Are we done with Barbie bashing?

Barbie is after all, merely a toy!

I wish people would stop criticizing Barbie.

I used to love playing with her. She was such a big part of the first 7 years of my childhood and I have some very good memories of playing with her

I didn't notice her perfect figure and I am sure it had nothing to do with my body image. ( That I entirely attribute to movies, magazines and media AND my low self esteem as a teen. ) I feel that blaming the Barbie for body image issues is a little extreme.

You forget that the barbie has been a pilot, president, doctor among other professions. I know her figure is a topic of controversy- a thin waist, big boobs; her figure is certainly not very “real”. There are many things children play with that do not correspond with real life. And that is the whole point! It’s not real! It was never supposed to be. It’s a toy for God’s sake!

I have a problem with outrage at everything. Or maybe it is my attachment to barbie that is making me biased. I am open to a conversation.

How a kid perceive a toy ( or anything) depends on the individual.

 I feel the nature/nurture argument plays a definite role here. I grew up in a relatively equal environment. I didn’t face any discrimination based on gender at my home front. My parents gave me the choice to choose the toys I wanted to play with. I had constructions sets AND barbies. Toy trains AND kitchen sets. I had gender neutral toys (Most toys available then were gender neutral, this pink/blue things is a recent trend.) I have educative toys.

I experimented with my Barbie, I colored their hair black with my marker; I made them kiss each other ( didn't know anything about LGBT at that point, though.) I forced my mom to stitch clothes for them. Playing with barbies, making up stories fueled my imagination. So don’t dismiss barbies just yet.

 Exposure to unrealistic beauty standards is  harmful.   

I am not claiming to be an expert on how much of a role Barbie has to play in this. I just feel that maybe we’re reading too much into a simple doll that gave (and gives ) so much joy to so many kids out there.

So here’s my foolish request. No it’s a plea. ( I know it won’t change anything, but still) Please stop with the barbie bashing, already!

P. S : I scoured the Internet (sort of) and found many articles about the barbie controversy. If you hate barbie and want it banned from toysphere here's one for you Barbie bashing. And here's one here too. 

And if you're a former Barbie fan girl like me here's one for you- Barbie loving and here's one here too. 

Dear whoever is reading this

I have been thinking of writing letters. Not your everyday kind. These will be special letters. To be written and sealed and opened after a long long time.

I wrote one in 2011. To myself. To the me of 2015.

I want to write some more. To the past me. To the me of 2003. My teenage self. To the me of 2006. My not so sweet sixteen. To tell them that I am fine. I am okay. 

You know, I am glad I wasn't always confident. I am glad I did experience low self esteem. For I know now how it feels to gain confidence. How it feels to give yourself worth. I have known it and I don't want to forget. But this is something you don't set reminders for. This is personal. This is you. So the next best thing is writing to yourself.

I want to write to my daughters too. To tell them they are beautiful. To teach them what I know, now. As a twenty something. 

I want to write to A. And make him read it 10 years later. 10 years is a long time. It's long enough to forget. And some things will be remembered and relived.

And I want to write another letter. To my family and friends. To be opened after I die. I don't know want I want to write in that. But I do know that I will write that letter, someday.

There are so many letters I could write and seal. Some for a purpose. Some for the sake of writing. Some to remind everyone years and years later that long ago people used to write letters. 


I will have letters for the future. I just wish someone would write me letters to read now. 


With loads of love
as Always
me

The day I saw a gorilla on the stairs.

I was about five or six when the gorilla visited our building. You saw it right. A gorilla.

My father used to drop me off from school. I used to run up to our 3rd floor flat and papa used to wait downstairs till I reached the house and waved from the verendah. Then he used to go back to his shop.

One day as usual he waited downstairs while i ran up the stairs. I hadn't even reached the 1st floor I saw a big black hairy pair of legs. A Gorilla!
I ran down the stairs calling out to papa " There's a gorilla in our staircase, gorilla papa" I screamed with all my might.

Dad came up with me to investigate.

Ultimately I realised that it was a workman that I saw and not a gorilla(no offence meant to anyone but I was a kid!)


That's my gorilla story.There are others involving dogs,bats and a bull. Some other time.