Lammily- the "average" doll

[Anderson'sAllPurpose]

This discussion really makes me want to dig up my Mimi Bobeck doll again.

(Oh, but I just remembered the upside to barbie's wasp waist: she was great for historical fashions! Little fat kid!me knew she would never fit in a whale bone corset (and was perfectly ok with that) but still loved those late 19th century dresses.)

[Tealove]

So I found this:

http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2006/04/19/post-1/

What do you think it means? I guess its obvious that 2nd graders know that barbie just isn't cool or realistic anymore. But how does that explain the higher dissatisfaction after seeing Emme? I just thought these results were kind of weird.

[VirgoVertigo]

just to throw in my random thoughts, even though im kind of late-- if you put aside the social justice behind it and all the hype, she's kind of a sweet looking doll. her resemblance to the artist himself and her name being the same as his is a bit ... unnerving, but i like her face/body and think she's pretty cute. i'd buy one.
but for my hypothetical daughter? for me it depends on the price. you can find Barbie knockoffs at the dollar store or real Barbies at the thrift store for deadass cheap. if Lammily costs more than the average Barbie, forget about it! expensive social justice! peh peh! why would i buy a $20 doll for my 5 year old kid? that's more of a Christmas gift price. for that much i could buy her/him something like five or six My Little Ponies, or two cheap Barbies and a Kelly!



P.S.- the artist's name is Lamm, right? Lamm plus ILY (i love you) ... was it intentional?!

[DollyKim]

By 2nd grade they could have heard enough from their parents to get the idea that fat = bad. Little girls want to be like their mothers, they watch her getting ready, hear her complaints about her appearance, over hear her talking with her friends, the cycle continues. They're at a toy store looking at dolls mom says don't buy that one she's ____ the child cements the opinion that ____ is undesirable and if I want mom's approval I'll get what she wants me to get.

I've heard older girls say about Monster High "Don't get that one, she's not normal" so it's a culture problem that one doll or one soap campaign isn't going to change. If someone like Barbie market blasted a curvier friend and made her part of a web series and so on then we might start getting somewhere.

What I'd like to see is more of a she's just like me thing. I love that the Monsters delve in to their personalities. It would take some thinking if I had to pick one that was a mini-me. Is it the one I'd like to look like? (that will always count somewhere) Is it the one who shares the most hobbies with me? Is it the one with hobbies and personality I'd like to have? Is it the one it would be my biggest fantasy to be like? Is it the one I'd like to have as a best friend? Am I a Venus or a Catrine De Mew or Jackson/Holt even? Better read more about in their diaries them to find out.

[happyknot]

*feels sorta guilty for saying this but...*

As a kid, it never once occurred to me to compare my body shape to Barbie's. I never once wanted to have her shape.
But ...what did bother me, and I guess it still does even though I am in my 30's now - the popularity of the pale skin, blue eyes, blonde hair thing. The message was, you are only beautiful if you're blond. You are only special and pure and magical if you are blond.

Barbie later had friends of different nationalities, with different hair and skin color - but they were always...secondary. It was always all about Barbie. Her friends were her *accessories*. That really bothered me. I don't know how little kids process things but as a kid, with tan skin, slanted blown eyes and dark hair growing up, I felt like I was pretty ugly...because there was no toy that represented me and were also as popular or in the spotlight - not even remotely.

The fantasies that Barbie provided were of being some one blond and popular - that she was liked for the color of her skin, eyes and hair. =s

---
I sort of think...I dunno, like a bunch of things are missing. This Lammily doesn't really solve anything. It's sort of a problem that needs to involve changing a society's standards; a sort of chicken and the egg issue.

[OkamiKodomo]

Actually Happyknot, I had an issue with the blond hair thing too. I am brunette. I was always so disappointed that I couldn't have Barbie with brown hair, it was always Teresa. Now, sometimes it worked out, because I liked purple better than pink, and always have, and Teresa usually had the purple color variant on Barbie's outfit, but there were still a lot of times I wanted Barbie, but I wanted her with brown hair. The one that comes to mind was one of the Cut-n-Style types way back when, but I don't remember the actual one, just that I was sooo disappointed that I cried. My dad ended up returning the blond barbie, and got me a red-headed mermaid with a turquoise mer-tail, and I adored her, but I never got over the other one. And I grew up hating my hair with a passion. I wanted to dye it blond, or put blond streaks in it, but my mother wouldn't let me, not until I was sixteen.

[DollyKim]

I'm blonde and blue eyed and wasn't the least bit popular. There's a long history to the attraction of the fair maiden that Barbie has little to do with. I think the first batches had brunettes and red heads, blondes might have sold more and that became her look. The other hair colors became ways to identify her friends like color coding in cartoons.

When I was buying the Teen Skippers I was more in to her brunette pal Courtney, did bring home a few Skippers too. They have big round Animae like eyes and that seemed to be more of the draw because when they changed her face I slowed down then stopped. My favorite does have black hair and green eyes just like my Xavier so there's part of it.

The only unhappiness I can remember having with my body is wanting to be taller. I'm five feet even and a couple extra inches would make it easier to reach things. It was my crappy lack of a social life that bummed me out growing up. I never had anything against Barbie for having a ton of friends because at times my dolls were my only friends.

[Calivano]

We've got all kinds of dolls for our girls. We have baby dolls, barbie dolls, plus size dolls, fashion dolls, madame alexander,etc. I dont feel that our dolls give our kids self esteem issues, and if they are, then there is a much larger underlying problem that needs to be delt with. It's true that some companies market sexuality to children, but it's our job as parents to guard against that. It's not just dolls, its everything, from clothes to food. My kids really like their dolls as toys, they like to pretend and in some cases project themselves on the dolls during play, solving problems and exploring social issues. Its important to monitor play to see what sitiations they come up with, and what they think about certain roles, but i think its healthy to have a selection of toys to expand upon. I would buy Lammily not because she is average, but because playtime is fun! I want my girls to see beauty in everyone, from blonde hair and blue eyed to black hair and brown eyed and everything in between.