There were two things that I hated most in my childhood. DOLLS and DRESSES!!! Funny how both begin with the letter 'd' :-)- perhaps to remind me of the feelings I had then whenever I saw either items:
DREAD
DIRE STRAITS
DISMAY
DISTRESS
DISQUIETUDE
DEPRESSION
DISTASTE
DESPAIR etc etc...
I would never accept any dolls and would only wear dresses for two occasions : weddings and the first day of Chinese New Year. Even then, I would cringe in HORROR when I saw the lacy, prickly dresses which my mother had painstakingly sewn for me so lovingly. I guess some of us are born with a different taste for clothes. I suppose God knows how I feel and gave me two boys because if I had had any daughters, I would probably have turned them into the tomboy that I was in my childhood - climbing up jambu trees, playing with spiders, guns, trains etc. What can one expect? I grew up with my male cousins...Thus, I could never understand why my friends' daughters were so taken with BARBIE DOLLS or Cabbage Patch Dolls. Geez - I can live with Paddington Bears or Winnie the Pooh but Barbie???? So how did it all begin?
TIME MAGAZINE REPORTS:
In 1956, Ruth Handler, an American businesswoman, was vacationing in Switzerland when she came across Bild Lilli, a doll that, unlike popular baby dolls at the time, had long, shapely legs and wore heavy makeup. Lilli, in fact, was based on a prostitute in a postwar German cartoon, but Handler was inspired. She bought three Lilli dolls, returned to California and in 1959 created the world's first Barbie doll.
That issue of TIME reports that Mattel's iconic doll is getting a marketing makeover, led by a pink-tastic Shanghai concept store. You can read more about it here if you do not subscribe to TIME.
Can you imagine that during a time when many countries in the world have slipped into recession/slump, one company is spending so much time and money on a DOLL?????
On March 6th, the company intends to open a 38 000 sq. ft. HOUSE OF BARBIE (!!!!*faint!!!). To coil in horror, please read the description of the store at this link and perhaps you may also palpitate to discover that Vera Wang has designed a USD$15 000 human-sized Barbie wedding dress to be sold exclusively at the Shanghai store.
I recall in the 1990s, I gave my Sociology students a research project on how Barbie dolls may have indirectly caused anorexia nervosa in many teenagers(note the small waistline of Barbie dolls). Of course, I must admit that as a kid, I was a die-hard "I dream of Jeannie" fan...Barbie was loosely based on the character...but that is as close as I can get to Barbie dolls.
Give me seven stones, kites, tops or bears anytime...Why is it that in modern society, we have lost so much of our heritage in terms of traditional childhood games etc? As we celebrate modernization, may we not forget our roots when our kids get exposed to such alienating forms of 'entertainment' e.g. PSP games, Nintendo Wii and so on. Maybe then, Botox will not be a catch-phrase for Barbie lovers :-).
Argus Lou Oooo... I dislike Barbies too. Gimme a live dog any day.