Barbie
Kerrin Taylor
My daughter and I had some great fun yesterday perming one of her barbie's hair. We had a book out of the library on doll makeovers, and I was fascinated by the amazing stuff those enthusiasts do!
It was fairly easy and very successful. I was just as thrilled as Vivi! We started off with a barbie with long straight hair. Her hair wasn't in very good condition, it was quite fluffy and a bit matted. We coated the hair in gel, divided into small sections and then rolled them onto bits of drinking straws, secured by pipe cleaners, pinning them to her head to secure. Next was dunking her head in boiling water for 18 seconds, then icy water for a few seconds. We left her to dry and then took the rollers out. She now has beautiful spiral curls.
We went to rock'n'roll dancing last night (a homeschool group thing) and took the barbie to show her off. The main response from the other homeschooling parents was that it was a rather bizzare idea and pretty pointless (the kids thought it was real cool). There was a bit of eye rolling, especially at me being so excited about it. I thought it was sad that they couldn't see the value in my sharing the experience with my daughter, the love and joy that it had brought us.
Kerrin.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
It was fairly easy and very successful. I was just as thrilled as Vivi! We started off with a barbie with long straight hair. Her hair wasn't in very good condition, it was quite fluffy and a bit matted. We coated the hair in gel, divided into small sections and then rolled them onto bits of drinking straws, secured by pipe cleaners, pinning them to her head to secure. Next was dunking her head in boiling water for 18 seconds, then icy water for a few seconds. We left her to dry and then took the rollers out. She now has beautiful spiral curls.
We went to rock'n'roll dancing last night (a homeschool group thing) and took the barbie to show her off. The main response from the other homeschooling parents was that it was a rather bizzare idea and pretty pointless (the kids thought it was real cool). There was a bit of eye rolling, especially at me being so excited about it. I thought it was sad that they couldn't see the value in my sharing the experience with my daughter, the love and joy that it had brought us.
Kerrin.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
plaidpanties666
--- In [email protected], "Kerrin Taylor"
<kerrintaylor@...> wrote:
I was fascinated by the amazing stuff those enthusiasts do!
with doll hair besides cut it off. Ooooooh. Aaaaaaah. I bet it would
work with "My Little Pony" hair, too - Mo just loves that style of toy
horse right now.
Wow, I can feel my mind Expanding....
---Meredith (Mo 5)
<kerrintaylor@...> wrote:
> My daughter and I had some great fun yesterday perming one of herbarbie's hair. We had a book out of the library on doll makeovers, and
I was fascinated by the amazing stuff those enthusiasts do!
>How totally cool! It never occurred to me that you could do *anything*
with doll hair besides cut it off. Ooooooh. Aaaaaaah. I bet it would
work with "My Little Pony" hair, too - Mo just loves that style of toy
horse right now.
Wow, I can feel my mind Expanding....
---Meredith (Mo 5)
Sandra Dodd
-=-There was a bit of eye rolling, especially at me being so excited
about it. I thought it was sad that they couldn't see the value in my
sharing the experience with my daughter, the love and joy that it had
brought us.
-=-
There's a book called Who are You People? A Personal Journey into the
Heart of Fanatical Passion in America, by Shari Caudron. She has a
website and blog about it. But the first chapter is about the author
going to a Barbie collectors' convention in Denver. And she is given
the collectible conference doll, and though she had been cynical and
negative about lots of things before, she really had fun at the place
and knows the cool details, like what doll it commemorates (the
original Malibu Barbie), and that this is the first one to come with
sunscreen.
Now I'm going to quote her:
A week later, I'm in the backyard talking with friends about my
experience at the Barbie convention. Without stopping to question
the wisdom of my actions, I rush upstairs, grab my brand-new, in-the-
box, convention-issue Malibu Barbie and return to the table. One
friend, a veteran court reporter who's spent years listening to true-
life cases of murder, dismemberment and sexual assault, takes one
look at the doll and recoils.
"Get that thing out of here," she says.
It's as if I've just displayed a rusty set of medieval dental pliers
and told her to open wide. No amount of talking on my part can
convince her that Barbie collectors are indeed a happy, harmless bunch.
-------------------end of quote-----------------------------
There is some belief among negative and cynical people that it's a
sign of intelligence to see the rest of the world as "stupid."
Bummer.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
about it. I thought it was sad that they couldn't see the value in my
sharing the experience with my daughter, the love and joy that it had
brought us.
-=-
There's a book called Who are You People? A Personal Journey into the
Heart of Fanatical Passion in America, by Shari Caudron. She has a
website and blog about it. But the first chapter is about the author
going to a Barbie collectors' convention in Denver. And she is given
the collectible conference doll, and though she had been cynical and
negative about lots of things before, she really had fun at the place
and knows the cool details, like what doll it commemorates (the
original Malibu Barbie), and that this is the first one to come with
sunscreen.
Now I'm going to quote her:
A week later, I'm in the backyard talking with friends about my
experience at the Barbie convention. Without stopping to question
the wisdom of my actions, I rush upstairs, grab my brand-new, in-the-
box, convention-issue Malibu Barbie and return to the table. One
friend, a veteran court reporter who's spent years listening to true-
life cases of murder, dismemberment and sexual assault, takes one
look at the doll and recoils.
