation was and is a big selling point on most doll lines, but your standard Barbie has very little.  The head turns and they move at the hips and shoulders.  Why would a parent pay as much for that as for another doll that can bend the elbow and knee?  Maybe even wrist and ankle?

All of the popular dolls lines are rooted in friendships. Kids are going to buy the "best friend" or "sweetheart" of the doll they already have.  Adult collectors are likely to do the same, for display purposes.  Most of the lines are officially set in a High School.  Teen Drama sells.

The companies need to get back to basics.  Kids want to use their imaginations.  Adult collectors want stunning detail work, and not in a motherboard.  Parents want a good value.  Stop with the amazing technology and just give us, you know, dolls.

Regifting

I have a niece who, for reasons beyond the control of either of us, I did not know very well.  I bought her gifts using her age and sex as a guideline. So, Barbies.  Eventually, I learned that she just wasn't a Barbie girl.  Simple communication could have prevented the whole situation, but that's beside my point.  She got unwanted and unneeded gifts.  What should she have done with them?    Kept them forever?  Threw them at me?

Regift like you have some sense, of course.  Don't open it and blurt out "I don't want this."  Don't turn around and hand it to Aunt Martha right in front of the giver.  But by all means, if I give you something you can't or won't use, pass it on.  Thank me for the thought, take it home (or wait til I leave) and wrap it up pretty to give Aunt Martha at her birthday.  Donate it to the charity of your choice,even.

The best course of action is to know what the receiver wants, of course.  I love the idea of registering for gifts when you marry or have a baby.  Kids write letters to Santa.  If you're close enough to them, you don't even need a list.  Items will jump off the shelves and scream their names at you.

Anyway, I have no problem with and even encourage regifting done well.  I'd much rather see Aunt Martha with it, if she'd love it and you don't.  If I get rich, I promise not to cut you out of my will for it.  Unless you did throw it at me.

Dressing a BOUS: Part Two

Barbie Of Unusual Size, in case you're wondering.  I have two:  My Size Barbie (Redhead) and Supersize (18 inch) Pocahontas.  Both of them came in the original clothes.  Pocahontas in a halter and mini skirt.  Rusty (the My Size) in a huge, fluffy bridal gown. 

I found a regular-size boy doll on one of my yard sale/thrift store jaunts and his clothes were way too big.  On impulse, I tried them on Pokey...  they fit!  So she had at least one wardrobe change. 

Mattel says Rusty can wear 4T size.  Mattel isn't wrong, but the clothes hang on her and waistbands need taken in.  That much sewing I can do.  Some experimentation tells me the best fit for her is actually 18 months, if you don't mind miniskirts. And she's Barbie, so we know she can rock the miniskirt.

A regular Barbie comes up to Pokey's boob and Rusty's knee, so they can't really play together.  So Pokey and Rusty are largely decor items and I am trying to dress them seasonally.  For Rusty,  I grab the markdowns after the holiday in question.  She does need short sleeves.  Her Halloween shirt was made to look like layers and I snipped off the long portion. 

Pokey required more research and creativity...  both my strong points!  Turns out a woman's knee sock, cut off at the heel and trimmed around the hem with lace (to hide my clumsy stitching) makes a strapless dress for Pokey.

Rusty's set for Valentine's Day, Halloween, patriotic holidays, football season, and even "dress-up" occasions.  Pokey has Christmas and Valentine's Day, along with a classic "little black dress".  But now that I've figured this out, they'll be set in no time! 

The Lazybones Guide to Doll Customization

I've been looking at DIY Barbie videos on You Tube.  My favorite is My Froggy Stuff.  She is into doll photography and creates dioramas for them.  The only problem with her crafts is that she intends them for much gentler play than my dolls get.

A good bit of the things I've done with/for my dolls, though, has been inspired by her.  I just have to find ways to make it sturdier and less complicated.  She creates rooms - bedrooms, kitchens, classrooms, even grocery stores - from cardboard boxes and various craft supplies.  That's too much like work for me.

Instead of doing all that, I invested in a strong dollhouse.  It's meant for American Girl type dolls, which gives me huge rooms for my Barbies.  On their scale, we're talking 8 X 16 rooms with eleven or twelve foot ceilings.  (A fashion doll house usually gives them  8 by 8 rooms with very little overhead clearance.)  

