Tuesday, July 6, 2010

I Can Be . . . a floozy?

My niece Emma did something nice recently that I thought was deserving of recognition so I told her that I would take her to Toys R Us to let her pick out a reward for herself. She reminded me about it yesterday and decided that she wanted to go get her prize today. She had it all planned out, too: we would get the toy and then we'd go eat lunch at Black Eyed Pea. She planned our route from place to place and she even told me when I was supposed to leave my house so that I could get to her house in time to do everything.

I started to wonder if she might want to get a freakin' day planner at Toys R Us . . .

So I picked her up today for our big shopping trip. On our way over to Toys R Us, I asked her what she was planning to get and she named off about 4 Barbies. One of the ones that she listed was a Zoo Doctor Barbie, which I thought sounded pretty cool. And kind of a different career choice for Barbie.

Apparently, Mattel now has a whole line of "I Can Be" Barbies that have interesting careers and come with lots of accessories. When Emma was telling me about this, I had to give some major props to Mattel for using their toys to educate girls about the kinds of careers they can have. And the idea that the line is called "I Can Be" makes it even more worthy of props because it just reinforces the idea that these girls CAN be whatever they want to be - and the earlier they know it the better.

Way to go, Mattel. Way to build these girls up and help them to reach for the stars. People should stop giving you such a hard time for making Barbie's body proportions so unrealistic and giving little girls bad body images. You're not trying to objectify women at all. You're teaching girls that they can be anything they want to be.

Like a distinguished Zoo Doctor . . .
Wait. Hold up. What just happened?

What is she wearing? They had me at the "Zoo Doctor" part. But they lost me at the "Zoo Tramp" part. What the heck? They even have the elephant staring at her . . . ummmmmm . . . veterinary degree. Come ON, Mattel!

Well, maybe zoo doctors dress that way. I've never known one so maybe I'm being too hasty in my judgment. But a regular vet that you take your pet to - I know how THEY dress. They're usually dressed pretty comfortably, like scrubs and tennis shoes - right? So the Barbie Pet Vet would SURELY be more appropriately dressed . . .
Wait. Let me read the box again. Did it say "French Maid" or "Pet Vet?"

Then I saw a box that said "I can be a Baby Doctor," and I got my hopes up. Surely, Barbie would wear something appropriate around babies. Some scrubs, perhaps? Maybe a nice knee-length skirt with a lab coat? Maybe . . .
An obscene mini-skirt? Yeah - I guess that sounds about right . . .?

I looked around for a Prosecutor Barbie just so that I'd get an idea of what I should be wearing to work, but I didn't see one of those. So I guess I'm on my own with that.

Speaking of . . . I gotta wrap up - I still have to iron my hot-pants and belly shirt for work tomorrow.

7 comments:

Emma said...

OMG!!! I don't know where to start!!! I fell apart @ the day planner line but then completely lost it when u got to the Barbies!! Way freakin hilarious!!!

Tammy

Phyllis Eddings said...

I think you're overreacting. They're telling girls that they can be cute, sassy, AND have a respectable career. You don't have to sluff around in scrubs just because you're a doctor. You can be gorgeous and hot(t) AND be whatever you want to be.

(of course you and I would never be caught dead in that mini-skirt, but whatever.)

Anonymous said...

Overreacting? How about tongue-in-cheek? Or just having fun? Playful even. I haven't seen too many things on here that were meant to be anything but fun or to give everyone a good laugh.

(and have you ever seen Catchy's leg?? calves to die for!)

Jill said...

I'm all for cute and sassy, but I like it to be tasteful too. That Barbie in the half shirt is none of those. I'm all for rockin' a mini skirt too. I love them, in fact! However, I like it to fully cover my crotch. : ) Great post Catchy!!!

Catherine said...

Sorry, Phyllis - I'm gonna have to stick with the majority on this one! A skirt that barely covers your butt is not sassy - it's just straight up ho.

Can I say "ho" on my blog??

And thanks to whoever it was who gave a shout out to my calves! But I'm a bit concerned about the use the word LEG in the singular form - as in ONE leg . . . do you know something I don't know? Do I have a tragic boating accident in my near future or something?

Anonymous said...

I'm expecting Eclipse Barbie to be introduced soon - with a fresh bite mark on her neck!

Victorian Lady said...

Wanna see what you're supposed to look like after 5?

http://thefreshxpress.com/2010/06/new-barbie-busts-it-wide-open-causing-controversy/

Mattel's answer to this was to only take her picture from the side and pose her in the box that way too.

I covered Lil's eyes when we saw it in the toy aisle!