"Get that thing out of here," she says.
It's as if I've just displayed a rusty set of medieval dental pliers
and told her to open wide. No amount of talking on my part can
convince her that Barbie collectors are indeed a happy, harmless bunch.
-------------------end of quote-----------------------------
There is some belief among negative and cynical people that it's a
sign of intelligence to see the rest of the world as "stupid."
Bummer.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Kelly Shultz
Oh my gosh, thank you! I have wondered for quite some time what to do with frizzy Barbie hair. The boiling/icy water thing is fascinating, it must change the texture. Would you mind posting the title of the makeover book? I'd Googled Barbie makeover before, but never got any good looking hits, and never thought there would be a whole book dedicated to it, silly me.
Also, regarding Barbie and stupidity (in reference to Sandra's post), Barbie brought pulleys into our life recently, since the girls wanted to create a Barbie elevator out of a Costco-size Fruitloops box. I can't imagine that learning about pulleys, the weight capacity of string from the hardware store, and the number of Barbies it would take to exceed that weight capacity would somehow be associated with stupidity!!
Kelly, who has an "obsession" with taming frizzy Barbie hair
Also, regarding Barbie and stupidity (in reference to Sandra's post), Barbie brought pulleys into our life recently, since the girls wanted to create a Barbie elevator out of a Costco-size Fruitloops box. I can't imagine that learning about pulleys, the weight capacity of string from the hardware store, and the number of Barbies it would take to exceed that weight capacity would somehow be associated with stupidity!!
Kelly, who has an "obsession" with taming frizzy Barbie hair
On Friday, September 29, 2006, at 02:06PM, Kerrin Taylor <kerrintaylor@...> wrote:
>
><<Original Attached>>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Kerrin Taylor
<<<<Oh my gosh, thank you! I have wondered for quite some time what to do
with frizzy Barbie hair. The boiling/icy water thing is fascinating, it must
change the texture. Would you mind posting the title of the makeover
book?>>>>>
It's called "Ultimate Fashion Doll Makeovers - Tips from the experts" by Jim
Faraone. It includes other fashion dolls, not just Barbie. It's written in
e-list form, and has lots of tips, techniques and ideas from professional
fashion doll makeover artists.
The hair didn't change texture. I was a bit worried about putting her head
in the boiling water, I thought she might melt, or her face paint might come
off! But, no, she was better than new! The surface of the curls aren't as
smooth and shiny as the pictures in the book. They were on a doll with
as-new hair. But they still look great. I can email you a photo if you like.
Kerrin.
with frizzy Barbie hair. The boiling/icy water thing is fascinating, it must
change the texture. Would you mind posting the title of the makeover
book?>>>>>
It's called "Ultimate Fashion Doll Makeovers - Tips from the experts" by Jim
Faraone. It includes other fashion dolls, not just Barbie. It's written in
e-list form, and has lots of tips, techniques and ideas from professional
fashion doll makeover artists.
The hair didn't change texture. I was a bit worried about putting her head
in the boiling water, I thought she might melt, or her face paint might come
off! But, no, she was better than new! The surface of the curls aren't as
smooth and shiny as the pictures in the book. They were on a doll with
as-new hair. But they still look great. I can email you a photo if you like.
Kerrin.
Ren Allen
~~I was a bit worried about putting her head
in the boiling water, I thought she might melt, or her face paint
might come off! But, no, she was better than new! ~~
You can use a similar technique for saving frazzled paint (or makeup)
brushes. We just dip them briefly in boiling water (just the hairs,
not the ferrule) and it tends to straighten out a brush that might
otherwise be on it's way to brush heaven....:)
Ren
learninginfreedom.com
in the boiling water, I thought she might melt, or her face paint
might come off! But, no, she was better than new! ~~
You can use a similar technique for saving frazzled paint (or makeup)
brushes. We just dip them briefly in boiling water (just the hairs,
not the ferrule) and it tends to straighten out a brush that might
otherwise be on it's way to brush heaven....:)
Ren
learninginfreedom.com
Kelly Shultz
Thanks, Kerrin, a picture would be great! We also have a few Barbies
whose faces aren't so nice anymore, so it might be a good idea to
give them a boiling water treatment, but I'll get the book first.
Kelly
whose faces aren't so nice anymore, so it might be a good idea to
give them a boiling water treatment, but I'll get the book first.
Kelly
On Sep 29, 2006, at 8:29 PM, Kerrin Taylor wrote:
> <<<<Oh my gosh, thank you! I have wondered for quite some time what
> to do
> with frizzy Barbie hair. The boiling/icy water thing is
> fascinating, it must
> change the texture. Would you mind posting the title of the makeover
> book?>>>>>
>
> It's called "Ultimate Fashion Doll Makeovers - Tips from the
> experts" by Jim
> Faraone. It includes other fashion dolls, not just Barbie. It's
> written in
> e-list form, and has lots of tips, techniques and ideas from
> professional
> fashion doll makeover artists.
>
> The hair didn't change texture. I was a bit worried about putting
> her head
> in the boiling water, I thought she might melt, or her face paint
> might come
> off! But, no, she was better than new! The surface of the curls
> aren't as
> smooth and shiny as the pictures in the book. They were on a doll with
> as-new hair. But they still look great. I can email you a photo if
> you like.
