Do those of you with girls have Barbie dolls in your home? What about Bratz dolls? Do you think they send the wrong messages about what a woman should look and dress like? Or are they just a normal part of childhood? What type of dolls do your girls play with? My dd is only 2, so she is really a little young for barbie - but already at this age I notice that girls are naturally attracted to Barbie if they see one.

I am carefull what barbie to give to sinead as there is one that is pregnant, I am not sure if you can get it now. I used to let her watch the barbie movies though as they were really good. Bratz I hate Sinead having them and will try to avoid there where possible, I just do not like there image at all.

Sinead has various baby dolls and at the moment she is playing with Baby Born. She dresses her and feeds her and such. I also hate these realistic baby dolls as I think that too gives the wrong impression. It took me a while to accept baby born, but she seem's find to play mommy with it.

Hey there Jo. I personally believe that barbie and especially bratz dolls DO send out all the wrong messages for the kind of girls we want to be raising as a christian family. Bratz are the absolute WORST!!! My girls are also not allowed to watch a whole lot of stuff like Hannah Montana either, but thats just me. Ill occassionally sit and watch an episode of some of these shows with them and they are about 15 yo Miley dating and kissing and I just think my girls, who are 10, really dont need to be influenced in that way. I do talk a LOT with them about this stuff, so much so that I think they are kind of fed up with it, but I cant let it go. I cant give in! As a culture and society we are SO obsessessed with beauty and sex its SO hard to counter that and I feel like I made a good start when they were younger, as they get older its a bit tricky but I pray and do my absolute best. I didnt buy them barbies, they play with little polly pockets or tiny animals, even my little pony and my girls, at 10 and changing into preteens still think Strawberry Shortcake is cute. I keep telling them that they are just going to have to face the fact that they are different and we'll deal with any bullying or teasing as we face it. I stress that they will face opposition as far not being allowed to listen to certain music in the home... ***** cat dolls and britney spears anyone?? They will be allowed to go to discos and dances but as far as in the home... well they just know. Its hard to fight against the tide but I have no intention of giving up bc its hard. yk?

So to sum it up. Yes, I do believe barbies and the like can have an impact altho I do think it can depend on what other ways the negativity of these things are reinforced. For example, I was allowed to play with barbies, had all the townhouses and ken and such. I also watched my moms soaps with her and all the movies that came out that reinforced the culture we live in. Then as I grew up I was allowed to watch mtv almost completley unlimited and now as a grown woman, my weight hovers around 100lbs and I dont see how thin I am. I dont see myself as a healthy woman, I obsess about my weight, my looks and I KNOW Im not alone. Im trying to undo all that mental damage in myself and prevent my girls from becoming like that. I know I cant explain it very well, but I am convinced these things, when not kept in check, when combined with each other, dolls, media, beauty obsession really cause us to focus on things that arent eternally important, that are damaging to our self esteem and even mental wellness. I dont think playing with barbies alone will make a young girl become anorexic. I dont freak out when we go to a friends house and they have bratz or barbies. Nor do I make a big deal when my girls are given barbies as gifts, but all my family know that I wouldnt appreciate it and how I feel about it and they respect it. Im quite vocal about these things (well, in general, Ive got a big mouth, a blessing and a curse, lol). But we never watch bratz on tv, EVER!! And the other things, barbie movies are REALLY STUPID!! and insulting to the intellegence! I abhor those, but the kids will want to catch them if they are on, unfortunately. lol. Sometimes I do watch them with them.. anyway, Ive gone on long enough about it. lets post and see if I made any sense.

My little girl won't be old enough for dolls for a long time; I am hoping Bratz will be extinct by then. The way most of them are dressed is disturbing - some of them actually do have their little plastic bodies covered, but I would probably avoid them as a whole anyway since most of them are dressed like they sell their bodies for money. Baby dolls would be first, and then maybe one of those 18" dolls like American Girl/A Life of Faith/or more likely a Target/Walmart/Michael's version that is way cheaper.

