Barbies, Beauty & Head-Coverings: How Do Orthodox Train Children for Dress Styles?

[Dorothea]

Dolly Parton doll (all the dolls I'm showing are the ones we had!):

 

[gracefullamb]

Sorry, those are all before my time.

 

[Dorothea]

Sorry, those are all before my time.

Aw, well, you missed some good times.

 

[inconsequential]

Say what you like but THIS is what happens when a rich, beautiful young woman starts hanging out with a deadbeat like Ken.

Found this at work one morning and couldn't resist.

 

[Dorothea]

 

[Dorothea]

Say what you like but THIS is what happens when a rich, beautiful young woman starts hanging out with a deadbeat like Ken.

Found this at work one morning and couldn't resist.

Reminds me of this:

 

[Fran75]

I loved Barbie, (it's a good thing I have a little boy because I don't know if I could control my Barbie purchases if I had a girl).

Thanks for all the cool Barbie pics Easy and Dorthea.

Dorthea, I was an avid reader of non fiction before the baby. I read two awesome books about Barbie, if you're interested. One is Barbie and Ruth, about her creator Ruth Handler, she had a fascinating life and the other is the Barbie Chronicles, a collection of essays about Barbie from women from all walks of life and how she influenced them.

 

[Dorothea]

I loved Barbie, (it's a good thing I have a little boy because I don't know if I could control my Barbie purchases if I had a girl).

Thanks for all the cool Barbie pics Easy and Dorthea.

Dorthea, I was an avid reader of non fiction before the baby. I read two awesome books about Barbie, if you're interested. One is Barbie and Ruth, about her creator Ruth Handler, she had a fascinating life and the other is the Barbie Chronicles, a collection of essays about Barbie from women from all walks of life and how she influenced them.

Oh, those books sound neat. . I didn't know there was a book out about Ruth Handler. Thx!

When we traveled to Greece in 2010, the boys had their coloring books and I had a couple Barbie coloring books (yeah, I know...quite jouvenile lol), so I'd color if I wasnt working on cryptograms or crossword puzzles, while on the plane and on the ferries.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

Then there is the Jerry Springer edition:

 

[ArmyMatt]

cannot see a Barbie and Ken thread and not think of Toy Story 3. I loved when Barbie threatened Ken by shredding some of his clothes.

 

[Dorothea]

cannot see a Barbie and Ken thread and not think of Toy Story 3. I loved when Barbie threatened Ken by shredding some of his clothes.

I know! Toy Story 3 was awesome, and that first part where Ken comes down the elevator in the townhome to show the toys around, and he first lays eyes on Barbie, and the Dream Weaver music starts up. I was laughing so hard when we saw that in the theater.

 

[gracefullamb]

Then there is the Jerry Springer edition:

Did you know, well probablly not since you don't have sisters and your daughter is way too young, but they had a Barbie that you could open her belly up and remove a plastic baby. It was teen pregnancy Barbie. It was strange very strange. They also had a biker Barbie with lots of black leather and massive amounts of tattoos on arms and chest. Then they had what I call poll dancing Barbie...She was wearing stillettos, fishnet stockings and black leather underthings and a tramp stamp. That is all.

 

[Dorothea]

Did you know, well probablly not since you don't have sisters and your daughter is way too young, but they had a Barbie that you could open her belly up and remove a plastic baby. It was teen pregnancy Barbie. It was strange very strange. They also had a biker Barbie with lots of black leather and massive amounts of tattoos on arms and chest. Then they had what I call poll dancing Barbie...She was wearing stillettos, fishnet stockings and black leather underthings and a tramp stamp. That is all.

Yeah, about the pregnant Barbie. I don't know if this is the same one, but there was Midge - Barbie's long-time friend, who was pregnant with her second child, apparently. I was just reading up on this on this link. She apparently married doll Alan in 1991, and they have a son, Ryan (sounds like a real life story or soap opera, doesn't it?), and so she was pregnant with her second, and it was pulled from the shelves because some parents said it gave the wrong message of teen pregnancy or something. They said the family should have to sold together so then it wouldn't look bad. TBH, I thought that sounded ridiculous. Just because she was sold separately from Alan and Ryan (who were also sold separately), the Barbie Doll is promoting teen pregnancy? It seems a bit OTT, if you ask me. It says, "Happy Family" on the box. Well, that's just my opinion. The people at Mattel had their reasons for this doll, and it had to do with nurturing that girls ages 5-8 apparently have a need for. I don't know. Here's the link:

USATODAY.com - Pregnant doll pulled from Wal-Mart after customers complain

The pregnant version of Midge, which pops out a curled-up baby when her belly is opened — has been pulled from Wal-Mart shelves across the country following complaints from customers, a company spokeswoman said Tuesday.

"It was just that customers had a concern about having a pregnant doll," Wal-Mart spokeswoman Cynthia Illick said.

She said the entire "Happy Family" set, which includes pregnant Midge, husband Alan and 3-year-old son Ryan, had been pulled from shelves of the world's largest retailer, which has about 2,800 stores and 500 warehouse club stores.

To me, that's kind of a shame that the whole family set had been pulled. I think it's rather nice to show a regular family.


The pregnant Midge, who wears a tiny white wedding ring, has a detachable magnetic stomach that allows easy "delivery" of the baby, and comes with tiny crib, cradle, changing table, baby toys and even a tiny baby monitor. Alan and Ryan are sold separately. The baby also can get a first checkup from "Dr. Barbie," also sold separately.