>
> Kerrin.
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Dana Ashby
I've been doing this (re-doing Barbie's face, hair, etc) for a little while. I could sens you all some links if you are interested. Just let me know. I have all kinds of them.
Dana
---------------------------------
All-new Yahoo! Mail - Fire up a more powerful email and get things done faster.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Dana
---------------------------------
All-new Yahoo! Mail - Fire up a more powerful email and get things done faster.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Kelly Shultz
Yes, this sounds good to me.
Kelly
Kelly
On Oct 1, 2006, at 7:23 AM, Dana Ashby wrote:
> I've been doing this (re-doing Barbie's face, hair, etc) for a
> little while. I could sens you all some links if you are
> interested. Just let me know. I have all kinds of them.
> Dana
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> All-new Yahoo! Mail - Fire up a more powerful email and get things
> done faster.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
A LIST-OWNER MOMENT:
Instead of discussing what we're going to discuss, just DISCUSS, send
links, provide useful information in every single post! Hundreds of
readers want you to.
Anyone can put up ideas and links and suggestions.
That's great!!
Less great:
a post of " I could send you all some links if you are interested.
Just let me know."
and another post of "Yes, this sounds good to me."
And if anyone has missed this, which has LOTS of links, please look
here:
http://sandradodd.com/barbie
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Instead of discussing what we're going to discuss, just DISCUSS, send
links, provide useful information in every single post! Hundreds of
readers want you to.
Anyone can put up ideas and links and suggestions.
That's great!!
Less great:
a post of " I could send you all some links if you are interested.
Just let me know."
and another post of "Yes, this sounds good to me."
And if anyone has missed this, which has LOTS of links, please look
here:
http://sandradodd.com/barbie
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Dana Ashby
Hair:
http://www.dreamweaverbraiding.com/Braiding_Tips.htm
http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~klsabin/braids.html
Place to buy hair (this is the only place I buy from)
http://www.restoredoll.com/doll-hair.htm
Face (Lashes 'a' Stuff) from different people
http://www.geocities.com/cdarchive2000/Spring2000/lashes.html
http://www.uydolls.com/files/resupplies.cfm
http://www.customdolldesigns.com/techniques/repaint.html
Anyway, hope it helps! Enjoy.
Dana
---------------------------------
Get your email and more, right on the new Yahoo.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
http://www.dreamweaverbraiding.com/Braiding_Tips.htm
http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~klsabin/braids.html
Place to buy hair (this is the only place I buy from)
http://www.restoredoll.com/doll-hair.htm
Face (Lashes 'a' Stuff) from different people
http://www.geocities.com/cdarchive2000/Spring2000/lashes.html
http://www.uydolls.com/files/resupplies.cfm
http://www.customdolldesigns.com/techniques/repaint.html
Anyway, hope it helps! Enjoy.
Dana
---------------------------------
Get your email and more, right on the new Yahoo.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
<rosebrewer76@...>
My 5yo daughter is asking for Barbies for christmas and I'm feeling a lot of resistance to getting them for her. I want to shift my perspective about this so that I can get her the toys she wants without any of my baggage encroaching on her joy. Can anyone share some insight or a link to where this subject is discussed? Not necessarily just about Barbie, but about judging some toys as better or more appropriate than others. Thank you!
Jo Isaac
I'm sure others will have more to offer, but for a start, try this: http://sandradodd.com/barbie, and all the associated links.
I felt the same when my son first started asking for guns and swords, when he was around 3. But since then, we have embraced weapons of all types and they have led to so many interests and activities - medieval history, medieval faires and battle re-enactments, World War I and II, whittling with penknives, etc...I'm so glad I moved past the (completely irrational) fear I had of those types of toys.
From: rosebrewer76@...
To: [email protected]
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2013 12:32:44 -0800
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] Barbie
From: rosebrewer76@...
To: [email protected]
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2013 12:32:44 -0800
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] Barbie
My 5yo daughter is asking for Barbies for christmas and I'm feeling a lot of resistance to getting them for her. I want to shift my perspective about this so that I can get her the toys she wants without any of my baggage encroaching on her joy. Can anyone share some insight or a link to where this subject is discussed? Not necessarily just about Barbie, but about judging some toys as better or more appropriate than others. Thank you!
BRIAN POLIKOWSKY
There was just a discussion about video games and that included Barbies
I think the whole discussion would be great for you think Barbie instead of video games.
http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/AlwaysLearning/conversations/topics/72679
I love the story about how My Little Pony inspired a science career:
http://sandradodd.com/mylittlepony
I think the whole discussion would be great for you think Barbie instead of video games.
http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/AlwaysLearning/conversations/topics/72679
I love the story about how My Little Pony inspired a science career:
http://sandradodd.com/mylittlepony
Alex Polikowsky
Greg and Kirsty Harriman
I have long been opposed to Barbie for many reasons. I still
don’t like them. I have sworn black and blue that Barbie would never set her
pretty little pink shoes inside our home. If you get online you can read so much
unpleasant stuff about this plastic doll. I am a wooden toy lover I will say
from the outset and that’s what we predominantly have in our home. I have worked
hard at separating my views and opinions from our children’s desires and this
Christmas our eldest daughters who are 8 and 6 are each
receiving a Barbie. I have realised that my feelings about this toy have
overpowered our decisions. I will derive joy from watching them enjoy a toy they
have been asking for without feeling uncomfortable whereas in the past I have
cringed when they have played with things I have felt less than positive
towards. I reckon I can learn to live with Barbie and its very
freeing.
