Barbie World

As the group, Aqua, so eloquently put it: "I'm a Barbie girl in this Barbie world. Life in plastic, it's fantastic. You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere. Imagination, life is your creation. Come on Barbie, let's go party, ah ah ah yeah."

Growing up, I loved Barbies. I had seventeen Barbies, and I played with every one. My sister and I built a Barbie town in our basement, using blocks, boxes, and doll houses. We spent hours drawing and cutting out little paper money for our Barbies to use. Each of our Barbies had their own job. Of course, we always had one favorite Barbie, usually the newest, and she and Ken lived in the mansion in town (we each had a Ken and a mansion), and that couple was the center of whatever plot we were playing that day.

We even had a convalescent home for Barbies that might have special needs. The one who had a skiing accident off our banister and lost a leg (Ken left her shortly thereafter). We built her a wheelchair out of cardboard. The one that wasn't a real Barbie and her scalp could swivel making her blonde or brunette. She had an unfortunate hair cut that necessitated her stay in the home. And the one who, on the same ski trip, broke her neck (the kind with the little ball on the end). We could put her head back on, but she had no neck afterwards and was shorter than the other Barbies. (The other Ken left her too. Our Kens were real bastards.)

Samantha, has already discovered the wonders of Barbie. She also loves them. Her collection is starting to approach the vastness of mine, that took years for me to accumulate. This is mostly due to the addition of the Disney Princess Barbies she got for Christmas from her Nana. (I don't think they're Mattel, but close enough.) She loves them. She sleeps with all seven of them and they must always be in whatever room she is in.

Today, we won a silent auction bid at her school for a basket entitled "Barbie Explosion". In addition to three new Barbies (she got one, her sister got one, and I'm saving one for a birthday present, probably), there were Barbie stickers, Barbie jewelery, Barbie coloring pad, and other Barbie things I'm not even sure what to do with.

All this new Barbie stuff made me realize how far Barbie has come since my days. I'm not just talking about her new, "more realistic" figure. I'm talking about the sheer volume of Barbies out there. Barbie was always an active gal, but now, my God, she must be exhausted. You can get veterinarian Barbie, Doctor Barbie, astronaut Barbie, Bride Barbie, surfer Barbie, and mermaid Barbie. Samantha's win today was a Rapunzel like barbie with hair extensions you can snap in and out.

Barbie also varies her size and shape to fit her profession. The new surfer Barbie we got today has wide, flat feet. No perma-high heel feet for her. And, I was shocked to discover the seven princesses cannot interchange their clothes. They are different sizes. Jasmine, Ariel, and Snow White are petite little things whose clothes do not fit easily on more average sized Tianna and Belle. And, apparently, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are gargantuan Nordic women, because you can't even get Jasmine's genie pants over their thighs.

With all these new Barbie developments, I am having a hard time pacing myself. I find myself browsing the Barbie aisle in stores, looking for something Samantha may like. I can't wait until she and I can go to the aisle and dream of all the Barbie dolls we she can have. I can't wait until she starts wanting new clothes to put on them so I can buy a case with hangars like I had.

I know a lot of moms dislike Barbie because she sets up an unrealistic body image. Not me. To me, she's just a doll---the best doll in the whole world!

(Sorry for getting that annoying song stuck in your head. I felt this post needed a sound track. And if you don't know the song, whatever you do, don't go looking for it. You'll never get it out of your head.

Doll Colors

When I was shopping with Samantha for her Barbie doll this weekend, she initially picked out a bride Barbie that was blue eyed and blonde. My gut response to the blonde Barbie was to find the same Barbie with brown skin and see if she would prefer the brown Barbie to the blonde Barbie. I did find an African American Bride Barbie and she got that one. When I look around our house, I see that most of her dolls are brown skinned: Latina, African American, Asian. The white dolls we have, when I think about it, were mostly given to her by her Japanese relatives, while the brown dolls were given to her mostly by her white relatives.

It got me thinking why it bothered me that she would pick out a blonde Barbie. Is it really a hang up I have? Does the race of the dolls really make a difference? And isn't kind of funny that her white relatives tend to buy her brown dolls and her Asian relatives tend to buy her white dolls? Why is that?

Is it, that when we see her, we pick out the differences from ourselves instead of the similarities. Her skin is darker than mine, so does my mind make her identity more Asian than white? Do her Japanese relatives look at her and see lighter skin than theirs and therefore identify her more with her white heritage? And then we all buy the dolls that we think look the most like her?

Will she, as I've read about people who are half white, half African American, not really be accepted by either race as she grows up? Too white to be Asian, too Asian to be white, and therefore be an outsider her whole life, not really fitting in anywhere?