Unlike the interior walls of many dollhouses, these are not printed with pictures of furniture.  Just "wallpaper".  Wall art in the kitchen consists of dollar-store coasters and stickers.  Small decals (human scale) make for large wall art (doll scale). The back of a calendar of old-fashioned pin-up girls - the area that shows all twelve months' pictures - is a poster in the boys' room.  Some other things you can find on their walls are logos from Nerf gun packaging, an educational card about a fish called the sarcastic fringehead, and stickers.

The only furniture I've made myself is a pedestal bed made from a storage box.  I just covered the lid with fabric and added a colorful head board.  Nothing nearly as complex as some of those DIY videos do.  Most of the other furniture is Barbie or Monster High brand.  Very little of it was purchased new.  I love my yard sales!

The dolls themselves I don't do a lot of work on.  What I do is usually rebodying. For example, a doll with a very interesting face but a non-articulated body meets an articulated doll with a Vapid Face and a matching skin tone.  I pop the heads off and switch them!  Very few dolls the size of Skipper or smaller are articulated, so my younger set remains stiff-armed.  At least the legs are usually bendy. 

I don't try to reroot hair or repaint faces.  I have been known to trim hair if the hair is impossible to comb out or if it combs out unevenly, but that's the extent of it.  I'm amazed at the work I see in the videos and blogs, but I just do not have those skills or that much patience.  

Keyboard Vigilantes

This isn't about Keyboard Warriors - that would be a case of the pot calling the kettle black.  A good Keyboard Warrior is civil, respectful, and logical.  This is about individuals who think they have the right to censor what other individuals say or do.  Not by reporting the offensive thing to the service provider, but by attacking the speaker and anyone who agrees.

Two pictures have sparked outrage and even gotten me unfriended:  Section Eight Barbie and Welfare Barbie.  Section Eight Barbie was the standard blonde - but pregnant, with two or three toddlers around her, and leaning on the wall of stereotype Project Housing.  The children were not the same race as their implied mother.  Welfare Barbie is also the pregnant blonde, but she's pushing a shopping cart full of beer, cigarettes, and toddlers.  None of these toddlers is the same race as their implied siblings.

While no one said in so many words that I wasn't allowed to share or laugh at them, the implication was there.  We who shared the joke and anyone who didn't respond with moral outrage was a racist snob - never mind the fact that many of us have "dated outside our race" and/or are, ourselves, drawing government benefits. Never mind an established pattern of behavior that showed how non-racist and non-snob we are.

In the case of Section Eight Barbie,  the "racist snob" didn't even notice that the children were of a different race.  She saw someone making fun of the official version of Barbie and shared it with me, her favorite Barbie Girl.

I often share Welfare Barbie myself, usually in response to jackasses who believe the Welfare Stereotype. I see the white mom with three kids - one Asian and one black - as nothing more than visual shorthand for promiscuity.

I'm in a Facebook group about The Walking Dead.  You know, that TV show with zombies being the nicest of the bad guys?  Someone there posted a pun about if Judith (a baby) had been caught by the cannibal bad guys she'd be Baby Back Ribs.  You can probably guess the rest.

So...  here is a list of the things I find offensive.  Polarized politics, Willful Ignorance, Thinking men should be able to read women's minds instead of taking them at their word, Looks taking priority over Heart and Brain, Religious fanaticism.  I do not attack people for these things, particularly if they are obviously mocking them.  But I'm the crazy person.

Another Barbie Rant

Just saw a news story about a woman who made a breast feeding Barbie.  Every now and then another story comes along about the Lammily doll - the normal Barbie is what that one usually gets called.  How pathetic do they think children are?  Dolls run on imagination and if your kid is so lacking in that area that they need all this stuff that's being sold, I'm afraid you have bigger problems.
You want your doll to breast-feed, pop open her shirt and have her hold a baby to her breast.  This is much easier with a elbow-articulated doll, by the way.  You want her to have a period, make her some little pads out of paper or bits of cloth.  There is no need for all these specialized dolls.

I give credit to the toy makers for more realistic proportions, even though I do not agree that Barbie's freakish figure psychologically damages children.