From: BRIAN POLIKOWSKY
Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2013 8:25 AM
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Barbie
There
was just a discussion about video games and that included Barbies
I think the whole discussion would be great for you think Barbie instead of video games.
http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/AlwaysLearning/conversations/topics/72679
I love the story about how My Little Pony inspired a science career:
http://sandradodd.com/mylittlepony
I think the whole discussion would be great for you think Barbie instead of video games.
http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/AlwaysLearning/conversations/topics/72679
I love the story about how My Little Pony inspired a science career:
http://sandradodd.com/mylittlepony
Alex Polikowsky
Sandra Dodd
First, just suck it up.
Your daughter is not a "mini-me" of you.
If you don't like Barbie, don't buy one for yourself, but if she wants one, and you could get one but you choose not to for some personal or philosophical reason, or out of fear, than who will be her partner?
http://justaddlightandstir.blogspot.com/2011/12/trust-and-curiosity.html
Please read that. It's short. It leads to something longer, but it might be enough by itself.
Sandra
Your daughter is not a "mini-me" of you.
If you don't like Barbie, don't buy one for yourself, but if she wants one, and you could get one but you choose not to for some personal or philosophical reason, or out of fear, than who will be her partner?
http://justaddlightandstir.blogspot.com/2011/12/trust-and-curiosity.html
Please read that. It's short. It leads to something longer, but it might be enough by itself.
Sandra
<plaidpanties666@...>
With my daughter, first it was My Little Pony.
What helped in the moment was to get in touch with my own values on a really deep level - what was really important to me? And seeing my daughter light up with pleasure turned out to be pretty high on the list - I value her joy.
In the longer term, it helped me to read things like the Barbie page and know that my daughter's interest in a pink plastic toy wasn't going to warp her into someone I didn't want to be around. And it helped me to watch her, listen to her, and see and hear the stories she told and played, which weren't the stories I'd feared. From My Little Pony she moved on to the Barbie movies - omg have you seen the Barbie movies? Women saving the day, saving princes, saving friends, saving the world, embracing difference, challenging the status quo - yeah, I know, irony, but one of the things I learned from my daughter along the way was that Barbies are toys and cartoons. Real ponies don't have purple hair and cutie marks, and real girls don't have those wacky proportions.
Mo's 12, now. She's not much interested in Barbie these days, but she's gone back to her love of My Little Pony, having found the comic book series. She loves those - and I've gotten into them too. They're good stories full of surprisingly complex characters and a good sense of humor. She also has a massive crush on Shadow the Hedgehog - darkly handsome, tragic, misunderstood... oh, my! He's her man. Right now there's a picture of Mo-the-Hedgehog kissing Shadow under the mistletoe as the wallpaper on my desktop. She writes some fan fiction - and in her stories she's not some shopping bimbo or wimpy princess needing help, she's helping save the day, sometimes saving Shadow in the process.
Get your daughter a Barbie. Get her one of the movies, too - find one with something she likes in them, music or painting or mermaid or fairies or flying horses (oh! that's how Mo got from MLP to Barbie - the Pegasus movie!). Some are remakes of very traditional stories - Swan Lake, Rapunzel, The Princess and the Pauper (that might be a good one for you to start with!), The Twelve Dancing Princesses, The Three Musketeers - redone with female heroines.
Sandra Dodd
-=-I have long been opposed to Barbie for many reasons. I still don’t like them. I have sworn black and blue that Barbie would never set her pretty little pink shoes inside our home. If you get online you can read so much unpleasant stuff about this plastic doll.-=-
Well you're online now reading that your child is more important than negativity shared to stir up indignation because many people enjoy the feeling of negative indignation. They are opposed, and they don't like things and they swear senseless oaths.
Will you pick pissed-off stranger online over your sweet daughter?
-=- I am a wooden toy lover I will say from the outset and that’s what we predominantly have in our home. -=-
I like wooden toys, and have bought many, and saved some that my kids had when they were very young.
I am not, in way of my own identity, "a wood toy lover."
Do not love ANYTHING more than you love your child, and what your child loves.
Do not (if you want unschooling to work) try to make your daughter more like you, and less like herself.
-=- I have worked hard at separating my views and opinions from our children’s desires-=-
It shouldn't be such hard work. If you accept the principle that learning is everywhere and your daughter's happiness is more important that the politics of strangers, then you should be able to relax into your children's desires and that will BE your view.
If it's hard work, you're not making the changes that will enable you to flow along with them, in their real world, which might not match the fantasy of wooden toys and prejudices coming true.
-=- I have realised that my feelings about this toy have overpowered our decisions. I will derive joy from watching them enjoy a toy they have been asking for without feeling uncomfortable whereas in the past I have cringed when they have played with things I have felt less than positive towards. I reckon I can learn to live with Barbie and its very freeing.
-=-
That was at the end of a paragraph that started off with your long opposition, oaths and "I still don't like them."
Your daughters know that.
You can't pretend to change. You must actually change.
