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Coming from a twenty-seven year old female who had her share of Barbie dolls as a child, I would have to ask why they aren't appropriate. As children, we see the world through a child's eyes. To take a doll, and deem it inappropriate based on our adult views of society and the impression we are afraid it will force on our children is just silly. When a child looks at a doll, she doesn't look at her body and dream of one day having the curves of her breasts or hips. She sees a doll, a toy. Something to fuel her imagination, to lend her a hand in playing out scenes she sees herself in sometime in the future. The dramatic wedding to Ken, the job as an astronaut or police woman, or even just a day at the beach.

We are taking adult issues, and applying them to children, when the children simply don't care. The issues that our children are gaining with self image and beauty are not the results of playing with Barbies, the issue is coming from society as a whole. The view is that things are getting worse, for us and our children. We have become lax in our morals, and things that were sacred no longer are. I do agree that there are some dolls in the same "type" as Barbie that have parts about them that I don't agree with. For example, if you remove a Bratz doll's clothing (as children do) most of them are wearing thong underwear. The point in that is what? Not to show panty lines on their new outfits? That to me, is a bit ridiculous. However to come down on Barbie, and say simply for her perfect hourglass figure and shapely chest that she is a bad influence on our daughters makes me wonder what else could be a bad influence.

Innocence is a rare and precious gift nowadays, let them keep it as long as they can. They will see enough out in the world and learn enough later on, why force them to stop playing with their beloved toys simply because we have decided that we don't like the idea of it? Think about the toys you played with as a child and compare them to those we have today. As society changes, so do the consumers, and so do the toys. The more moving parts, lights, and noise on the toys now the better (well, from our children's standpoints anyway). Most kiddos have some form of gaming system such as a GameBoy or PlayStation or whatever else, and this could also be blamed for the issues our children have. No matter what they choose to play with, there will always be a possible issue. However, if my daughter is happy unplugged from the television and all other things electronic to sit happily in her room and play pretend wedding with her Barbie dolls, I am more than happy to let her.

Learn more about this author, Kayleen Proffer.
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