Mom's Corner
Stealth Bomber Barbie: Daughters, Dolls, and the Question of Self-Image
A parenting lesson in high heels and a short skirt.
A moment that I had thought about, prepared for, dreaded, and denied for the better part of 20 years arrived this weekend when Barbie crossed our threshold in her 1/4” stilettos clutched by my 3-year-old daughter’s hands. We have a "marble jar" system in our house to remind me and my husband to use positive reinforcement whenever possible. The kids get a marble every time they do something we’d like to see continue (e.g., share, get dressed, not kill each other), and when the jar is full, they are entitled to something of their choosing. After months of working toward their goal, they proudly topped off their jars last week, so my husband took them to Target over the weekend for their big reward. When they got home, my daughter rushed …
Pachacutec
2:22 pm on Thursday, February 9, 2012
I'd forgotten about good old Betty Boop!! Actually, if people are going to place blame for young girls having distorted ideas about their body image, I would say that current female celebrities are probably more of an influence than dolls. As i said earlier, I came up back in the 50's and females in movies and on tv shows were, on the whole, NOT as thin as so many famous women nowadays. But I … more ›