Sandra
Well you're online now reading that your child is more important than negativity shared to stir up indignation because many people enjoy the feeling of negative indignation. They are opposed, and they don't like things and they swear senseless oaths.
Will you pick pissed-off stranger online over your sweet daughter?
-=- I am a wooden toy lover I will say from the outset and that’s what we predominantly have in our home. -=-
I like wooden toys, and have bought many, and saved some that my kids had when they were very young.
I am not, in way of my own identity, "a wood toy lover."
Do not love ANYTHING more than you love your child, and what your child loves.
Do not (if you want unschooling to work) try to make your daughter more like you, and less like herself.
-=- I have worked hard at separating my views and opinions from our children’s desires-=-
It shouldn't be such hard work. If you accept the principle that learning is everywhere and your daughter's happiness is more important that the politics of strangers, then you should be able to relax into your children's desires and that will BE your view.
If it's hard work, you're not making the changes that will enable you to flow along with them, in their real world, which might not match the fantasy of wooden toys and prejudices coming true.
-=- I have realised that my feelings about this toy have overpowered our decisions. I will derive joy from watching them enjoy a toy they have been asking for without feeling uncomfortable whereas in the past I have cringed when they have played with things I have felt less than positive towards. I reckon I can learn to live with Barbie and its very freeing.
-=-
That was at the end of a paragraph that started off with your long opposition, oaths and "I still don't like them."
Your daughters know that.
You can't pretend to change. You must actually change.
Sandra
Sandra Dodd
-=-Get your daughter a Barbie. Get her one of the movies, too --=-
The Princess and the Pauper has a wonderful song in it.
chris ester
On Mon, Dec 16, 2013 at 8:35 PM, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>>>>First, just suck it up.Your daughter is not a "mini-me" of you.
If you don't like Barbie, don't buy one for yourself, but if she wants one, and you could get one but you choose not to for some personal or philosophical reason, or out of fear, than who will be her partner?
http://justaddlightandstir.blogspot.com/2011/12/trust-and-curiosity.html
Please read that. It's short. It leads to something longer, but it might be enough by itself.
Sandra<<<<My daughter and son are past the age at which Barbie is cool any more. We had a wooden dollhouse with all of the wooden dolls which my daughter and son found quite uninteresting. I had fantasies about my children spending hours playing with these plain looking toys imaginatively. They weren't colorful or soft or any fun to my children.... So, we got rid of the wood toys and my fantasies and I paid attention to what my children enjoyed when we went to the fancy toy stores that had all of those toys out for children to play with.My daughter's first Barbie came from a relative. She was very young (3 or 4), but loved bright, colorful toys that were pretty. At the time pink was her favorite color and the more color the better! At the time, I was not overly impressed with Barbie, but my daughter loved playing with her and her other dolls. She loved pretty clothes and fashion. Her favorites were soft sculpture dolls called "Groovy Girls". They were friendly teenaged looking soft dolls with lots of nifty clothes. My children (and I ) spent hours playing imaginatively with all of those dolls and all of the stuff that went with those dolls. The learning that went with the dolls was amazing!
Fast forward to now.... My daughter is 15 and very self possessed. She was telling me the other day how terrible Barbie is for a girl's self concept. That all of the messages sent by the unrealistic body shape was just not good! We then had a long, interesting discussion about how she managed to grow up thinking that her body was just fine, beautiful even... And the learning that went with that discussion was amazing!chris
<miriyum1@...>
I’m a 55 year old woman who played with Barbies as a child. I don’t think
they damaged my character or limited my life choices or intellect. I’m not
obsessed with my appearance. I earned a BA and MA and was ABD for my
Ph.D. I’ve only been married once, but that has been for more than 25
years, so playing with Barbie as a little girl did not make me flighty or
sexually promiscuous. Actually my interest in fashion dolls as a child led to an
interest in fashion and sewing in my teens and 20s. I’m essentially a self
taught sewer. Throughout high school and college and grad school as I studied
literature, wrote poetry, taught high school and college English, I also sewed
for myself and for children I knew. When my daughter was a baby and I was alone
at home with her, I taught myself how to make curtains and slip covers and then
earned extra money sewing them for other moms in the neighborhood. In my
early 40s I started collecting Barbies again and I funded my hobby by sewing
professionally for dolls. I am now designing doll clothes for adult collectors
and am well known in the doll world and win competitions for contemporary and
historic fashion designs. I’ve learned lots about the history of clothing and
costume pursuing this hobby. I stopped teaching when I had my child, and now I
am doing what I love as I unschool my daughter. She sees me doing the work that
I taught myself to do and that encourages her to realize that she can pursue her
own interests and that they are valuable. My daughter,now 15, has been
unschooled since she was 10. She adored princess Barbies as a little girl and
she still likes dolls but is not in any way interested in fashion or obsessed
with her own appearance. She still likes Monster High dolls but is now more
interested in creating cartoon art and working on the computer.
Barbie does not have to be a bad influence on girls. In fact, Barbie was
actually the first doll that emphasized that girls could be more than mothers.
