Comments on: Better Than Barbie – Positive Dolls for Girls http://nutritionfitnesslife.com/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/ eating healthy, getting in shape, and living life to the fullest Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:20:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: AC http://nutritionfitnesslife.com/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/comment-page-1/#comment-3241 AC Mon, 31 Jan 2011 07:17:15 +0000 http://nutritionfitnesslife.com/2008/05/27/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/#comment-3241 ^My guess is that the above Barbie fanatic has never read the story about Stacy Handler, Ruth Handler's granddaughter, about who the Stacy doll was eventually created and named after. It's actually quite sad, and while dolls don't directly affect a girl's self-image, I can see where a lack in various Barbie sizes and styles can give a young girl the wrong message about her own body. Sure, as seen here, there are alternatives, but they're not nearly as readily available as Barbie. (and as far as your argument that Barbie was meant to be a fashion doll, then why were all of her sisters created, along with a "life-size" version of Kelly? Plus, surely you aren't disregarding that they're starting to get more and more skanky, like Video Girl Barbie?) As for the original poster, I'm glad you took the time to come up with a list like this! I'm already familiar with a few of the dolls you've listed and actually have ordered some things from their companies to enjoy for myself. There's other brands too, such as A Life of Faith (no longer in business but can be found in some Family Christian stores or on eBay), Carpatina (has beautiful fantasy/historical clothes for their slender 18" dolls as well as for AG sized ones), Our Generation (decidedly low quality but still pretty decent, especially with the many accessories to choose from), Corolle, Beautiful Girlhood, and if you really want to teach them tolerance, try a doll line available from Sew Dolling called Sew Able. The dolls are designed to be like characters who have cancer or other terminal illnesses and are missing a limb or their hair. They are often packaged with a prosthetic or a wig and there are therapy tools that you can purchase for your doll to get an idea of what a child with the same condition may go through. They're definitely out of the box, but innovative and the creator has to be commended for trying out such a new concept as far as positive toys go. That's not to say that I don't like Barbie "Math is Hard" Roberts! Dolls themselves are what got me interested in sewing, so if all else fails, buy a Barbie and help redress her in the kind of clothing YOU'D prefer. ^My guess is that the above Barbie fanatic has never read the story about Stacy Handler, Ruth Handler’s granddaughter, about who the Stacy doll was eventually created and named after. It’s actually quite sad, and while dolls don’t directly affect a girl’s self-image, I can see where a lack in various Barbie sizes and styles can give a young girl the wrong message about her own body. Sure, as seen here, there are alternatives, but they’re not nearly as readily available as Barbie. (and as far as your argument that Barbie was meant to be a fashion doll, then why were all of her sisters created, along with a “life-size” version of Kelly? Plus, surely you aren’t disregarding that they’re starting to get more and more skanky, like Video Girl Barbie?)

As for the original poster, I’m glad you took the time to come up with a list like this! I’m already familiar with a few of the dolls you’ve listed and actually have ordered some things from their companies to enjoy for myself. There’s other brands too, such as A Life of Faith (no longer in business but can be found in some Family Christian stores or on eBay), Carpatina (has beautiful fantasy/historical clothes for their slender 18″ dolls as well as for AG sized ones), Our Generation (decidedly low quality but still pretty decent, especially with the many accessories to choose from), Corolle, Beautiful Girlhood, and if you really want to teach them tolerance, try a doll line available from Sew Dolling called Sew Able. The dolls are designed to be like characters who have cancer or other terminal illnesses and are missing a limb or their hair. They are often packaged with a prosthetic or a wig and there are therapy tools that you can purchase for your doll to get an idea of what a child with the same condition may go through. They’re definitely out of the box, but innovative and the creator has to be commended for trying out such a new concept as far as positive toys go.

That’s not to say that I don’t like Barbie “Math is Hard” Roberts! Dolls themselves are what got me interested in sewing, so if all else fails, buy a Barbie and help redress her in the kind of clothing YOU’D prefer.

]]> By: Cosmo Go-Go Girl http://nutritionfitnesslife.com/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/comment-page-1/#comment-2631 Cosmo Go-Go Girl Sat, 30 Oct 2010 08:20:07 +0000 http://nutritionfitnesslife.com/2008/05/27/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/#comment-2631 Barbie was conceived first as a FASHION DOLL for girls using the proportions of a fashion illustration figure which has a different dimensional ratio to that of a anatomically correct human female body. This was done to accentuate the fashion silhouette. Hence, "FASHION DOLL"... get it? And not to mention ARTISTIC LICENSE. It's really a no-brainer. Barbie was NEVER conceived to have a body of a typical woman because it was a FASHION DOLL, like the miniature fashion mannequins from Paris during WWII with their exaggerate physical form, because FASHION is the main feature. Additionally, dolls of Minnie Mouse or Daisy Duck, or other characters, like Wilma Flintstone, Judy Jetson, or Raggedy Anne, based on illustrative styles or exaggerated design, have NOT caused "image problems" for little girls. The young girls that grew up in the 50s and early 60s and played with the more distorted and dramatically more stylized earlier Barbie turned out perfectly fine. So this notion that Barbie is inherently a poor influence on girls' body image is all psycho-babble hogwash that is imposed and projected upon Barbie by the very people and so-called ‘experts’ who have low self-esteem, themselves. Barbie was conceived first as a FASHION DOLL for girls using the proportions of a fashion illustration figure which has a different dimensional ratio to that of a anatomically correct human female body. This was done to accentuate the fashion silhouette. Hence, “FASHION DOLL”… get it? And not to mention ARTISTIC LICENSE. It’s really a no-brainer. Barbie was NEVER conceived to have a body of a typical woman because it was a FASHION DOLL, like the miniature fashion mannequins from Paris during WWII with their exaggerate physical form, because FASHION is the main feature. Additionally, dolls of Minnie Mouse or Daisy Duck, or other characters, like Wilma Flintstone, Judy Jetson, or Raggedy Anne, based on illustrative styles or exaggerated design, have NOT caused “image problems” for little girls. The young girls that grew up in the 50s and early 60s and played with the more distorted and dramatically more stylized earlier Barbie turned out perfectly fine. So this notion that Barbie is inherently a poor influence on girls’ body image is all psycho-babble hogwash that is imposed and projected upon Barbie by the very people and so-called ‘experts’ who have low self-esteem, themselves.