A Barbie or two would be ok, their bodies are way more realistic now then when I was a kid, with smaller busts and bigger waists, some of them even have "big" (aka normal) feet now. I would either look for one dressed modestly or make/purchase modest fashions for them if I didn't see anything I liked. Whatever dolls we end up with, we'll make sure a variety of races/ ethnicities are present.
I actually do not mind the pregnant Barbie, she was married and had an older child, which I thought was cute. I am pregnant all the time anyway so my kids are used to hearing about/seeing that. Not the whole story, mind you, just that mommy and daddy love each other very much and asked God for a baby and he blessed us by putting one in my belly. We spend most pg talks about how the baby grows, when it can hear us/see a little bit of light, not so much about how it got in there exactly or how it will get out, but my big one knows there is some kind of pushing involved.

I do not know why I do not like the pregant barbie I think it may be because I would be worried about the wrong impression, if that makes sense. I am also not overly comfrotable with the fact that she was married and had other kids. Do not get me wrong its good that, that impression comes across but I would be worried it would raise questions in Sinead that I just could not answer.

I do not know why I do not like the pregant barbie I think it may be because I would be worried about the wrong impression, if that makes sense. I am also not overly comfrotable with the fact that she was married and had other kids. Do not get me wrong its good that, that impression comes across but I would be worried it would raise questions in Sinead that I just could not answer.


It does make sense. She will ask someday, though. Just like someday my oldest will be able to do the math and figure out that he's been alive longer than dh and I have been married. We will just have to answer them as best we can and steer them towards waiting until marriage. Maybe this will help?
http://www.troubledwith.com/ParentingChildren/A000000394.cfm?topic=parenting%20children%3A%20chi ldren%20and%20divorce

(I know the link ends with the word "divorce" but the article is not really about that)

Thanks Christine, :-)

Thanks Christine, :-)
[loveyou] I wish I had more useful advice sometimes, but I know God wants you to go to him with the big questions.

I am not a fan of barbie or bratz. I particularly don't like bratz. Right now, Fiona has baby dolls and she just got a few groovy girls for her birthday which she loves.

I guess I am odd girl out again, we have Barbies and I never worried about the measage they send. I played with them as a child and they were just dolls. I never even thought about them being skinny or big busted until I was grown. My daughter have them and play (or use to play as in the case of the oldest) with them. They have never brought up the wieght of the dolls or anything. We also enjoy the movies. I think they some of them have been pretty cute.

Now the Bratz dolls are a whole other story as to me they look like hookers. We don't have any of them at all and we won't be getting any. Way to much makeup and the clothes are very trashy looking to me.

I must admit we are Hannah Montana fans over here. Love the shows and the movie. We listen to the music all the time. I like that it is something that all the kids and I can enjoy sing and dancing together too. Very clean and upbeat.

Not too worried about Barbie. Barbie's not even really on my radar as far as things I'm concerned about my kids being exposed to. lol. I was shopping in the toy section the other day and saw a veterinarian barbie with a white coat and a cat, horse. I'd be ok with that.

Katherine has no barbies right now, just baby dolls. She loves to put diapers on them, feed them, burp them, rock them, etc. Puts them to bed, kisses them goodnight.... then immediately says "good morning!" lol.

Girls are going to get messages about beauty anyway in our society. Keeping them from barbie is not even a dent in the semi truck of self-image nonsense our society heaves at young girls. You don't stop a semi-truck by throwing a mosquito at it. LOL.

Bratz just look ugly to me, personally. And their clothes are pretty ugly, too. Who dresses like that?!

I had Barbie's when I was young and never thought any more about them, than that they were dolls to play with. The problem I have with Barbies now is that it is nearly impossible to find ones with decent clothing on. And I'm not going to pay $12-20 for a doll that I have to make clothes for. LOL The Bratz dolls? NO WAY! Talk about promoting trashy behaviour and dress. Yuck! Besides, who wants their kid to be a brat. DDs still just have baby dolls and dd-5 got a Target American Girl doll for her birthday this year. They also have a couple Strawberry Shortcake dolls. I may get them some Barbies when they get a bit older if I can find some decent ones. :-D

