STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

I had the same problem finding a Barbie doll.  

I was in Target on Saturday to buy a gift for my man's friend's 5 year old daugther.  I thought a Barbie doll was the perfect gift.  There was hardly any...all they had was the Bratz dolls.  Not very wholesome looking ones.  I walk through all the doll aisles for like a hour to find a decent looking doll.  I end up getting a  Princeness something doll.  Not the best but at least she had  her body all covered up. 

I hope Mattel won't discontined the Barbie line.  I loved her as a kid and she had like the prettiest dresses.  The Bratz dools look cool and all but they give a cheap image for girls. 

NCshopper wrote:

---

God, this is frightening.  I wonder what the Barbie's name is?  Gutter Slut, perhaps? 

---

Gutter Slut Barbie...hahahahhaha..i love it.

I loved my American Girls Doll too!! She was so pretty, until my hamster ate her dress and my sister tried to curling iron her hair...poor Kirsten...and she thought life on the prarie was hard...

Irene wrote:

---

I really think that you ladies are giving a doll too much credit. We have all had things that older people would say could have influenced us poorly, including disco. Yet, most of us have turned out okay.

---

I do think that a lot of the dolls sold today look like $2 whores.  That said, not all of them are bad.  When I was a little girl, I couldn't wait to dress like the "big girls" at my school.  I think a lot of little girls want that.  Even though I had Jem and the Holograms/ The Misfits dolls (for those who don't know: Jem and the Holograms were a rock band and the Misfits were the "bad guy" rival rock band.  Think green hair, fishnets, miniskirts, etc.) I didn't want to dress like Jem or a Misfit.  I wanted to dress like the older girls at my school.  I never really saw my dolls as role models, nor did any of my friends that I've had this discussion with as an adult. 

IMO if we're worried about the cheapening of girls, we need to worry about what the popular girls at their school are wearing, not what their dolls are.  I don't think girls care that their Bratz doll wears a midriff baring shirt with shorts that could double as a belt.  But when the most popular girl at school's mom buys such an outfit for her daughter, everyone will want it.