We were visiting family tonight & the kids cousin (who's 2 1/2) brought out a box of Barbies & the kids were playing with them. I hadn't even thought of Barbies yet, but they loved them! When I was a kid, Barbies were a "Grandma's house" toy....my mom didn't let them in the house. I think partly b/c she had 8 kids & Barbies have lots of little pieces. But I think also partly b/c she was opposed to the whole Barbie image. I don't know how I feel about that; we loved our Barbies & had so much fun playing with them. DD has Dora dolls.....but I don't think she'll feel pressured to cut her hair & dye it black. But what is the right age?
Barbies are hard for a 2-year-old to dress, and there *are* a lot of small pieces -- my DD at age 4 still loves the Fisher Price Snap n' Style dolls. The clothes are plastic, and just snap onto the front -- and they're really cute! I'm sure we'll have Barbies someday, but I'm not sure when. I remember playing with them when I was around 7 or 8, but then, I liked dolls until I was almost 12... ETA -- about the whole image thing -- yeah, Barbie is totally unrealistic, but c'mon. I really doubt most little girls grow up thinking they should look like Barbie....I, personally, would rather look like Angelina Jolie. :lol:
I plan on getting my girls their first Barbie doll for their birthday this year. Not necessarily to play with right now as far as dressing and stuff goes, but to have when the right time comes. I played with Barbies my whole childhood and plan to let my girls do the same.
Meghan got her first Barbie for Christmas. We haven't done all the outfits and shoes yet (mainly because I have a very curious 1 year old wandering the house, too), but I'm sure Santa will bring some more stuff this year. I always loved my Barbies, and I grew up to look just like her .
My girls got their first Barbie when they were 3 and played with them a little. They just got more (garage sale) and they play with them more often now at 5 1/2. My girls got into Polly pockets at 3 and still love playing with them. Unfortunetly they have a lot of small pieces so I have to watch out for them since they have a younger brother (he actually doesn't pick up the small pieces anymore so I don't worry so much about him any more) and a niece that I watch. You can get them and see if they like playing with them just take off any small pieces, like shoes.
My mom and I were just cleaning out her basement last weekend and we found my old box of Barbies. They're in great shape but I packed them back up without a second thought. I can't imagine giving them to the girls right now. They'd be totally frustrated trying to dress the dolls and those shoes are a choking hazard. They're past the age of putting EVERYTHING in their mouths, but they still put some stuff in their mouths, especially new items. Just last night we were playing with their piggy banks and they tried to put the coins in their mouths. Besides, both daughters feel that dolls should usually be naked. They strip dolls as soon as they get them and only occasionally try to redress them. I really don't feel like being surrounded by naked Barbie boobs all day.
During my extreme feminist stage (from about age 15-25 ), I thought no way in h*ll would I ever let my kids have Barbies. But now... I'm still not crazy about them, but I'd probably let them have some if they were really into them. The way my friends and I played with Barbies was pretty harmless (mostly we just changed their clothes), and I didn't take away any awful sexist messages from it. But I'd probably wait a few years just because those Barbie hands and feet are pretty sharp! I wouldn't want a toddler to get poked in the eye.
Mine just got interested this year. They are 5. I remember one of the great joys of my childhood (probably from age 7 to 12) was playing Barbies with my sister. I never thought of Barbie as "how to look," though. Our Barbies were astronauts and adventurers, and they had a complicated geneaology. They had a whole town and history. I wish I'd written some of it down! One thing that does make Barbies attractive to young girls is that Barbies are adult dolls. They let the child play games where the child acts the role of adult, giving the child a chance to try on adult roles and ideas in a safe way. Mine only have a couple of Barbies, but they have the Twin Time Family Dollhouse, and the storylines they create for all the characters, particularly the adult characters, remind me so much of how my sister and I played. I would not, however, allow Bratz dolls. Don't like the name or the clothes, and talk about unrealistic! The newer Barbies are far more realistic than Bratz dolls.
QUOTE(rubyturquoise @ Jul 23 2008, 01:14 PM) [snapback]891636[/snapback] One thing that does make Barbies attractive to young girls is that Barbies are adult dolls. They let the child play games where the child acts the role of adult, giving the child a chance to try on adult roles and ideas in a safe way. What a fantastic way to look at it. I remember playing Barbies with my cousins, friends and sister. We used to turn the whole backyard into Barbie's world. Its amazing how a couple of shoes boxes and some tupperware can become rooms in a house and pool in an instant! My parents told me they saved me Barbie Townhouse (remember the one with the elevator), and I can't wait to watch my girls play with it. This got a little OT, so to the OP, I am probably going to get the girls their first Barbie dolls around 3.
My little girls got babies for their 2nd birthdays. My oldest (4) had one, & they would just go nuts when they saw her barbie. In fact, we had to drive back to the bank this morning b/c Ballerina Barbie didn't make it back to the car.
I loved my Barbies! I don't know when my sister and I got them from for a long as I can remember we have always had them. Maybe we were 3 or 4. They were acualy good for us, we played with them until we were about 13 and if they weren't packed away in totes in the attic we would still play with them. They were ouor alter egos which may be why my sister and I didn't get into much trouble, we just played it out with our Barbies.
