Comments on: Let’s Play Dolls

By: Valerie (Kyriosity)

Valerie (Kyriosity) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:27:02 +0000

Isaac, please note that the first sentence of Mrs. Wilson’s post does not read, “When my daughters were growing up, my husband and I made a deliberate decision to be busybodies about the kinds of dolls everybody should be allowed to have in their home if they didn’t want to suffer eternal damnation.” Parents can (and the Wilsons did) set standards for their own families without pretending to set up those standards as inviolable rules for everybody else. In fact, conscientious parents must do this sort of thing, as the only other alternative is a “do whatever you see your friends doing” approach that fails to meet the biblical standard of “bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4)

Since someone like Mrs. Wilson who has successfully raised her own kids is directed by Scripture to “instruct the younger women how to love their husbands and children” (Titus 2:4-5), using her blog to share her family’s standards and the reasoning behind them is really a rather helpful thing to do. She’s seeking to bless, not to condemn anyone…and doing a consistently good job at it, if you ask me!

By: Isaac

Isaac — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 20:20:21 +0000

While I respect and appreciate many comments about problems associated with dolls, Barbie in particuar, I am concerned about having a “no Barbie policy” becoming a legalistic standard. Is someone in sin who lets their children play with Barbie? Maybe, maybe not. Aside from the “stackedness” of Barbie (not a sin in itself…some women do suffer from this unpietistic ailment), the greater concern is the clothes and cultural assumptions that often go along with Barbie (Ken, the fast car, the slutty clothes/ Hollywoodness). Could not many of these problems be overcome with instruction, additional snoopiness on the part of parents, and restrictions on clothes/accessories (like my mother, who bought clothes for my sister’s dolls from a lady who made modest Barbie clothes)? No, Barbie is a sin, is a sin, is a sin. I certainly wouldn’t let my daughters go near them! Well, as for me and my house, we have allowed Barbie, but with restrictions, in the same way we have allowed limited TV and movies. I respect brothers and sisters that follow a “no TV” rule, but I don’t condemn those that don’t either.

By: KArla

KArla — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 19:14:48 +0000

OK…I’ll be honest. My barbies made out with ken every chance they got…in the hot tub(that actually produced it’s own bubble action), in the car(that played the latest 80’s pop), on the pink blow-up sofa. My barbies were sluts for sure. Poor Ken couldn’t keep up with them and enlisted a friend of his from college, named Cory for double dates.
Ironically, I was quite the opposite. Didn’t date at all.
I must admit that when I married my dh, I thought it would be much like the barbie fairy tale ending…prince charming kisses barbie princess and they live happily ever after. After all, my barbie never did house work, stay up all night with crying babies, or disagree with Ken…she was too busy getting her hair done(cut!) and shopping for new clothes!
So the biggest problem I have with barbies is not the boobs, but the world view….me, I’m pretty, I’m sexy, people like me! I recently heard a popular TV evangelist with this same barbie world view, he must have had a Ken.

By: Erin

Erin — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 06:15:39 +0000

I never played with dolls, I had my model horses. I suppose it prepared me for motherhood in some form or fashion. Somebody earlier noted that Barbie’s figure is unobtainable for real women. I think though that corsets did a better job than Barbie shape. If you have to displace your organs to make men like your figure then you should innately know that it’s not in your best interest.

By: Valerie (Kyriosity)

Valerie (Kyriosity) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 06:28:44 +0000

Melissa’s comments spark a question in my mind about where doll house dolls — typically a family set — fit in the Wilsonian doll paradigm. More positively, I’m assuming, but thoughts on that would make a nice addition to the entry.

My particularly bad memories of Barbie had to do with envy. I’m betting that has something to do with “being” the doll, and knowing that my doll wasn’t as nice as my friends’, and didn’t have as many nice clothes and other accessories. And I think I only had one, not several as was common. Not that there’s never rivalry over baby or little girl dolls, but the Barbie envy was closer to the grown-up versions of the same sins of dissatisfaction and catty discontentedness.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 02:31:26 +0000

Just another comment to add to the discussion. I and my sister each had several Barbie dolls growing up, and I owned the only Ken doll. I’m sure my parents had many long discussions about them (my mom wasn’t allowed to have them growing up, and had one of the flat-busted flat-footed alternatives).
Looking back, I think they managed to do a pretty good job with us; the clothes our Barbies had were more of the long elegant evening gown kind, and we had a big house for them that we decorated ourselves. We learned to sew by making blankets and pillows out of scrap satin and velvet, and made little chests of drawers from old matchboxes covered in shelf-paper, and generally had much more fun doing the decorating and set-up than actually enacting any stories. I did have one Ken doll, but since the only clothes he owned were a slouchy sweater set he never really got played with.
I also distinctly remember my mom emphasizing to us that no woman could ever look like Barbie, because her insides would have no place to go; it was just a physical impossibility.
This isn’t to say that I think Barbies are a good idea generally (after all, people survive plane crashes and we still don’t make a habit of crashing planes), but at least it’s an example of how one pair of sisters managed to make it through without (as far as I can tell) any negative effects.

By: Alison

Alison — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 19:34:59 +0000

Nancy, could you speak about dealing with this at other people’s homes, especially relatives’ homes, that have Barbies? My daughters (4 and 2) want to play with these when they are at their cousins’ home (and there are a lot of the Barbies or princess dolls and Ken). I’m not sure if I speak to the parent about it (we’re already pretty vocal about the t.v. thing-b/c a lot is not appropriate for our children to watch), or my daughter about choosing not to play with it or keeping an eye on it without making it a big deal (we don’t have them there a lot, and we don’t have these dolls in our home).

By: Natalie

Natalie — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:11:21 +0000

When I was little, someone gave me a bunch of Barbies. My parents decided to trade me- one Barbie equaled one baby doll of my choice! I didn’t play with the Barbies much anyway, but after that I kept all the remaining Barbies safely stashed away… they were far too valuable as currency!
I plan on raising my daughters similarly… with a strong emphasis on mommy-play, and babies!

By: BrittLeigh

BrittLeigh — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:35:44 +0000

I absolutely agree with your thoughts here and appreciate this post. I was raised with a no-barbie policy and intend to use it in my own home someday. It’s great to see an article on it. Thank you!

By: maddie

maddie — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:19:40 +0000

A few thoughts on playing ‘church’ (Re: Megan Lindsay’s comment)
My sisters and I DO have a brother, and he would ‘graciously’ lead our playtime church services…He was especially good at TAKING the offering and TAKING communion! Lots of frustration back then, but good laughs now!