Immodest Barbie Dolls - teaching children modesty

  • Thread starter Thread starter Serap
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Serap said:
I agree, naked Barbie is no big deal to me either. It’s healthy for kids to undress and dress Barbie.

I have an issue with the “hooker” outfits also. I opt for a nice ball dress or a cute pair of pants and a top. I just don’t want my dd’s Barbies to look like hookers. My brother and his wife did the same with my niece’s Barbie dolls also.

My mom also makes Barbie doll clothes for us b/c she feels the same way and my mother is not religious at all.

Why does Barbie have to dress like a hoochie and then be sold to young children? Why does she have to be so immodest? Why can’t she wear princess dresses instead? I realize that many Barbies are dressed modest, but why do they market the hoochie ones to young children? It is just not appropriate IMO.
Click to expand...
I don’t get it either. It’s the same thing with hoochie clothes for little girls (but I don’t want to derail the topic). Why in the world do these companies think it’s ok and acceptable to market garbage like that?

Ohhhhhh ---- yeah. Because people buy it. :rolleyes:

THAT is the problem. There is actually a market for it. Now — fix that problem, and you have fixed the world. Sadly, in the mean time, it means that parents need to parent and just watch what comes into the home, and be selective.

~Liza
 
lizaanne said:
I don’t get it either. It’s the same thing with hoochie clothes for little girls (but I don’t want to derail the topic). Why in the world do these companies think it’s ok and acceptable to market garbage like that?

Ohhhhhh ---- yeah. Because people buy it. :rolleyes:

THAT is the problem. There is actually a market for it. Now — fix that problem, and you have fixed the world. Sadly, in the mean time, it means that parents need to parent and just watch what comes into the home, and be selective.

~Liza
Click to expand...
Also not to derail the thread, but this brought to mind something I saw at Walmart a couple of months ago… thong underwear in the size my three year old wears. I went back (I was totally going to snap a picture and blog about how terrible this is) and they were all gone. I like to think that it’s because the store got complaints and pulled them. DH suggested that they might have all sold out. I really hope that’s not it, because the very idea is sickening. And to tie it in to the doll issue… it is just so disturbing when it’s aimed at little kids (the age that would be playing with dolls!).
 
RedSoxWife said:
Also not to derail the thread, but this brought to mind something I saw at Walmart a couple of months ago… thong underwear in the size my three year old wears. I went back (I was totally going to snap a picture and blog about how terrible this is) and they were all gone. I like to think that it’s because the store got complaints and pulled them. DH suggested that they might have all sold out. I really hope that’s not it, because the very idea is sickening. And to tie it in to the doll issue… it is just so disturbing when it’s aimed at little kids (the age that would be playing with dolls!).
Click to expand...
:eek:
 
RedSoxWife said:
Also not to derail the thread, but this brought to mind something I saw at Walmart a couple of months ago… thong underwear in the size my three year old wears. I went back (I was totally going to snap a picture and blog about how terrible this is) and they were all gone. I like to think that it’s because the store got complaints and pulled them. DH suggested that they might have all sold out. I really hope that’s not it, because the very idea is sickening. And to tie it in to the doll issue… it is just so disturbing when it’s aimed at little kids (the age that would be playing with dolls!).
Click to expand...
I believe the pre-tween thongs came out 2-3 years ago. I forget who had them first, but there was a big stink at first, then I believe they were pulled, then quietly re-released a couple months later (if I remember right). Now they’re available at most stores. We saw size 3T thongs at Target while Christmas shopping this year. What’s even worse is that a French company came out with a line of pre-teen/toddler lingerie a few months ago and made a big stir with their advertising campaign which has girls as young as 4 essentially dressed as hookers, wearing their lingerie, heavy dark makeup, and lounging around in slutty poses. Give it another year or two and I’m sure we’ll have the same thing in the US.
 
Target has a line of Barbie’s in fashion outfits-- they are cute outfits…

But I haven’t really noticed “hooker outfits” for Barbie. I think some of her outfits are more flamboyant or just tacky if cut for adults. But Barbie is a doll. I actually wouldn’t mind the Grace Kelly Bride Barbie (for me :p)

Toy Story 3 has a cute scene with Ken modeling all his outfits for Barbie, He had some loud things that I don’t think DH would wear, 😛 because people would look at him oddly.

I had a Farah Fawcett doll. I remember wanting the Charlie’s Angels dolls back in the 70’s. I’m not sure why they issued dolls from Charlie’s Angels…it wasn’t a children’s show. I also had a Cher doll, with a very elaborate costume and head dress. I never wanted to have my own version.
 
lizaanne said:
What in the world is wrong with taking the clothes off a doll??!! You know, when people take their clothes off they are <> NAKED underneath!!! :eek::eek::eek:

Seriously folks - it’s not immodest for a DOLL to have her clothes off - it’s not as if Barbie has anatomically correct lady parts. :rolleyes:

They are children. No wonder children end up messed up, it’s their parents who have so many sexual hang ups that are projected on their children that’s the real problem.

Naked dolls are age appropriate to a point. Children are just playing, learning, and trying to understand. They are not thinking SEX when they see a naked doll, they are thinking - I bet she’s cold, let’s put some clothes on her!!

~Liza
Click to expand...
I also have teenage sons.
My concern is not for the girls playing with the dolls for their teenage brothers who stumble upon these miniature figures of naked women all over the family room floor. Naked Barbies wouldn’t look quite so innocent if they were posed in this fashion at a Frat house.
 
lizaanne said:
Yep theweek.com/article/index/221572

This is why (taking us back on topic) so many see nothing wrong with putting dolls (a toy played with primarily by little girls) in hoochie clothes. If a marketer sees nothing wrong with putting it on dolls, why not on the children themselves?

