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| Debbie at work |
Mothering a two and half year old girl I have now lost track
of how many times people have asked me why I haven’t bought her a Barbie. To be
very frank, initially I had the same feeling about Barbies as I have with many
other items that I see in the departmental stores. I’m talking about the
feeling that I get when I see those beautiful bright shinning items under the
well illuminated shelf which I never knew existed but suddenly I badly need
them. Similarly, I didn’t realize my kid needed to play with Barbie dolls until
I saw every other kid playing with it!
Without thinking deeper into it, I had planned to buy a nice
Barbie or two for her. As a kid I had loved dressing up dolls and hand
stitching small clothes for them, I remember admiring Barbie dolls in the shops
and wishing I had one for myself. While reminiscing my childhood days, the fun
that I had and the fun I missed out, I wanted to fulfill them all for my child.
However before I could buy one, I was suddenly alarmed by
the increasing number of people asking me when I plan to buy my child a Barbie.
I stopped and contemplated on why the craze over this particular kind of toy.
When I started analyzing, I realized I’ve never come across an ‘imperfect’
Barbie. Every Barbie is adorned with the perfect zero size body, the perfect
fair skin and all other perfect features. And this scares me! Before anyone
gets me wrong, I must say that I’m neither against perfection nor against striving
for it. But yes, I’m definitely against created and assumed perfections which
are mostly unnatural. It is also a reality that striving for such meaningless
perfection has become so much a part of our lives that many times we think that
it is a natural process. Consciously or unconsciously I also catch myself persuing
such perfection.
What worries me is what if my child tries to model such
perfection? I can foresee strict dieting, extreme exercising, sleepless nights,
short lived excitements, frustration and even depression. Even without a
Barbie, I have been through my share of striving for such perfection and felt
the frustration it caused. I have also watched in pain and sympathy younger
girls trying to tread this path and any advice based on my experiences were
looked upon as an old fashioned advice. Therefore considering all these
factors, I became convinced not to buy my kid a Barbie for now.
Well, I’m not here to blame Barbie for the wrong going on in
the society. But my fear is that it can enhance the problem. So, for now till I
find a Barbie that stands out to defy this meaningless perfection, I will not
buy a Barbie for my child. And, I not buying it may not change the world but
even if it’s just for the sake of making a statement, I will. Yes, I appreciate
the launching of dark skinned Barbies and that’s definitely a step closer to
making me a customer.
As for my child I would want her to understand that her fair
skin is in no way superior to dark skin. I would also want her to remind a good
and hopefully a healthy eater too. I would want her to take good care of body
and present herself as well as she can. Finally, she may not have the perfect
body and height as the world sees perfection but be proud of who she is and
what she is made up of.
On a lighter note, I don’t intend to throw away Barbie
gifts. I also accept that maybe some day my girl might just give me her
‘pleasssseeee’ look and I fall for it.
