When I was a kid, it seemed like girls and boys were about even with regard to plastic toys. I didn’t have action figures, but I visited boy friends and girl friends who did. The boys had soldiers and heroes and villains by the bushel and the girls had, um, blonds and brunettes and the obligatory token eunuch named Ken. I think I put more miles on the Barbie car during my visits than it ever got any other time. I think I may have broken at least one Barbie car and if I didn’t apologize at the time, I hope it isn’t too late now. I’m sorry.

This may be just my impression, but I think girls are now a much bigger target market for this stuff than boys. It may have something to do with the gaming industry disproportionately capturing the minds of boys. It seems like the world is saturated with Barbie. Barbie has some stiff (I don’t think they bend at the knees) competition from some big eyed Bratz. There are grown men and women taking this battle into the US court system and it isn’t over yet.

If I had it to do over again, I don’t think I would get Barbies for my kids. I can’t recall actually buying any for them, but I know that they were there. Like most girls, mine went through a stage where they dismembered their Barbies. I remember that.

I hope software companies can step up their game with regard to engaging the minds of girls in a positive way. That should indirectly reduce the amount of plastic crap in the world, especially if the products are downloadable or web based. One of the CD-ROMs that my kids had in the 90s was a stupid Barbie game. It was really crappy. My kids are very creative and now they sometimes make elaborate dress up doll files using only MS Paint. They draw naked doll-like figures and row upon row of clothing and accessories. Saving everything as BMP files is important so they can do transparent copy, paste and undos. It’s really neat.

Little girls don’t generally get a paycheck but for every dollar of actual ‘disposable income’ there is roughly 10 dollars of ‘pester power’. It really is up to the parents and grandparents to decide whether plastic Barbies get to live on in our culture. If your family is exposed to the full brunt of television, your kids with probably be sucked in by children’s advertisers that are concerned with their bottom line. You won’t be able to convince your kid that a Fair Trade Organic Doll is just as good as Barbie. You’re not going to convince your kid that making their own corn husk doll is really cool. That doesn’t mean that you have to buy Barbie.

Buying used Barbies may or may not be a slightly better option than buying new Barbies. Older Barbies are made from PVC and there have been some people raising concerns about health risks. It seems like industry, science, government and the public do the same square dance with every chemical that poses a risk to human health. Items that babies put in their mouths have come under more scrutiny than Barbie. Buying a used Barbie does not usually drive the market demand for new product and you don’t end up with that massive amount of packaging.

Mattel has to be one of the worst culprits for excessive plastic packaging. The package for every small doll or tiny accessory is designed to be bigger than a child’s pocket. Teaching a child to make clothes for their existing Barbies is worth a try. If this were to capture a child’s interest it would reduce the amount of plastic packaging consumed, the amount of money spent and the child would be developing a valuable skill. I personally find it very disturbing that so many plastic packages of Barbie clothes are sold and yet almost every Barbie doll in the world spends most of its time naked.

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