If anyone would like to see the videos that my friend Giles mentioned in his reply to my post about Barbie advertising then here they are.
The first is the Nike campaign for children being encouraged to play Sport:
The second is the scary video which hows you how to look like a perfect plastic Barbie doll.
I would like to stand up for the way girls play with dolls. While I am in no way saying that Barbies are good roll models, playing with dolls is a learning experience. Personally I am the type of person that role-plays scenarios in preparation for confrontations, issues etc. Even now I talk to myself when I'm alone and play out what I would say to someone in my head if a situation arose. This helps me straighten out what my view is and sometimes even stops me from saying things I could regret.
The problem is that if little girls learn and practice for life with dolls, they won't ever chose dolls that are ugly, or over-weight, or have muffin tops. Children are naturally drawn to beauty. It's hard-wired into all of us. So what can Barbie do? I'd say that Barbie are making the right moves. If only they would stop making everything pink.
So is Barbie a good role model as they claim? Or is it manipulative? Or both perhaps? Please send me your thoughts.
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