Unwelcome house guest

We have a new house guest, and it's one that I was hoping we'd avoid, FOREVER.

Barbie has moved in, and with it she's bought all her tarty clothes, painfully high heels and unattainable figure. I've been trying to hold out the introduction between Grace and the big-breasted blonde for as long as possible, but generous Aunty Debbie excitedly handed over a stash of barbies and all her accessories today. It was totally done out of love, but I'm finding it really hard to accept her (the doll, not the Sil!) into our house.

It just feels so wrong to me to hand my 4 y/o impressionable daughter a blonde, tall, perfectly proportioned doll whilst also trying to support her in developing healthy self esteem. I know Barbie has been around for decades, and the old favourite line can be trotted out about her "But, I had a barbie and I turned out fine" The thing is, back when I was a little girl, barbie wore beautiful ball gowns, wedding dresses and simple high heels. Nowadays, she is in low-cut skimpy clothing with sky-high heels and a face plastered in make up. You can still get the long ball gowns, just with the added bonus of ample cleavage spililng over the top. Why do little girls need their dolls to look like this?

Grace, up until today, was quite happy playing with her baby dolls and dressing them up in her old baby clothes, now she's all about the black heels and the 'barely there' bikini that she can put on her extremely narrow waisted plastic friend. I guess it's partly the over sexualisation of girls now that doesn't sit right with me either. I know I can't blame it all on a plastic doll, but I think she's partly to blame. Grace is just so innocent now, and I don't some crappy doll to break that.

The mass marketing also grates on me. The aisles and aisles of pink crap dedicated to her, not to mention the masses of barbie plastered clothing and accessories seen around. So far we have avoided the hype of any mass marketing, but I'm realistic to know that it's bound to happen sooner or later. I've actually avoided telling Grace that they are called 'Barbies', instead I've asked her to pick a name. She's still trying out a few different names, but the latest one has been Lily.

I've only glimpsed at the pile of clothes, but already I've seen some that will be put away until Grace is older and replaced with something more suitable. Wendy has some patterns put away somewhere of a barbie wedding dress and some other appropriate clothing, so I might even relent and make some of them up.

Things are not so bad though, I was secretly pleased when Grace chose to take her favourite purple baby doll to bed and left barbie strewn on the floor naked and cold.

Maybe I'm over emphasising how much influence a stupid scantily clad doll has on my daughter?

***Oh, and if any of those horrid Bratz dolls ever enter my house, they'll head straight for the bin!! Even I can admit that Barbie looks like an angel compared to them!!