The lady who invented Barbie was a founder of Mattel – she was a working
professional woman. She presented Barbie as a working fashion model, a
fashion designer, a teacher, a nurse, an astronaut, a college student, an
actress all before 1965. After that Barbie’s and women’s career choices
exploded. I admit that I also worried a bit as Katy grew up whether my
collection of pretty dolls (Barbie and 16” fashion dolls) and my hobby of making
pretty clothes would make her think pretty was all that mattered for women. But
since I was a slightly dumpy woman in her 40s and 50s with glasses, dressed
perpetually in jeans and black shirts I think she realized that real women don’t
look like dolls. I always told my daughter that dolls had no insides so
all their pretty had to be on the outside because that’s all they have. They are
works of fantasy and art and not images of what a woman must look like. Let your
child play with a Barbie. You might be surprised to see what that play can lead
to.
BRIAN POLIKOWSKY
My daughter was maybe 4- 5 when she got into Barbies. I bought her tons of Barbies!!!!!!
We watched many of the Barbie movies and I bought them because they can be bought cheap used.
I bought a full container of Barbies for her little by little. They go for 50 cents to a dollar on Goodwill!
I got some more expensive ones but most were on Goodwill.
A year or so ago she gave a bunch and kept the favorites. She does not play with them now. She is 7.
She likes Monster Hight dolls a bunch but what she is into this Christmas is My Little Pony and Minecraft stuff.
I bought a full container of Barbies for her little by little. They go for 50 cents to a dollar on Goodwill!
I got some more expensive ones but most were on Goodwill.
A year or so ago she gave a bunch and kept the favorites. She does not play with them now. She is 7.
She likes Monster Hight dolls a bunch but what she is into this Christmas is My Little Pony and Minecraft stuff.
Barbies have been fun to play. I grew up not caring for dolls much and never had a Barbie. Barbie has brought so many joys and
the movies are pretty great.
I specially like Princess and the Pauper, Diamond Castle and a few other older ones!
The songs are great too! Barbie is a very cool girl. She is strong and a great friend.
Get to know Barbie and you will like her.
I specially like Princess and the Pauper, Diamond Castle and a few other older ones!
The songs are great too! Barbie is a very cool girl. She is strong and a great friend.
Get to know Barbie and you will like her.
Alex Polikowsky
BRIAN POLIKOWSKY
<<<<<<<<<<<<<Get your daughter a Barbie. Get her one of the movies,
too - find one with something she likes in them, music or painting or mermaid or fairies or flying horses (oh! that's how Mo got from MLP to Barbie - the Pegasus movie!). Some are remakes of very traditional stories - Swan Lake, Rapunzel, The Princess and the Pauper (that might be a good one for you to start with!), The Twelve Dancing Princesses, The Three Musketeers - redone with female heroines.>>>>>>>>>>>>
I love the Pegasus movie! Pretty great! the Three Musketeers is great !MY daughter even dressed up as one for Halloween!
Here is Barbie and Link
http://polykow.blogspot.com/2009/11/halloween-link-and-barbie-musketeer.html
I love the Pegasus movie! Pretty great! the Three Musketeers is great !MY daughter even dressed up as one for Halloween!
Here is Barbie and Link
http://polykow.blogspot.com/2009/11/halloween-link-and-barbie-musketeer.html
I think that embracing our children's likes is a wonderful way to learn about our children and for them to feel loved.
Alex Polikowksy
Alex Polikowksy
BRIAN POLIKOWSKY
<<<<<<<<<<<<<Get your daughter a Barbie. Get her one of the movies, too - find one with something she likes in them, music or painting or mermaid or fairies or flying horses (oh! that's how Mo got from MLP to Barbie - the Pegasus movie!). Some are remakes of very traditional stories - Swan Lake, Rapunzel, The
Princess and the Pauper (that might be a good one for you to start with!), The Twelve Dancing Princesses, The Three Musketeers - redone with female heroines.>>>>>>>>>>>>
I love the Pegasus movie! Pretty great! the Three Musketeers is great !MY daughter even dressed up as one for Halloween!
Here is Barbie and Link
http://polykow.blogspot.com/2009/11/halloween-link-and-barbie-musketeer.html
And Gigi getting her Barbie Carriage
http://polykow.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-02-24T12:40:00-08:00&max-results=10&start=30&by-date=false
Alex Polikowksy
I love the Pegasus movie! Pretty great! the Three Musketeers is great !MY daughter even dressed up as one for Halloween!
Here is Barbie and Link
http://polykow.blogspot.com/2009/11/halloween-link-and-barbie-musketeer.html
And Gigi getting her Barbie Carriage
http://polykow.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-02-24T12:40:00-08:00&max-results=10&start=30&by-date=false
Alex Polikowksy
Kirsty Harriman
Yes what helped me get past the body image thing is thinking of all the adult women I know today who played with Barbies but who have perfectly healthy views of their bodies... And to see the parallels between the fashion paper dolls they enjoy and the fashion and hair appeal that Barbie has.
Kirsty
-------- Original message --------
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Barbie
From: chris ester <chris.homeschool@...>
To: [email protected]
CC:
Kirsty
-------- Original message --------
Subject: Re: [AlwaysLearning] Barbie
From: chris ester <chris.homeschool@...>
To: [email protected]
CC:
On Mon, Dec 16, 2013 at 8:35 PM, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>>>>First, just suck it up.Your daughter is not a "mini-me" of you.
