# Barbie's Pregnant Pal pulled from shelves? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 25, 2002, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902 "2002-12-25T23:25:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902/21 "2002-12-26T15:20:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muffin \* > \*\*But for Midge getting preggers, [Lengerie Barbie](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=152222) would not be flaunting herself in sexy underwear trying to get Ken to knock her up. \*\* Of course, Ken is hampered by his condition ever since that tragic Army accident at the grenade range… they gave him a medal for sitting on it and saving his squad, y’know… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![racosun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc79bd/32.png) [@racosun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racosun)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902/22 "2002-12-27T05:34:30Z")
I bet Wal-Mart only stocks this kind of stuff to get more free publicity by having to pull it off their shelves. Now, if they are going to make dolls get pregnant and give birth, then they might as well make Midge’s little newborn black, and add a real twist to the story. Kids will understand that just as much as the whole birth process. And while they’re at it, make 'em swear and throw things, and smoke reefer and crash their cars coming from Barbie’s fabulous bar and grill. In other words, this company has no right to try and teach the population about anything. Just make the damn toys and shut the hell up. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902/23 "2002-12-27T06:14:58Z")
I’m sure I echo many others in saying that this is a pile of crap. Knee-jerk conservatism all the way. [SIZE=1]Apologies to those conservatives who endorse the Midge doll. [SIZE] ---
**Author:** ![Obvious\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Obvious\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obvious_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902/24 "2002-12-27T14:17:12Z")
Okay, Im gonna put a different spin on things. I think it was a good idea–taking them off the shelf. Why you ask? Cause girls are growing up fast enough as is, dont need to give them any more ideas. Theres enough teenaged pregnancies to go around as is. ---
**Author:** ![auRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@auRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auRa)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902/25 "2002-12-27T14:55:32Z")
With girls growing up fast enough as is, how long do you think they’ll actually be _interested_ in playing with Barbie dolls? I know most of the 9-year-olds in my girl scout group think of themselves as too old for Barbies… ---
**Author:** ![Anaximenes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e99b99/32.png) [@Anaximenes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaximenes)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902/26 "2002-12-27T16:33:59Z")
They should sell pregnant Midge and her husband together and make them talk. Phrases for Midge: “Do you still like my body?” “Do you still think I’m sexy?” “Do you still want me?” “Do you still love me?” Phrases for her husband: “Of course” “Yes” “I guess.” “Shut the hell up already!” That should give all the little girls a good taste of what pregnancy is really all about. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902/27 "2002-12-27T22:26:32Z")
**Anaximenes** , you left off “It wouldn’t kill you to change a diaper now and again, you know,” and “Can’t you make her stop screaming?” T’would indeed go a long way towards reducing teen pregnancies. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902/28 "2002-12-27T22:38:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Audrey Levins \* > **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.** You know, you’re right. Doesn’t that make Ken sort of a polygamist, or at least polyamourous? My God, the depravity! :rolleyes: Some people (meaning those who protested the pregnant Midge) take their dolls a _little_ too seriously. Open your eyes, people, your kids are seeing pregnant women and babies every day, out there in the big scary Real World ™. What conclusions do you think they draw from that? ---
**Author:** ![Anaximenes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e99b99/32.png) [@Anaximenes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaximenes)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902/29 "2002-12-27T22:51:13Z")
**Larry** , you’re quite right. I did forget those. But that has something to do with the fact that I actually often changed Mini-Anaximenes’ diapers. Even the poopy ones. ---
**Author:** ![Anaximenes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e99b99/32.png) [@Anaximenes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaximenes)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902/30 "2002-12-27T23:08:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Avalonian \* > \*\*You know, you’re right. Doesn’t that make Ken sort of a polygamist, or at least polyamourous? > \*\* Well… Technically, I think that makes him a lucky bastard. I mean Jesus, the man not only gets a woman with an impossibly proportioned and perfect body who also happens to be successful in every career she tries, but he also gets her 349 clones too! Some guys just have all the luck, don’t they? Fuck you, Ken! Fuck you and the pink plastic car you rode in on! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902/31 "2002-12-27T23:42:20Z")
Wow! Think of the possibilities: Stretch mark Barbie-proud of her maternal accomplishments Mid-life Barbie-whose once perky 46" chest is now a pair of knee warmers Crossover Barbie-she’s decided to ditch Ken and ‘Take a walk on the wild side’ ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Lao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902/32 "2002-12-27T23:53:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Obvious Guy \* > \*\*Okay, Im gonna put a different spin on things. I think it was a good idea–taking them off the shelf. Why you ask? Cause girls are growing up fast enough as is, dont need to give them any more ideas. Theres enough teenaged pregnancies to go around as is. \*\* So, should we keep girls away from pregnant women? Since pregnancy and childbirth are such shameful, shameful things we should keep our children away from them at all costs? After all, if we keep it a secret there’s no way they could accidentally get pregnant. