She's a snappy dresser, works lots of interesting jobs and clearly has staying power and longevity.
In fact, I used to live just a few miles from the Barbie Hall of Fame. (Super neato.)
I don’t understand why folks get all in a tizzy and says that she’s a bad example for young girls. Please, people. My girl (and boy too) knows what’s real and what’s not. They know that real dogs don’t talk (Hi, Martha), real birds aren't neon yellow and 8 feet tall and real babies don’t really look one single bit like Cabbage Patch Kids. She knows that it’s all pretend and that most of the fun toys are a bit cartoon-y and exaggerated and fun. And she’s three. She gets it. (Granted this is mostly because I take the time to explain it to her…) She knows that not all females are tall and skinny, like her aunt and great aunt and other females but not like me.
I always figured that I’d get my wonderful Bunny girl her first Barbie and we would giggle and play fun role-playing games, and dress her up and dress her down... It would be great fun.
Then this happened:
(Can you see it o.k.? I took this crappy pic with my phone...)
Let me introduce you to the "Totally Stylin' Tattoos" Barbie.
The box says: Over 40 easy, no mess tattoos to design and decorate Barbie doll's fashions. Customize the fashions and apply the fun temporary tattoos on you too.
REALLY?
Full disclosure: I have tattoos. And I'm looking forward to getting more. But I don’t want my daughter to have them NOW. Or want them NOW.
And here’s my wonderful old friend Barbie rockin’ a tat.
So, why am I upset about this? It's not like they also include a "totally stylin' tattoo machine" with vibrating needles and lots of "totally stylin' tattoo ink." It seems that they're just riding that fake tattoo bandwagon. And sure, I can explain to Bunny that it's all fun and games and that most teenagers don't have tats... I think she'll get it... But...
It’s just not right.
I almost broke down in tears right in the middle of Target. Those memories that I was so looking forward to making with Bunny are dashed.
So, folks that make Barbie, I’m afraid you get a big FAIL.
Not cool.
4 comments :
The folks at Mattel have CLEARLY gone MAD! Ugh...maybe I can just get the heads back on my old Barbie dolls. I think my mom still has them somewhere at her house. And in case anyone wants to write a letter...
Mattel, Inc.
333 Continental Boulevard
El Segundo, CA 90245-5012
310-252-2000 tel
Wow, I mean, hey, I love tattoos, too, but, uhhh...
I thought Barbie was just a little classier than the Bratz. Guess not.
I believe Mattel OWNS the Bratz now...maybe that's the issue....
I found this post upon searching for pictures of "Tattoo Barbie." Even though the subject was "Barbie-Fail", at first I thought this blog was going in another direction because you seem like a very open-minded mother, but I was surprised to see that you thought otherwise about this Barbie. I understand not wanting your children to want tattoos NOW, but they are children and it is impossible for that to literally happen until they are of age anyway. I'm not sure what decade you grew up in, but I grew up in the 80s, and most of my favorite childhood toys had creative hair color and/or tattoos on their butts. (i.e. Jem, Rainbow Brite, Cabbage Patch Kids, My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake, etc.) I am heavily tattooed, but I don't think that has diddley squat to do with my toys I played with over 15 years ago as a child. Maybe subconsciously it has something to do with the fact that I wanted to get tattoos, but I know plenty of girls who played with the exact same toys as children and don't have any tattoos, nor do they want them. I also know that from the time I was a child until now, I have changed my mind a million times about what I wanted to be, what I thought was cool, what I was interested in, ETC.
That's just my opinion.
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