Banning Barbie?
Why Legislation Could Ban A Beloved Toy From West Virginia's Shelves
Barbie dolls evoke many happy memories from women across generations. The toy, first introduced in 1959, has been one of the best-selling playthings since that time. At one point in the 1990's, a Barbie doll was being sold every second around the world. But rumblings of discontent about Barbie's impossible figure and what some call an anti-feminist message have led legislator Jeff Eldridge to try and ban the doll in West Virginia, just in time for her 50th birthday.
Innocent Toy or Chauvinist Ploy?
In an article in the West Virginia State Journal, Eldridge appears to be channeling Gloria Steinem when he says, "I just hate the image that we give to our kids that if you're beautiful, you're beautiful and you don't have to be smart, and I'd like to send a message to not only our children but parents and educators that let's push education over the importance of beauty."
He seems to only be referring to the Barbies of old. Sure, Barbie started out as nothing more than a seemingly vapid fashion model, devoted to her boyfriend Ken and an avid bikini-shopper. But since the advent of women's liberation, Barbie has been a doctor, a teacher, an astronaut, an Olympian and worked in a host of other careers that are inspirations to young girls.
Is Passage of the Bill Realistic?
While Eldridge's colleague, Kanawha County Delegate Nancy Peoples Guthrie, is pleased to have a male member of the House worried about women's images, she doesn't see passage of the bill as a realistic outcome. In fact, she remarked outright, "My sense is that this is probably not a bill that's going to pass." Comments left by readers on AOL.com and various news station websites across the country seem to be markedly against such a bill.
Should Legislature Even Be Involved?
There are many issues relevant to the Barbie doll, but two of the most important seem to be these:
- Should government be legislating such minutiae in the lives of its people?
- Aren't there a few more important things going on in the world other than a middle-aged plastic blonde, namely the tanking economy and two major wars?
Keep It In Perspective
Barbie has been enjoyed for generations. There are problems, of course; it has been asserted that no real woman could exist with Barbie's proportions. Mattel did shrink her bust and widen her waist, but the fact remains that-she's a doll, not a living, breathing role model. And with evolving attitudes has come an evolved Barbie. Soccer and Gymnast Barbies encourage girls to participate in athletics and get moving. Doctor and Scientist Barbies encourage careers in the fields of math and science, which have been traditionally dominated by men. And Barbie is an alternative to the omnipresent blare of the television; she at least fosters both imaginative individual and peer play.
Why Such a Ban Solves Nothing
It can be argued that explaining to children who play with Barbie dolls the difference between real and fake is good, but taking them away and not letting children and their families make the decision about what kind of toys are in their houses sets up a scary precedent. A ban like this could precipitate a slippery slope for the next toy a legislator deems inappropriate. (Guns too violent? Kitchen sets too domestic? Play-doh too...doughy?) And one can only imagine what the creation of a West Virginian "Barbie Black Market" could do to our already-maligned economy.
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