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![SparrowHawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@SparrowHawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SparrowHawk)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902/33 "2002-12-28T00:03:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Avalonian \* > \*\*Open your eyes, people, your kids are seeing pregnant women and babies every day, out there in the big scary Real World ™. What conclusions do you think they draw from that? \*\* Oh, but pregnant women in the Real World are all married and accompanied every living second by their husbands, everywhere they go. So that’s okay. It’s only pregnant women running around (or standing in boxes) by themselves that are evil influences. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Flowerchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/858c86/32.png) [@Flowerchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flowerchild)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902/34 "2002-12-28T00:48:49Z")
I think pregnant Midge is a good idea, I mean, i always wondered hat would happen when one of Barbies little friends finally settled down to her own dream house. I actaully always wished for children to give barbie, you know, her and Ken get married live in the dream house a few years, but wheres the baby? I always made pretend that skipper or that mini skipper was her kid. ---
**Author:** ![Obvious\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Obvious\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obvious_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902/35 "2002-12-28T00:50:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dr. Lao \* > \*\*So, should we keep girls away from pregnant women? Since pregnancy and childbirth are such shameful, shameful things we should keep our children away from them at all costs? After all, if we keep it a secret there’s no way they could accidentally get pregnant. :rolleyes: \*\* Im not talking about pregnant women… Im talking about a **toy**. I guess your right tho, there going to be mothers eventually anyways… might as well get them started early eh. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902/36 "2002-12-28T01:40:47Z")
What is wrong with “playing house”? It’s one of the oldest games around, and a healthy one. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902/37 "2002-12-28T03:06:18Z")
Don’t you think that having a preggers Barbie would promote…uh, _discussion_ with their pre-teen daughters about the Sins of the Flesh[sup]TM[/sup]. I’m offended that WalMart would have such a knee-jerk reaction to a few nut cases. Do you think they’d put them all back if I started a Save Preggers Barbie campaign? Bitched loudly about the lack of corporate moral responsibility? Threatened to boycott all WalMart stores and their affiliates? not likely :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902/38 "2002-12-28T03:40:45Z")
You know, a pregnant Midge is a good idea. Here’s why I think so: A couple of years ago, I bought a Barbie play set for my stepson’s then-11-year-old older sister, Andrea. The set had a Barbie and a Kelly doll (Kelly is one of Barbie’s sisters). Andrea loved the set. But she was absolutely stunned to discover that Kelly was Barbie’s sister. She had always believed that Kelly was Barbie’s _daughter._ A logical conclusion, for a young girl who’s mother (not me, BTW) has had three children and never been married. Don’t misunderstand–I’m not saying that single parenting or out-of-wedlock pregnancies are always bad (I myself have given a child up for adoption, in fact). But Andrea came to this conclusion primarily because in her own family, teen and single parenting is the _rule_ rather than the exception. The married and pregnant Midge doesn’t need to be pulled from anyone’s shelves. If anything, it needs to be \*advertised. \* With big ol’ banners hanging from the front of the store–“BUY YOUR PREGNANT MIDGE HERE!!!” It’s a GOOD doll, not a bad one. ---
**Author:** ![sulamith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@sulamith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sulamith)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902/39 "2002-12-28T04:23:39Z")
hmmmmmmm… Kids have been improvising this kind of thing forever. Anyone here who ever played with a Barbie has stuffed cotton balls up her dress and made her look pregnant, and then pulled the “baby” out. In the seventies, we had these tiny little dolls called “Kiddles”. Well, in my house we used them for Barbie babies, AND we used to put Ken in the bed with all the Barbies. We didn’t know exactly what they were supposed to be doing in the bed, but at six or seven years old I knew that grown-ups who loved each other slept together, and that the women got pregnant from it. Playing house was the same thing. I remember stuffing sweaters up my little smock tops to act pregnant. It didn’t make me want to have a baby at 13, it was just role-playing. I didn’t have my first child until I was 31. I don’t know what the right answer is, but kids know women get pregnant, and they know her stomach doesn’t get ripped off when the baby is born, just like they know that if you fall off a cliff you won’t get up and walk away with an accordion for a belly like Wil E. Coyote. I’m just saying kids have always played these kind of things, and they always will. Thank God I have boys. Not that I don’t have to teach them about the birds and the bees, but I am SO thankful I don’t have to go down that blindingly pink aisle at ToysRus! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Lao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902/40 "2002-12-28T07:09:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Obvious Guy \* > \*\*Im not talking about pregnant women… Im talking about a _toy_. I guess your right tho, there going to be mothers eventually anyways… might as well get them started early eh. \*\* Many will. Birth is a part of life. And not one that we should shield children from. The number one thing kids pretend to be is grown up. It doesn’t make them do things before they’re ready, it reinforces that those are grown up things. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbies-pregnant-pal-pulled-from-shelves/144902.md?page=1)