I thought I'd buy a present for a little 6 year old girl. She likes Barbie's, faeries, ballerinas and all those things. Thought I'd find her a nice little Barbie on the way home.
I'm not sure when the last time I shopped for Barbie was - many lovely years ago, I'm sure. Lemme tell you, I was a little shocked!
When did Barbie become a ho? Sure there was pole-dancing Barbie, Professional Escort Barbie, Street Corner Barbie and Private "Model" Barbie - but the bottom line is, Barbie's a ho. I spent about a half an hour at Wal-Mart looking for the least ho-y Barbie and finally settled on a ballerina one. Barbie's in mesh crop tops with pink bikini tops underneath, Barbies with ultra-mini skirts and cell phones, Barbie's with designer bags and hooker shoes (well, the shoes are de riguer for Barbie, but in context....) Barbie's with colored hair extensions and teeny little credit cards. What the heck?
I couldn't believe the lack of choice in Barbie-land.Even back in the 60s Barbie did stuff: she was a stewardess or a babysitter or a school teacher. In the 80s she was an astronaut, an athlete, a veterinarian. Apparently now all Barbie does is buy slutty clothes, wear slutty makeup and talk on the phone. Maybe she's a phone sex operator.
Is this what we're teaching young girls now? That the goal in life is to become a vapid, soulless label whore? That it's more important to be too sexy than too smart? I'm appalled.Now I see why Hannah Montana is so popular - hers was the only doll who didn't look like she took a facer the night before.