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. 

To weigh or not. That is the question

After years of body issues I looked myself at the mirror today and exclaimed "I am thin!". Not that I was fat before but I always fell under the 'slim" category  A category made by popular media to categorise  people who were not fat and  were neither thin as a stick. I always had a thin waist but because of my  heavy upper body I could never call myself 'thin'. Even if I looked at myself in the mirror and thought for a moment that maybe, just maybe I am thin I would be reminded by the media that I have curves which prevented me from being called 'thin'. 

I realise that I am thinner than most people I thought were thinner than me. I have been delusional about my weight for so many years. 

Because of street harassers and because of  the media I was subjugated to I was ashamed of my body. Ashamed of how I looked. Today I can look into the mirror and be happy about my figure.  It's true that I have somehow lost a few inches in the last year but that surely is not my biggest achievement. 

No matter how much weight I lose my body type won't change. There was a time when I wanted it to. Now I don't. I have accepted myself the way I am. I don't care if the popular social culture hasn't. Yes, I want to exercise and yes I want to avoid junk food and have a healthier lifestyle. But that has nothing to do with me losing weight. I have discovered the joys of walking and I don't want any heart problems in the future.