If you don't like Barbie, don't buy one for yourself, but if she wants one, and you could get one but you choose not to for some personal or philosophical reason, or out of fear, than who will be her partner?
http://justaddlightandstir.blogspot.com/2011/12/trust-and-curiosity.html
Please read that. It's short. It leads to something longer, but it might be enough by itself.
Sandra<<<<My daughter and son are past the age at which Barbie is cool any more. We had a wooden dollhouse with all of the wooden dolls which my daughter and son found quite uninteresting. I had fantasies about my children spending hours playing with these plain looking toys imaginatively. They weren't colorful or soft or any fun to my children.... So, we got rid of the wood toys and my fantasies and I paid attention to what my children enjoyed when we went to the fancy toy stores that had all of those toys out for children to play with.My daughter's first Barbie came from a relative. She was very young (3 or 4), but loved bright, colorful toys that were pretty. At the time pink was her favorite color and the more color the better! At the time, I was not overly impressed with Barbie, but my daughter loved playing with her and her other dolls. She loved pretty clothes and fashion. Her favorites were soft sculpture dolls called "Groovy Girls". They were friendly teenaged looking soft dolls with lots of nifty clothes. My children (and I ) spent hours playing imaginatively with all of those dolls and all of the stuff that went with those dolls. The learning that went with the dolls was amazing!
Fast forward to now.... My daughter is 15 and very self possessed. She was telling me the other day how terrible Barbie is for a girl's self concept. That all of the messages sent by the unrealistic body shape was just not good! We then had a long, interesting discussion about how she managed to grow up thinking that her body was just fine, beautiful even... And the learning that went with that discussion was amazing!chris
chris ester
Barbie's books are good too. We read a lot of them when my kids were young. They weren't as loved and requested as Dr Seuss, but they were library favorites-- books to bring home from the library, but not necessarily to own. We did buy a few, but they were not read a thousand times a week books like others.
chris
On Mon, Dec 16, 2013 at 10:25 PM, BRIAN POLIKOWSKY <polykowholsteins@...> wrote:
My daughter was maybe 4- 5 when she got into Barbies. I bought her tons of Barbies!!!!!!We watched many of the Barbie movies and I bought them because they can be bought cheap used.
I bought a full container of Barbies for her little by little. They go for 50 cents to a dollar on Goodwill!
I got some more expensive ones but most were on Goodwill.
A year or so ago she gave a bunch and kept the favorites. She does not play with them now. She is 7.
She likes Monster Hight dolls a bunch but what she is into this Christmas is My Little Pony and Minecraft stuff.
Barbies have been fun to play. I grew up not caring for dolls much and never had a Barbie. Barbie has brought so many joys andthe movies are pretty great.
I specially like Princess and the Pauper, Diamond Castle and a few other older ones!
The songs are great too! Barbie is a very cool girl. She is strong and a great friend.
Get to know Barbie and you will like her.Alex Polikowsky
Karen
>>>>>I reckon I can learn to live with Barbie and its very freeing.<<<<<I read this the other day on Just Add Light and Stir, and it has really stuck with me. It's about ice cream, but to me it could be about anything our children are enjoying.
The title of the post is "Don't taint the ice cream" and it goes on to say:
"It creates a trap, a trick question, an adversarial relationship, an opportunity for failure, if there is "a right answer" to the question "What do you want to eat?" Or if an overjoyed "can I have some ice cream?" is met with a sigh, and eyes rolling, and another sigh, and a dirty look, and a summary of what the child has already eaten that day, and a reminder of when the next meal is, and a head shake, and a mention of ingredients... or even ONE of those, it taints the ice cream. It harms the relationship. It makes the child smaller. It does not, correspondingly, though, make the parent larger."
If we, as parents, can do more than "learn to live" with something our children are interested in...if we can learn to truly embrace our children's interests, delight in their curiosity around anything - even (and maybe especially) those things we might have a historic distaste for - then we can move several steps closer to a more meaningful, lasting relationship.
http://justaddlightandstir.blogspot.com/2013/12/dont-taint-ice-cream.html
Karen.
Pushpa Ramachandran
sorry that earlier message went out from my phone:( apologies.
Besides the fact that MLP stuff is just not available in India, plus a lot of the videos are blocked because of ip address issues:(..it has just been a world of discovery and new learning all the way.
Some of the things that have come up in relation to opposition to her Barbie, MLP love has really just been the reaction of one of her "friends'" mom who is very concerned about "over exposure" to mature stuff "earlier" on.This particular child does go to mainstream school, so chances are slim that she might not encounter barbie over there..but in any case the mom brought it up with me in particular and it led to some interesting events.
While initially I was a bit about "whatever Veda wants", this particular child is very much liked by daughter and it has helped coaching Veda in terms of not exactly watching those videos ( not so much barbie as much as MLP) when that particular child comes to play along with her mom. Veda doesn't seem to mind since there's a lot of other options for them to choose from but videos like these that are considered "dangerous" have helped her and me understand about choices, respecting others preferences and not necessarily talking about topics that might offend others (moms included). Its led to lots of talking about why people might not like monster high and MLP and Veda came up with the idea that "people might think they are scary or something" which I thought was pretty good logic for her age:).We talk all the time so its been a process of trying to piece together what makes it work while sharing some of this stuff with friends especially when we dont exactly live in a community that has any unschoolers/homeschoolers in our complex especially since thats where we spend pretty much most or all of our time for a variety of reasons.