]]> By: Lisa http://nutritionfitnesslife.com/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/comment-page-1/#comment-1387 Lisa Sat, 25 Jul 2009 17:57:58 +0000 http://nutritionfitnesslife.com/2008/05/27/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/#comment-1387 Thank you for mentioning the Karito Kids dolls/books in your article. We are thrilled to be recognized as a doll that is making a postive impact on girls! Just wanted to point out that you don't just get the opportunity to donate, the company actually makes the donation based upon the retail price and then the purchaser gets to go online to choose where the donation should go -- food, health, school or home. Thank you for mentioning the Karito Kids dolls/books in your article. We are thrilled to be recognized as a doll that is making a postive impact on girls! Just wanted to point out that you don’t just get the opportunity to donate, the company actually makes the donation based upon the retail price and then the purchaser gets to go online to choose where the donation should go — food, health, school or home.

]]> By: languages of kenya http://nutritionfitnesslife.com/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/comment-page-1/#comment-849 languages of kenya Sat, 07 Jun 2008 21:45:11 +0000 http://nutritionfitnesslife.com/2008/05/27/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/#comment-849 [...] girls. That got me to thinking?? Which dolls present positive images to girls - that are not alhttp://nutritionfitnesslife.com/2008/05/27/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/Riding on through again Nevada Daily MailOCEANSIDE, Calif. -- The annual Race Across America RAMM [...] [...] girls. That got me to thinking?? Which dolls present positive images to girls – that are not alhttp://nutritionfitnesslife.com/2008/05/27/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/Riding on through again Nevada Daily MailOCEANSIDE, Calif. — The annual Race Across America RAMM [...]

]]> By: Susan http://nutritionfitnesslife.com/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/comment-page-1/#comment-773 Susan Thu, 29 May 2008 01:37:22 +0000 http://nutritionfitnesslife.com/2008/05/27/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/#comment-773 Thanks, Mrs. Micah! I didn't know about these dolls. I hope you were able to get your dark-complected doll you wanted so much as a girl! Thanks, Mrs. Micah! I didn’t know about these dolls.
I hope you were able to get your dark-complected doll you wanted so much as a girl!

]]> By: Mrs. Micah http://nutritionfitnesslife.com/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/comment-page-1/#comment-772 Mrs. Micah Thu, 29 May 2008 01:05:13 +0000 http://nutritionfitnesslife.com/2008/05/27/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/#comment-772 Another doll I like is Fulla: http://www.fulla.us/ She's theoretically Muslim but her clothes are versatile ( http://tinyurl.com/5uc7qk ) enough that while they're modest they're not exclusively Muslim. She's also got dark hair and eyes. I desperately wanted a darker doll as a kid...in the early 90s everything was pretty much blondes. I assume they also have Hispanic dolls now which would have worked. Another doll I like is Fulla: http://www.fulla.us/

She’s theoretically Muslim but her clothes are versatile ( http://tinyurl.com/5uc7qk ) enough that while they’re modest they’re not exclusively Muslim. She’s also got dark hair and eyes. I desperately wanted a darker doll as a kid…in the early 90s everything was pretty much blondes. I assume they also have Hispanic dolls now which would have worked.

]]> By: Sagan http://nutritionfitnesslife.com/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/comment-page-1/#comment-771 Sagan Wed, 28 May 2008 15:56:01 +0000 http://nutritionfitnesslife.com/2008/05/27/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/#comment-771 Those dolls are awesome! I had no idea there were so many good ones out there. I like the idea of the "Girls Explore" dolls especially. Those dolls are awesome! I had no idea there were so many good ones out there. I like the idea of the “Girls Explore” dolls especially.

]]> By: Susan http://nutritionfitnesslife.com/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/comment-page-1/#comment-770 Susan Wed, 28 May 2008 11:38:02 +0000 http://nutritionfitnesslife.com/2008/05/27/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/#comment-770 Yep, there are girls from all sorts of different ethnic backgrounds with most of these dolls, which makes them pretty cool. Yep, there are girls from all sorts of different ethnic backgrounds with most of these dolls, which makes them pretty cool.

]]> By: MizFit http://nutritionfitnesslife.com/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/comment-page-1/#comment-769 MizFit Wed, 28 May 2008 10:08:10 +0000 http://nutritionfitnesslife.com/2008/05/27/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/#comment-769 off to explore links we have the lizzie language little but that's it----hope there are some doll of color there too! off to explore links

we have the lizzie language little but that’s it—-hope there are some doll of color there too!

]]> By: Lynnae http://nutritionfitnesslife.com/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/comment-page-1/#comment-768 Lynnae Wed, 28 May 2008 03:27:57 +0000 http://nutritionfitnesslife.com/2008/05/27/positive-image-dolls-for-girls/#comment-768 Wow, I had no idea there were so many great dolls out there! My daughter loves the Only Hearts Club dolls and the American Girl Dolls (she has "Kit"). I love the history lessons from the AG dolls, too. Wow, I had no idea there were so many great dolls out there! My daughter loves the Only Hearts Club dolls and the American Girl Dolls (she has “Kit”). I love the history lessons from the AG dolls, too.

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