I Am a Feminist
A new Barbie was released yesterday of a black female director with dreads. This was "finally a Barbie worth giving[our] daughters." These are the people who say we shouldn't give our daughters Barbies because of the way they look, but then turn around and tell us we shouldn't judge others for their looks. The only reason people believe Barbie was made to "portray the supposed perfect woman" is because ignorant people say so.
Her design was made so that little children's fingers could easily change the clothing. Simple as that.
See, I loved Barbies as a little girl. Never once did I look at mine and say "I want to look like that one day!" I looked at my Astronaut Barbie when I was 7 years old and said "I want to be that one day!" I made a little cardboard rocket. Barbie would sit with me and watch lunar eclipses. I pretended she was me going to space. Why? My mother saw I took an interest in Space and bought me a Barbie outfit that went with it. She told me if Barbie could do it I could too. So Barbie and I visited Mars and even Pluto. We discovered that the best place to build a snowman was on Neptune in the Great White Spot (aka the solar system's biggest snowstorm). Then when I decided I wanted to be a Vet, Barbie got a new outfit because hey! They had a vet outfit. And the process started over again. My stuffed animals were our patients and we did a lot of good. Same with my obsession with becoming a pilot, president, and a teacher (which is my actual career path).
My daughters will have Barbies and I'm going to do the same thing. They will get the outfit that matches their current interest. Never once will I bring up the look of the doll. Never once will I mock the appearance. I will just encourage them to follow their hearts because "If Barbie can follow any career, you can too. You are real and smart and strong and can do anything you want."
So let's stop mocking the most feminist, female-empowerment toy out there and work towards using them to encourage big dreams in little girls. Use Barbie and her careers as a tool and big things can change in the world.
Her design was made so that little children's fingers could easily change the clothing. Simple as that.
See, I loved Barbies as a little girl. Never once did I look at mine and say "I want to look like that one day!" I looked at my Astronaut Barbie when I was 7 years old and said "I want to be that one day!" I made a little cardboard rocket. Barbie would sit with me and watch lunar eclipses. I pretended she was me going to space. Why? My mother saw I took an interest in Space and bought me a Barbie outfit that went with it. She told me if Barbie could do it I could too. So Barbie and I visited Mars and even Pluto. We discovered that the best place to build a snowman was on Neptune in the Great White Spot (aka the solar system's biggest snowstorm). Then when I decided I wanted to be a Vet, Barbie got a new outfit because hey! They had a vet outfit. And the process started over again. My stuffed animals were our patients and we did a lot of good. Same with my obsession with becoming a pilot, president, and a teacher (which is my actual career path).
My daughters will have Barbies and I'm going to do the same thing. They will get the outfit that matches their current interest. Never once will I bring up the look of the doll. Never once will I mock the appearance. I will just encourage them to follow their hearts because "If Barbie can follow any career, you can too. You are real and smart and strong and can do anything you want."
So let's stop mocking the most feminist, female-empowerment toy out there and work towards using them to encourage big dreams in little girls. Use Barbie and her careers as a tool and big things can change in the world.
31-35, F