This could be a good idea, if the whole "Barbie concept" wasn't so bad and harmful for little girls. Mattel is launching another member of the Barbie Collector Pink Label "Dolls of the World" series: Cinco de Mayo Barbie."Dolls of the World" theme this year is "Festivals of the World."

"To date, the Dolls of the World series features dolls from around the globe including Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America," said Elizabeth Grampp, director of Barbie Collector Marketing, in a written response to questions about the new doll.

As you can see in the photo, Cinco de Mayo Barbie wears a ruffled red, white and green dress - the colors of the Mexican flag. She is beautiful, isn't she? Unfortunately, she will teach chicas more about pain, self hate and body issues, than about Cinco de Mayo or Mexican heritage.

You know, all Barbies have the same measurements. In human form, they would be 7 feet tall, have a bust size of 44 inches, a 17 inch waist and "hips that lie" at 40 inches. But try to explain that to a 6 years old, who looks at this doll and the only thing she can see is a beautiful woman; a little girl who is naturally fascinated by Barbie's glamorous lifestyle and her glamorous clothes; who soon will try to measure herself by Barbie's metrics... and soon will feel she has failed.

In an article from 1996 - Barbie's step back for womanhood - Julie B. Hairston says:

"(...)girls, who will spend half their lives hating themselves because they look like ordinary women instead of an overhyped caricature.

They can dress her up in a lab coat or a business suit, but Barbie's purpose has nothing to do with what she wears and everything to do with how she looks. That is her ultimate message to the girls who enter her world: What you do doesn't matter unless you ooze sex appeal while doing it. And that means having certain physical attributes, such as unnaturally long legs and huge breasts."

The article is great; despite its date, it's still really worth reading. I totally agree with her; Barbie is a step back for womanhood. Barbie is covered with a modern, feminist, working woman varnish; but at the end of the day, it's all about how you look, and how sexy you are.

That's the kind of issue you want your 6 year old daughter thinking (and suffering) about? Don't buy their pretty marketing strategy; the real truth is really ugly.

Source: Mi Blog es Tu Blog
Via: Racialicious