Web site Review: "We Believe in Girls" site

by Amy

I've been sort-of dreading the day when my daughter would fall in love with Barbie. Sure, I grew up with Barbie, cutting their hair in wild styles and dressing those plastic perfectionist bodies. Eventually, I grew up and became the cynical feminist female I am today. When I got an email asking me to look at the "We Believe in Girls" Web site created by Mattel and Barbie, I was skeptical.

But these days, Barbie has an undeniable place in our household. A few months ago, the interest in our house moved from Disney Princesses (not much better, if you ask me) to Barbie - specifically the Barbie Fairytopia line. Mattel was smart to capture the preschool audience early with this combination of Barbie and fairy genres. Some things haven't changed. Barbie still has a ridiculously toned hour-glass figure, the oddly scary wide eyes, and of course the long sensual locks (although they typically get cut at some point by a scissor-wielding preschooler, don't they?).

The Barbie clothes scattered on my daughter's floor seriously look like something Julia Roberts would have worn in "Pretty Woman" - before the transformation. Then again, the clothes are an exact reflection of what I see on teens these days. But the truth is, my daughter enjoys playing with Barbie and I'm okay with that. There will be plenty of time for her to become a cynical feminist female alongside me.

More to the point, I  believe it's up to me to educate my daughter about body image, etc. and Barbie is only the beginning in what will be a long journey. I don't think at age four that she's going to understand a complicated conversation about body image, feminist values and Barbie's tiny waist. All she knows is that the other girls are playing with them and the clothes are fun to change. And also, when compared to those horrid Bratz dolls, I consider Barbie to be the lesser of two evils.

Mattel says on the "We Believe in Girls" Web site that they want it to create a conversation:

"Everyone is invited to participate, from moms and dads to teachers, academics, social commentators, behaviorists — anyone who cares about girls' well being. We want to hear your ideas, opinions, points of view — in short the unfiltered truth."

The PR person in me certainly gets the PR value of something like this - and frankly, I think that has a lot to do with it. But they've pulled in some heavy hitters - and in my opinion, the right people to lead such a dialog. They've partnered with Cheryl Dellasega, PhD and author of Surviving Ophelia (and mom of three). They're also currently featuring Leslie Morgan Steiner, author of Mommy Wars, who has added some of her very insightful On Balance pieces to the site.

The "What Do You Believe" interactive boards are worth checking out - and definitely reflect the types of issues mothers of girls are dealing with these days - girls wanting to dress like pop stars, etc. Several people have even commented on the attire of Barbies these days. Overall, the site is a good start but won't have much of an impact unless Mattel truly does go beyond the site. The site says they have begun a research study and in the future their  "Advisory Council will serve as a sounding board for philanthropic and nonprofit initiatives — including scholarships and endowments." It will be interesting to see how they develop this campaign beyond the web.

Comments

[Rachel]

My daughter loves playing with Barbie. I worry alot about her developing self-esteem issues from not only Barbie, but all the young singers and actresses. You're right. We are the ones that have to teach our girls about healthy body image and things like that. All we can do is what we think is best and hope we make the right decisions.