I was myself a little concerned by the language usage not so much about how how it would influence her, but more so her using it inappropriately and more so inadvertantly, but it hasn't happened so far yet What has happened is discoveryof a variety of use of voices and accents and imitation of the various girls talking styles, clothe styles, dressing styles, dance videos, artwork, pinterest, discovery of youtube videos where children post videos playing with MLP toys using a variety of dialogues, own scripts and she enjoys watching these and re-enacting them herself.
Actually barbie is quite popular here in India, so there are quite a few many older children in our complex that enjoy the barbie stuff with Veda including the make up, the mobile app games, the colouring book, the clothes etc.Some moms do rant about Barbie and their sexiness but I think Barbie pales in comparison to some of the crass Bollywood dishes out to kids and Indian children are exposed to that often very early on so its a bit ironic in reality:)
The movie about Odette- the animation was done in Chennai which led to conversations myself and her and her dad about animation, Hollywood and Chennai (we have family in chennai). While she might not exactly get all the parts of the movie we have been treated to many a private performances of ballet by Veda. We ended making a tutu that didn't turn out so great since the material wasn't the right one, but that was an enjoyable experience in itself. Barbie was the color inspiration for our fake Christmas tree this year. Rainbow dash was the color theme for our Diwali Rangoli this November.
She is very much immersed in Barbie and MLP. It's been a fun ride! Thought Id share on this very interesting post:)
Regards,
Pushpa
On Tue, Dec 17, 2013 at 10:43 AM, chris ester <chris.homeschool@...> wrote:
Barbie's books are good too. We read a lot of them when my kids were young. They weren't as loved and requested as Dr Seuss, but they were library favorites-- books to bring home from the library, but not necessarily to own. We did buy a few, but they were not read a thousand times a week books like others.chrisOn Mon, Dec 16, 2013 at 10:25 PM, BRIAN POLIKOWSKY <polykowholsteins@...> wrote:
My daughter was maybe 4- 5 when she got into Barbies. I bought her tons of Barbies!!!!!!We watched many of the Barbie movies and I bought them because they can be bought cheap used.
I bought a full container of Barbies for her little by little. They go for 50 cents to a dollar on Goodwill!
I got some more expensive ones but most were on Goodwill.
A year or so ago she gave a bunch and kept the favorites. She does not play with them now. She is 7.
She likes Monster Hight dolls a bunch but what she is into this Christmas is My Little Pony and Minecraft stuff.
Barbies have been fun to play. I grew up not caring for dolls much and never had a Barbie. Barbie has brought so many joys andthe movies are pretty great.
I specially like Princess and the Pauper, Diamond Castle and a few other older ones!
The songs are great too! Barbie is a very cool girl. She is strong and a great friend.
Get to know Barbie and you will like her.Alex Polikowsky
Sandra Dodd
-=-My daughter is 15 and very self possessed. She was telling me the other day how terrible Barbie is for a girl's self concept. That all of the messages sent by the unrealistic body shape was just not good! -=-
Do you feel that she was complaining that you let her have Barbie dolls?
Did she seem to think it had a terrible effect on her own self concept?
-=-My daughter and son are past the age at which Barbie is cool any more. -=-
If they got past their own interest in Barbie, I don't think it was because of a certain age.
There are adults who collect Barbies, either current special editions, or the older sets and put them up as art, or trade them at shows, or design museum displays with them. :-)
There was a Barbie museum in Albuquerque for a while. It was someone's life collection of Barbies (and some other kinds of dolls), set up beautifully in all sorts of displays. It's not there anymore, and I don't know whether they went to another city where there might be more traffic (the admissions and sales needed to cover the cost of the building) or if the collection was sold off, or what.
I'm not "a Barbie fan," but I am a fan of learning, and of my daughter's interests. She's 22 and she still shows visitors "Barbieland," and even male visitors her age are likely to crawl in there, sit down, and admire some things and hear some stories. It's like an interactive Barbie museum under the stairs. :-)
All that Barbie play didn't keep my daughter from growing up to put dreadlocks in her hair, get tattoos and gauge her ears. I wouldn't have minded if Barbie had a more mainstream effect on Holly. :-)
Sandra
<miriyum1@...>
One thing people may not realize when looking at the pointy breasts, super thin waistline and narrow hips of the original Barbie body is that the dimensions of the 1959 body were designed so that the doll would look like the properly brassiered and girdled figure of the well dressed woman of the 60s when she was fully dressed. Barbie is 1/6 the size of a real human being but the fabrics of her clothes are manufactured and woven usually for human scale clothing. Thus, even the finest silk taffeta on a 1/6 scale doll displays like a heavy brocade on a human woman. A waistline on a skirt often ends up as four or more layers of fabric folded around the waist. That amount of fabric bulks up that teeny tiny waistline when the doll is dressed so that she looks relatively normal for a fashion model. All fashion dolls are somewhat unrealistically thin, but it is not so much because the makers of dolls malignantly want to impose an unrealistic body image on girls to destroy their self esteem, but because they want the dolls to look stylishly slender once they are actually dressed. And dolls really can't wear bras and shapewear so their plastic figures have to be modeled as if they were.