Lammily you can buy scar stickers for.  My Barbies have scars - mostly stray pen marks - and these aren't removable.  Who's realistic now, Lammily?  I've had Barbies lose limbs and explained it away with car accidents.  But some revolutionary out there is making amputee dolls.

I'll admit to having to coach my minions a bit, but I am not going to buy them something they can improvise for themselves.  If your child cannot figure out how to make a Zombie Fighter out of dolls, clothes, and accessories they already own...  I blame you.  Granted, it is more fun sometimes to have the specific character, but I'm referring to generalities.  A lot of these amazing, innovative dolls I'm hearing about are variations my doll-play even as a child. In the 1970s.

Little Plastic People - Part 3

Been looking at Barbie blogs.  There's a lot of them where folks have like whole communities of dolls and stage soap operas.  I really like the one called "How To Play With Barbies".  It's by a lady who has taken my philosophy of using the dolls as teaching tools way beyond what I do.  For example, in my Barbie World, if a kid wants to make Kira be married to Candy, I'm okay with it. Well, this lady has a doll of a lesbian celebrity - and  a doll of the real-life wife. She made the wife doll.  MADE it!  She used a doll of Mimi from The Drew Carey show to teach her daughter not to hate on fat people.  She seeks out dolls she can use for lessons.

I try not to have hard-and-fast rules about doll play.  I think it stifles creativity.  Right now, I'm making an album on my Facebook that's 2016 Barbie Scenarios and I have established for that a dollhouse family and some roles for others. But that probably won't be permanent, considering I'm eyeing the teen son for my next purge.  Also because, like I said, I try to avoid hard and fast rules.

My Barbie population now stands at 17 females, 10 males, and four animals.  I divide them into age groups by not just body molds, but faces as well.  A few of them are ambiguous - Mary could be a tall early teen or a late teen.  Sulu, Four, and Finnick are late teens or adults.  Skipper falls somewhere between the young teens and child.  Most of the adult females can also serve as late teens, but some of the faces firmly place them in one group or the other.

My minions have many stories of doll play at Jeanie's.  I've pontificated in the past about gender roles, so I'll spare you most of that.  Suffice to say that, to the best of my knowledge, none of my male minions has been gay.  There is a very real difference in how the boys play...  usually someone ends in with a head in the oven or toilet...

Little Plastic People (part 2)

It's no secret that I like Barbie dolls.  I've got a six foot dollhouse (made for American Girl size dolls), a zillion Barbies, A redheaded My Size named Rusty, and an 18 inch Pocahontas.  What might surprise some folks is that I don't run around buying them willy-nilly.  I do have standards.

I prefer jointed dolls, as they are more easily posed in my scenarios and easier to dress. My favorite man dolls are Sulu and Pike - Playmates dolls jointed much like a GI Joe.  If I can't get joints, I want a natural looking pose.  The doll should have bent elbows or, at the least, relaxed arms.  Those perfectly straight stereotype-zombie arms?  No, thank you. One of my dolls isn't jointed at all, but the molding of her arms and legs and even the unusual body mold give her a sassy attitude. The blue hair and ornery expression help, too!

Unlike many Barbie Girls, I don't care for hair play - my last two purchases were short-haired, in fact. I go for unusual hair colors - many of mine have at the very least a streak of some odd color in their hair.  The ones who don't definitely had some other feature I liked!

Facial expressions are important, too.  Too many fashion dolls suffer from Vapid Face.  Even if my doll doesn't look like a genius, it needs to have something going on.  Barbies are meant to be a blank slate - at least that was what Ruth Handler had in mind when she invented them - but that's just a little too blank for me.

One bonus to having various sizes is that clothes almost always fit somebody.  Even those ridiculously skinny Monster High clothes do - the less sexy ones make adorable dresses for Viv and Kelly (four inch toddlers).

I am not a collector.  Collectors leave the poor things trapped in the boxes and I just can't do that - I've tried.  I currently have Fred and Wilma Flintstone in boxes.  They keep talking to me...  

Dressing a BOUS

For the most part, fashion dolls are roughly the same size and shape.  Most of the clothes are interchangeable, even for the nine inch ones.  The only real issue I've had with is Monster High fashions - they are generally too small for anyone, but the minidress makes for an adorable (if snug) maxidress on Barbie's little sister Kelly! But what about the BOUSes - Barbies of Unusual Size?