Yep - it’s a messed up world.

~Liza
Click to expand...
:eek:

This could be one of the signs of the Apocalypse.
 
StJudePray4Me said:
:eek:

This could be one of the signs of the Apocalypse.
Click to expand...
I suspect you think you are being funny. And yet - isn’t the total decline of morality and civil behavior all part of that?

I’m not ready to go around with a sign saying hoochie clothes are a sign of the Apocalypse, but I am absolutely willing to say that it sure is a great start for getting there.

~Liza
 
Mary_Gail_36 said:
Target has a line of Barbie’s in fashion outfits-- they are cute outfits…

But I haven’t really noticed “hooker outfits” for Barbie. I think some of her outfits are more flamboyant or just tacky if cut for adults. But Barbie is a doll. I actually wouldn’t mind the Grace Kelly Bride Barbie (for me :p)

Toy Story 3 has a cute scene with Ken modeling all his outfits for Barbie, He had some loud things that I don’t think DH would wear, 😛 because people would look at him oddly.

I had a Farah Fawcett doll. I remember wanting the Charlie’s Angels dolls back in the 70’s. I’m not sure why they issued dolls from Charlie’s Angels…it wasn’t a children’s show. I also had a Cher doll, with a very elaborate costume and head dress. I never wanted to have my own version.
Click to expand...
They are selling the Ferah Faucet doll again at toy stores in my city by Barbie.

I noticed that the Astronaut Barbie wasn’t selling and was put on sale for clearance. I guess even parents want to buy the hoochie Barbies. 😃
 
lizaanne said:
No prob - fair question.

I think it can be a teaching moment, IF the child isn’t freaked out in the process. An approach of “let’s see if we can find a nicer bathing suit for her” as opposed to “OHMYGOSH, that bathing suit is SOOOOO WRONG!!!” whilst ripping it off and switching it as quickly as possible. :rolleyes:

~Liza
Click to expand...
I nicely told my dd that her Barbies were not dressed nicely and were immodest and I would go out and buy some beautiful princess gowns for them. She was excited and when she put the new dresses on, she told me how beautiful they were. She also said, “They are nice girls and modest now!”

I thought it was cute.

I don’t want to freak my dd out, but a lesson in modesty can begin with Barbie.
 
Serap said:
My dd got 2 very immodest Barbie Dolls for Christmas. I took them and told her that their clothes were immodest and I went out and bought 2 new outfits (for as much as the dolls cost :rolleyes:) and my dd re-dressed them in long gowns. She said, “Now they are modest mommy!”

My heart sank the other day when my dd told me that she wishes she had yellow hair. I am blond and she asked me how she could become blond like me.

With the way society is, how do we teach modesty to children?
Click to expand...
I just had an idea… have you tried eBay for Barbie clothes? You might find a wider variety of clothes than what’s on store shelves, as I bet there’s plenty of old (less racy) stuff circulating. Further, you might score some good deals if the clothes are ‘gently used’.
 
Gordon_Sims said:
We don’t mind our girls having Barbies, although we do avoid the trashier outfits and don’t let them have Bratz dolls. Curiously, I had someone call me a hypocrite and a fascist for not letting my girls have the Tramp Stamp Barbie, aka Totally Stylin’ Tattoo Barbie. They couldn’t explain the hypocrite part, but they felt I was a fascist because I was stifling their creativity and natural curiosity. Whatever.
Click to expand...
Personally, I think the (over)abundance of Barbie’s - where you have to have a different Barbie for every thing you want her to be - is more stifling of “creativity and natural curiosity” than not letting your girls have a particular Barbie. When I was growing up (1970’s) there was only one Barbie and we had to imagine her to be whatever we wanted at that particular moment.

I also used nail polish to provide “underwear” for Barbie, although not out of any sense of modesty. Just thought it was “cool”. 😃
 
why would a parent concerned with modesty allow a child to play with a barbie in the first place? it is by definition a fashion doll whose purpose is to display current fashions in clothes, which are anything but modest. Why not get a real doll instead?
 
Mary_Gail_36 said:
Liza, have you seen the Grace Kelly Wedding Barbie?

target.com/p/Barbie-Gold-Label-Collector-Doll-Grace-Kelly-Bride/-/A-13575146?ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001&AFID=Google_PLA_df&LNM=%7C13575146&CPNG=toys&ci_sku=13575146&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw=

She’s beautiful!
Click to expand...
WOW!!! That is just stunning!!! (and the price too!! LOL)
puzzleannie said:
why would a parent concerned with modesty allow a child to play with a barbie in the first place? it is by definition a fashion doll whose purpose is to display current fashions in clothes, which are anything but modest. Why not get a real doll instead?
Click to expand...
Because little girls want to look pretty and dress up in pretty gowns and lace and frills. The don’t want to look like Raggedy Ann. 😉 I see no problems at all with little girls wanting to look pretty and to play dress up. You are confusing two things – dressing up, and current fashions. The two never have to mix, if parents don’t allow them to.

I had all sorts of dolls - but the ones I played with the most were Barbie-like. They had vast wardrobes, shoes, etc. and I LOVED to play dress up with them. The other dolls, were just comfort dolls - to be cuddled and loved, and to sleep with. But they both had their own purpose in learning. There is a place for both types of dolls - the wardrobe issue just needs to be properly monitored by parents to be appropriate.

~Liza
 
Havard said:
I just had an idea… have you tried eBay for Barbie clothes? You might find a wider variety of clothes than what’s on store shelves, as I bet there’s plenty of old (less racy) stuff circulating. Further, you might score some good deals if the clothes are ‘gently used’.
Click to expand...
Good idea. Thanks
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top