An article on Mattel's Barbie.com Web site says the "Happy Family" dolls are designed to satisfy the desire for nurturing play by girls age 5 to 8, and can be "a wonderful prop for parents to use with their children to role-play family situations — especially in families anticipating the arrival of a new sibling."

I don't know. Maybe I've just gotten more liberal over the years or something, but is that so bad?

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

As long as pregnant barbie had a wedding ring and Ken firmly devoted to her, I'm ok with it. But if Barbie is to reflect 2012 values, she will have had 3 kids from 3 different guys and one in the oven currently while she is considering trying women. That's the lovely world we live in now. Barbie would have a barbed-wire tattoo and she's out of a job but hate's Obama and goes to Tea Party rallies as she thinks unions are at fault for her unemployement! She has tons out-of-wedlock kids but wants family values, watched Resident Evil movies in front of her preschooler, drinks King Cobra, and lives in a trailer park called "Neon Nites."

Did you know, well probablly not since you don't have sisters and your daughter is way too young, but they had a Barbie that you could open her belly up and remove a plastic baby. It was teen pregnancy Barbie. It was strange very strange. They also had a biker Barbie with lots of black leather and massive amounts of tattoos on arms and chest. Then they had what I call poll dancing Barbie...She was wearing stillettos, fishnet stockings and black leather underthings and a tramp stamp. That is all.

 

[Ortho_Cat]

my deal with barbie is that it trains girls right off the bat to see the "ideal" what society thinks the ideal women should look and be like, and it is a unrealistic expectation imo. Also I think barbie represents uber-materialism, which i don't think is healthy either.

 

[-Kyriaki-]

My Mum was anti-barbie, so i was 8 or 9 when I got my first one. My sister got them much younger, because Mum had calmed down a bit by then - we weren't allowed any branded toys as kids which was pretty hard given that I was young in the height of the 'brand name everything is cool' late 80s/early 90s.

I had a gorgeous made in West Germany doll as a kid though, a friend rather than a baby with red hair called Katy and I loved her to bits, still got her.

I think I was born to be Orthodox, I've loved the headcoverings of the characters in my Bible story books since I was tiny and learned how to do a basic hijab when I was about 6 years old Ironically, I go to a parish where noone except the yiayiades cover and it would be more distracting for me to do so than to not! I wear scarves and veils a lot in summer out of practicality as much as anything else though - I am extremely heat sensitive and can't tolerate heat on my skin in our very hot weather (above 36*C) so I have to essentially turn hijabi in that weather - wrist and ankle length clothing, loose and light (and I buy a lot of it from fashionable Muslim stores, actually, that and hippies ) and loose light shawls over my head shading my eyes somewhat and covering my shoulders. I don't pull them in tight under my chin to cover my neck though, leaving them to hang from my head or wrapping them loosely over one shoulder. I wear my hair in a bun, generally with a decorated fork to hold it which I hang the shawl over, mantilla style, like this:

(I tried to find a picture of a person wearing one, but the current fashions for them are huge, high ones which is NOT my cup of tea)

This is the kind of fork I use (but worn higher, and mine is copper):

My hair is actually longer than my avatar's, so you can imagine the bun is reasonably big and I wear it high out of practicality, and because it's cooler in hot weather. I get lots of compliments when I wear scarves and shawls this way

The funny thing is that I'll get to Church on a hot day and take it off when I go inside rather than put it on...I'm tempted to just wear it next time!

 

[Fran75]

my deal with Barbie is that it trains girls right off the bat to see the "ideal" what society thinks the ideal women should look and be like, and it is a unrealistic expectation imo. Also I think barbie represents uber-materialism, which i don't think is healthy either.

Adults and children view Barbie differently. When I was a child she was a toy, she is a tool girls use for play, they project situations on to her. As an adult I look at her perfect albeit plastic body and endless closest of stylish clothes and am jealous.

 

[Dorothea]

Adults and children view Barbie differently. When I was a child she was a toy, she is a tool girls use for play, they project situations on to her. As an adult I look at her perfect albeit plastic body and endless closest of stylish clothes and am jealous.

Yes, Barbie is viewed differently for adults and children. Although, my mom liked (s) Barbies. She would sometimes set up the little Barbie fold out apartment we had. She was like an interior decorator. She'd fix the furniture all up, and have Barbie posing like at the doorway, or something, and she'd be dressed nicely, and her hair brushed out nicely. Then, sis and I would come home and destroy it.

When I was a child, yes I thought Barbies were so pretty, but I knew they were just dolls, and did not think they were real or represented any real woman.

 

[ArmyMatt]

I know! Toy Story 3 was awesome, and that first part where Ken comes down the elevator in the townhome to show the toys around, and he first lays eyes on Barbie, and the Dream Weaver music starts up. I was laughing so hard when we saw that in the theater.

hahahaha, I hear ya

 

[Gxg (G²)]

Barbie was just fine until she got uppety and moved to Malibu. There she became snobby hanging around the botoxish, Kardasianical crowd. She started driving that pink Corvette thinking she was all-that and a bag of potato chips. Her relationship with Ken was strained, she got arrested in Monaco, it was a mess.

Bananas....and indeed, a mess