I think for me, I dont want to reinforce the world's view that a woman's worth is summed up in how pretty she is. My girls are stunning (if I do say so myself) but I dont want to reinforce the ideal that beauty is all a girls/woman's life is about. I dont think playing with barbies alone will cause a girl to think this way or damage a girl. Jo, I think its definately a personal thing. I dont see any overwieght barbies, or barbies that look like mom, they all look like the cast of Friends! And life isnt like that, women arent like that. I really really take issue with it, I find it offensive. They dont have a geriatric barbie! LOL. Or downs syndrome barbie, or a barbie in a wheelchair, or Ken with a bald spot, or middle age spread. Ive chosen to make an issue out of it, bc of ALL the things that contributed to my self worth being messed with, and messed up as I grew up. I knew it would be a case of some people just dont have those kind of issues and for you, Jo, it might be the same. Im curious why you asked the question. What are your thoughts on it? Have you heard somewhere that playing with barbies cause low self esteem or is it something in your own concience thats sparked the questions. Bc you may just come to the conclusion that they are something of nothing and no big deal in the grand scheme of things, yk? We all come at things like this from different perspectives.

Charlotte has some Barbie dolls, but doesn't play with them often. Bratz dolls are not allowed because I think they are too "hootchy".

Thanks for all your replies gals :).


Im curious why you asked the question. What are your thoughts on it? Have you heard somewhere that playing with barbies cause low self esteem or is it something in your own concience thats sparked the questions. Bc you may just come to the conclusion that they are something of nothing and no big deal in the grand scheme of things, yk? We all come at things like this from different perspectives.

I mainly asked out of curiousity because I am fairly selective with the toys that my kids have because we don't get them a huge amount. I haven't really made a decision on Barbie yet - but I definately object to the skimpy little dresses that most of them seem to have. Dd already has one that was given to her on her 2nd birthday - I was planning on getting it some more modest clothes before she plays with it. She hasn't really played with it yet because she was a little young - but she knows that it is there and seems instinctively facinated with all things Barbie. Bratz are definately out though - not keen on their image at all.

when I was younger, I wasn't allowed to have barbies because my parents said that they conveyed the mesage that that was what women are supposed to look like...which isn't true. I will mostly likely continue that with my kids - there are plenty of dolls out there, Barbies aren't a necessity.

We are a "Yes Barbie, No Bratz" family. I got her a Barbie for her 4th b-day, because my niece had several, and my sister kept telling me Allee realy liked playing with them. She's totally at that pretend-mommy stage, so you hear Barbie taking care of baby Kelly and such. (She has baby dolls she plays the same with too, but she points out to me that she's not a mommy, so I think by playing with Barbie, she feels more "like a mommy" than with the baby dolls). Like others have said, the Bratz thing is largely because they look "hootchy mama". Allee has asked for them a few times, and I just tell her that it makes God sad when people show off their body like that, and that we don't need to bring home dolls that dress in a way that makes God sad. Now she passes them and asks "Mommy, why do people let their kids have toys that would make God sad?" She starts kindergarten next month, so I am sure that will totally mess with my teaching (or there will be some hurt feelings, and I'm okay with hurt feelings; not willing to change family beliefs to make life easer for non-believers!).

As for the Hannah Montana thing, Allee didn't even realise it was a show until recently. We had to ban iCarly though, because there was an episode about her life being ruined because a boy didn't kiss her. Allee is 5, and her cousin is 7. They don't need to be hearing about "my life is over because he didn't kiss me!" so it was banned. (My sister thinks I'm over-reacting, but lets be serious here, here's a early-teen talking about her life being over because she didn't get a kiss. I don't want my child thinking that at 12, her life is over because Mikey or Jimmy or Billy or Bobby didn't kiss her. Having a "late" first kiss isn't going to kill her anymore than it killed me!) Okay, I'm hopping off my soapbox now.

I don't have a problem with Barbie but I do have a problem with Bratz. First off with the name second they do portray a message that is the opposite of what I am teaching the girls. As for Barbie I played with her when little and never thought that that was the way "women were supposed to look". My girls haven't yet shown a real interest in them so haven't had to deal with finding one with appropriate clothes.