Years ago, I had in my care two My Size Barbies.  They wore 4T in people size, with an occasional alteration to the waistband.  Both were the standard white blondes.  I saw in the stores other races, but only in ads did I see the redhead.  I coveted that redheaded My Size - even wrote one into my novel.  Yesterday, the boy talked me into going to the Flea Market and one of the booths had two My Sizes, one the standard blonde with a repainted face and the other a redhead. REDHEAD.  In the Mattel bridal gown.  She'd been played with, clearly, but both she and the gown were in good shape.  I did hesitate - this close to Christmas, we have rules about buying stuff for yourself, but eventually she was safely ensconced in my Mamma Cart and on her way home with me.  

Mattel made an eighteen inch Barbie as well, called Supersize Barbie.  I managed to get my hands on one of those a few years ago - Disney's Pocahontas, no less! Since the usual doll that size is a well fed little girl shape, she can't wear the eighteen inch doll clothes found in stores.  I still browse them, hoping to find something my meager sewing could make fit, but no dice.  I could go on-line and spend more for her clothes than for my own, but there are limits to my obsession.

One of my pleasures in my dolls is dressing them for various holidays - I've even dressed them for Halloween parties attended by humans.  My redhead can wear people clothes, once I buy her some, but poor ole Pokey is stuck in the halter and miniskirt Disney designed for her.  

Little Plastic People

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.

Bazookas and Barbies

If you buy your kids guns, they will be Jack The Ripper.  If you buy your kids fashion dolls, they will be prissy and brainless.  What?!  That's possibly the silliest thing I ever heard of.  A BB Gun or a Barbie is an inanimate object.  It has no power over you or yours.  What has the power over you, particularly as a child, is other people.  I live with a seven year old boy who plays with both weapons and dolls.  He is not growing up to be either Charlie Manson or Liberace.

He knows not to shoot anything with a face and a pulse - unless he is going to eat it, or it is trying to eat him - even with Nerf.  Violence he sees on TV and video games is explained in context.  "Yes, James Bond killed that guy, but that guy was trying to blow up Europe."  "Captain Kirk was bad to want to kill all the Klingons.  I'm glad he figured that out."   

The dolls technically aren't his, they belong to the crazy aunt in the attic.  At least, the evil fashion dolls are.  His plastic people are 'action figures' and therefore either belong in the War Toys discussion or are socially acceptable.  The fashion dolls generally have what he calls "Barbie School".  He is teacher and principal.  Curriculum has covered subjects like Pokemon, volcanoes, video games, dinosaurs...  never fashion!  His class has a variety of skin tones (many of them aren't even human), they all get along, and most of them look like they've been through a wind tunnel.

We teach by example.   I have used Barbies for many years to teach kids of both genders about the things that make us different, and how it ultimately doesn't matter unless you're hurting someone. My Barbies have had adventures that'd curl Mattel's hair!  The hunters and military men in my family have always been very big on the safety issues.  And, no, that doesn't meant put the safety on before handing the gun to Junior.

Inanimate objects do not have that kind of power unless YOU give it that power.  Even the official toy company line has no power once that toy is in your kid's hot little hands.  Hand your little girl a Barbie and she's going to emulate the people around her.  Hand your boy a Nerf Bazooka and he's gonna do what he's been taught is appropriate. Switch the toys and the kids will be fine.

I used to get really mad about "Boy Toys" and "Girl Toys" because I felt that it limited the child's options, but I've come to realize that it is a generalization.  Most boys prefer certain toys, most girls prefer other toys.  This is not meant to be a limitation, no one is going to stop a little boy from buying Barbie.  Except maybe you...

 

Welcome to my world.

I am one of Those People.  You know, the ones who draw Disability even though you can't see anything wrong with them.  The ones everyone knows are just plain lazy.  The "beer and cigarette" people.    I have a sense of humor about it - thus the name of my blog. 

  

I live with a nephew, his wife, and their son.  I earn my keep mostly through housework and child care.  I don't smoke or drink.  My main addictions are books and Barbies.  If they ever make a Star Trek political party - based on the Prime Directive and "The needs of the many" - I might join it.  I'm an environmentalist, but hardly a fanatic.  If we don't go green, Mother Nature will bite us in the butt and it will be our own fault.