Am I not as color blind as I thought? I married outside of my race and truly believe skin color is not important and does not make a person who they are anymore than hair color does. Or do I not believe that, deep down. Do I really believe that your identity, who you are, is somehow linked to your skin color?

In actuality, I think the color of the doll's skin bothered me because I know she chose the blonde Bride Barbie because she thought she was prettiest. I know that because that's how I chose my dolls growing up. And the Bride Barbie was pretty. She had a beautiful white gown with ruching on the bodice, spaghetti straps tied halter style around the neck, a flowing skirt with a glittered, lacy overlay, with a hot pink ribbon around her waist and matching, strappy hot pink high heels. She wore a veil over her hair, diamond earrings, and a gigantic diamond ring that gleamed from the box.

But when she came with the blonde doll, I thought, is that Samantha's idea of pretty? Does she think blue-eyed and blonde is the prettiest Barbie? Does she not think the brown Barbie is pretty? The one, that in my mind, looks the most like her. I want her to grow up with a positive self image and feel pretty and I do believe the dolls she chooses can be a reflection of that.

When offered both dolls, she did choose the darker one. But, maybe she only chose it because she knew that was the one I was hoping she would pick. Maybe she only chose the blonde Barbie in the first place because it was displayed along the main aisle at her eye level, while the brown Barbie was in the Barbie aisle, over her head (which is a completely different issue I won't address here). Maybe, she didn't really notice the skin color, and she was just picking the most beautiful dress she saw. I hope so.

A Family Outing

Last week Sean took Sammy with him when he got a haircut. On the way back to the car, they stopped in a store full of junk. Sammy saw a Tattoo Barbie. She really wanted it. Sean told her no. She persisted. He asked her if she brought any money with her to buy it. She replied that Daddy and Mommy always bring the money. Daddy did not give in, but did tell her if she really wanted it, she would remember it, and ask for it later, and they would get money from her piggy bank and get it.

Well, she has been telling me all week about Daddy taking her to get her Tattoo Barbie. This morning, she asked Sean if they could go get her Tattoo Barbie. He was amazed she had remembered it for a whole week. He told her we could go to Target if she had enough money in her piggy bank. She had a twenty dollar budget: Daddy would put in ten, she had been given a five dollar Target gift card for Valentine's Day, so she needed five dollars. (Ella was given the same deal.) The pig was uncorked. She had three one dollar bills and a lot of coins. She counted out eight quarters and we were off. A little money lesson worked into the outing, nice.

We headed straight to the Barbie dolls. They did not have the Tattoo Barbie, but they had quite a selection. She choose a bride Barbie, complete with what must be a five carat diamond covering three of her fingers on a hand with a movable wrist so she can show off her ring. She opted for the African American Barbie with the dark skin and hair instead of the blonde Barbie.

Ella scanned her options, first she wanted a My Little Pony SUV set, then she wanted a Fawn fairy doll (one of Tinkerbell's friends for anyone not in the know), then she wanted a baby doll, an annoying, noisy one we already had (toys that make noise when you walk by are really a good way to get kids interested). Finally, she was convinced she wanted a nice, quiet, bath time dolly with its own towel and three bath toys and that could actually go in the tub with her.

Both girls carried their toys around Target and begged us to open them as soon as they crossed the scanner. Mission accomplished.

Sean had three See's candies coupons burning a hole in his pocket and since we were at the mall and they have a See's store, we went to get three one pound boxes of chocolate. They were giving out free samples of chocolate covered caramels. Sammy, Ella, and I each got one.

Sean went to Radio Shack for a battery, leaving me with the three girls at a seating area. Sammy and I ate our caramels. Ella was having a harder time figuring it out. Sammy started to run around the seating area. Ella got up to follow, her chocolate in hand. I stopped her and told her to eat it before she ran around.

So smart, I thought, to prevent a big mess with a sticky hand full of chocolate touching everything. As she heads back towards me, she shoves the whole candy into her mouth. Her mouth was as full as could be, cheeks puffed out, slurping the chocolate saliva dribbling out of her mouth. I told her to spit it out, she wouldn't, running away, while I tried to grab our Target bags and chase her. Suddenly, she turned around, panic on her face, too much food in her mouth, she couldn't swallow it, she couldn't chew it, she was stuck. Before I reached her, she spit out the caramel, devoid of chocolate, onto the floor. Gross. No napkins on me, I used the wrappers to pick it up, and quickly emptied one Target bag to put it in as she was now running towards Macy's.

Finally, Sean returned, and we headed to the car, the girls with their new treasures in hand. Pretty good outing. Except, Sammy may have a little buyer's remorse. The doll that can go into the tub is pretty cool.