I don’t know, maybe they will realize that babies don’t come from cabbage patches or storks?
The message that humans reproduce via the process of gestating a fetus for 9 months?
By the time girls old enough to get pregnant, they should be mature enough to realize that they don’t have to get knocked up because barbie’s married adult friend is having a baby. If not, then they deserve their fucking fate and shielding them now is futile, since it’s just going to delay the inevitable crushing effects of their idiocy.
Wait, Midge very obviously has a wedding ring on her finger and a HUSBAND AND SON doll sold in another set, but because they’re not all sold TOGETHER, these mothers are bitching about it?? Give me a fucking break. Are they too lazy to explain to little Brittney that Daddy and Boy-Doll are sold separately?
Yet if they all WERE in the same box, they’d be bitching because they cost too much.
I worry about ever becoming a parent, simply because I never want to get to the point that I’m worrying about pointless shit like this. Why don’t these parents try parenting and talking to their children, rather than shifting responsibility to everyone but themselves?
I agree with Mr. Blue Sky—had she been an unwed pregnant doll (! that sounds weird) then I could almost understand the furor. But since she’s part of a happily married family doll set, I don’t understand what the big deal is. Good grief.
To play devils advocate, I work in a middle school, and overhear girls who are quite young (sixth and seventh grade) talk casually about getting pregnant, and wanting to have babies. Maybe this isn’t a common problem everywhere, but it is in some places. I am not talking about girls who are wanting to have sex and get pregnant by “accident”, but preteen girls who specifically intend to get pregnant!
They feel it will make them “mature”. From time to time, a girl at school actually does get pregnant. Now I am not stupid enough to feel that a “pregnant doll” alone would make this worse, or that there is something wrong with the doll…but there is a real problem out there, and a lot of people out there are not quite sure how something like this will impact girls who already have these notions.
I guess Crack Whore Barbie is really out of the question.
Seriously, though, cuate, don’t yoiu think that those girls could actually benefit from seeing pregnency in the context of adulthood and marriage? It’s not like Midge is a teen-ager.
I find this weird. This isn’t new, back in the mid-80s they sold another set of barbie-sized family dolls, the heart family, including a pregnant mom doll(I know there’s an even older set of family dolls, sunshine or something, but AFAIK there wasn’t a pregnant doll). Does the fact that the dad was included in the box really make that much of a difference?
Geez…I can see if it were Prego Skipper, but it’s good ol’ Married Midge! If I were pregnant and I had a four year old daughter, I’d buy her this Barbie to help her “realize” what’s going on…I don’t see anything harmful in “revealing” to kids that yes, they came from Mommy’s tummy.
And the whole Husband/Son Sold Separately fracas…that’s ridiculous. Most little girls only want one Ken, if that…but they want dozens of different Barbies. Nobody would buy Barbie if she had to come complete with Ken, just so we’re SURE she’s not a slut. “How do we know that Barbie didn’t sleep her way to the top?”
“Easy, it’s obvious she’s happily married to Ken!”
But Ken is gay. ( and still in the shoe box. At least at this house. Still wearing the 1976 ski suit with a gold medal. No sense in wasting valuable money on his wardrobe when Barbie has an image to up keep at that *Dream House * of hers.
Barbie, Midge, Skipper…all at that dream house…a luxurious dream house…all dressed up…nice car…air plane…even her own personal train now… Ball Gowns…tiaras…tight pants… what else is in her closet besides Ken? Whips and Chains?
Perhaps the problem is not that Midge is pregnant per se, but that the toy-owner makes her “give birth” by pulling off Midge’s magentically-attached belly and taking out a little doll newborn. At least, that would be my problem with it. It’s freaking weird.
I had one of those dolls when I was little - not Barbie, actually, but some cheap knockoff brand. Anyway, it had the baby inside and the weird removable stomach, and I think it also had a flat stomach for after she had “given birth”. Not that there was any doubt, but it never put the “wrong message” in my head. Some people are just crazy.
Yes, but by this rationale, we shouldn’t allow girls of this age to be around any pregnant women–real or plastic. God help us all if a well-loved and respected (married) teacher got pregnant–it could set off an epidemic.
I’m being sarcstic, yes, but we have to look at things like this. At some point we have to put the responsibility for explaining that 12 is not the best age to give birth on the parents–not Mattel.
Are there some parents who won’t take the responsibility? Yes, but banning a potentially very educational toy just in case that happens is not the answer. See, for those kids whose parents don’t care enough to teach them, if you get rid of Barbie, it’s going to be something or someone else.
And honestly, I seriously doubt a group of 13-year olds will be sitting around discussing getting pregnant saying things like, “Well, if Midge can do it, then so can I!” Let’s give them some credit–they are perfectly capable of making bad decisions and screwing up their lives without the help of Barbie’s friends.
No, the big problem is that, 2 seconds after she gives birth, her belly is as flat as Skipper’s. That gives girls an unrealistic expectation for the condition of their girlish figures after pregnancy, and can make them feel bad about themselves after they deliver (in 10 years, hopefully), and see that their stomachs look like popped balloons for 15 years, until they fill up with fat.
First Vogue, then Mattel! When will we give girls reasonable expectations about their bodies?!!
They were making fun of the whole situation on Fox 5 Good Morning New York today. One of the girls just said “I’m not even going to try and touch this one.” and rolled her eyes.
Mattel’s been giving girls unreasonable expectations about their bodies for a long time. Aren’t you 6’ 2" tall with a 46" chest and a 21" waist?
I’m always mystified by Wal-Marts decision making process. Sell guns, but not violent video games. Take the “Someday a woman will be President” t-shirts out of the girls department because someone is offended. Remove pregnant Midge off the shelf - someone might think married Midge had sex!
Wal-Mart has a wonderful excuse in that no store can carry everything - but they should make the decision not to carry it in the first place - not to pull it. Or pull it quietly, instead of letting your spokepeople make you the laughingstock of the country on a regular basis.
