Not everyone approves of Barbie dolls, I know that. However we were given a load of second hand dolls that were dressed up in lovely clothes. We also had a big bag of spare clothes to dress them up in and the granddaughters have had a wonderful time playing with them. Some of them were Bratz dolls which are almost as bad as Barbies. The reason that they are disliked by adults is because they are not in the correct proportions to a real person. They have huge heads and eyes, elongated legs and minute feet and if they were real, they would be severely disabled. There is also the fashion obsession that goes with these dolls, not to mention their adult bosoms!
Putting aside all these non desirable details, the girls have a habit of removing all their clothes and leaving them all piled in a naked heap! Once their clothes are removed, they lose their appeal altogether and in fact they do not get played with after that.
In the beginning, I went round putting more clothes on them after the girls had gone to bed and once more they would be played with!
Before too long, though the naked pile of dolls would grow into a heap and be discarded. They look as though they are having some kind of orgy!
As I work in an After School Club, I have noticed that girls of all ages seem to do this, even with baby dolls. The clothes will be torn off and discarded and the dolls not played with again until they are dressed!
What is going on? Can someone enlighten me?
30 comments:
Your guess is as good as mine! Havent a clue!
You know, why is that? I remember doing the same thing with all my barbies, and of course Ken was in the mix too...but for some reason, they had to be naked before you could start dressing them and naked when you stopped...perverse, huh? But maybe it's just a girl thing
Sandi
Barbies and Bratz, oh my! Maya has an assortment of both types of these dolls -along with a three-tier storage drawer system given to her from the wife of one of her Dad's former employers -filled to the gills with all kinds of Barbie (and Bratz) clothes and accessories. She doesn't seem to pay as much attention to those dolls now as she did almost all last year, thankfully, so at least when the floors are covered with toys, the room isn't wall-to-wall with tiny accessories and clothing. My girls weren't near as messy when playing with Barbie stuff as a child but my son did have a penchant for popping the heads of the girls' Barbie dolls. Maya seems to have learned that little trick from her uncle though as often, we do come across a headless Barbie.
Bare Barbies - strewth - how hideous - they certainly look as if they had had a bad hair day!
Mmmmm that's an interesting observation. I haven't got a daughter so I can't answer that one.
Not having any children I haven't experienced this Maggie...but it is very interesting. I wonder if anyone will come up with the answer?
You're absolutely right. I had never thought about it before so I can't think of a reason why. I'm sure Freud would have lots to say on the subject, but I'm not a really a fan of his.
That is very funny MM. And very astute too. Perhaps it's true that clothes really do make the man...(or barbie)
You're right but I have no idea why!! They do look more appealing with their clothes on though!
I can just see you there every night, dressing all the dolls ready for the next day, we can do mad things sometimes can't we?!
I am familiar with the syndrome. My daughter had enough barbies to colonize a new continent, and for years I went around picking up all the little barbie shoes adn pairing them up.....depositing them into little boxes....it was a hopeless cause....
The clothes and also the hair came off. Some of her barbies definitely had their "punk rock hair" phase to be gone through!
Amusing memories...thanks for this post!
I wish I knew! My girls use to do this every time. The dolls would have beautiful dresses or clothing and it would be off and flung aside. Their dolls ended up looking like your 2nd picture. I don't get it. I never did.
Strange, and I too have experienced these kind of weirdness. Now they are all put in the loft. Out of sight out of mind.
It's a doll massacre!
I have no idea why little girls do it at all.....toy cars were more my thing and you couldn't really strip them naked....
Peter
We have this view that the children get tired of their toys. Put some away or put them in a different place and they like them again. Maybe it is the same with the clothes?
Probably something to do with global warming.
I wish I could enlighten you - but I can't. I did exactly the same thing until I melted their hair in the crimpers - then they weren't fun at all, naked or not.
Hi Maggie - been catching up on your posts. You're as thoughtful and funny as ever.
Hmm, my nieces do this too. I guess they want to explore beneath the magic and then when they see it's merely moulded plastic - ! - the dolls lose their charm... Maybe?
I loved playing with dolls as a child and kept them stored in tissue paper etc in my mum's attic for years. I don't know why, sentiment I suppose. I was really upset a while ago, on getting them out for the nieces, to find that mice had got in and chewed them - yikes! Awful!
(Hope you've got rid of your rodent problems btw.)
This is so funny! Maybe it has something to do with "We come into the world naked and go out naked", I don't know, maybe it makes it your own creation (with the dressing) if they are all naked from the get go. I loved playing dolls and I still think they are great.
Hi Maggie,
Just packing up to leave Malaysia in a few hours, so I'm dropping by briefly to say a big warm thank you for being such a regular visitor while I've been away.
Will be back in Blogland in the next 24-36 hours.
You are so right! Daughter does the same thing: leaves them naked then I dress them before she plays with them. Why?
A plastic lesbian orgy - my God, it's too early in the morning for that!!
Can't answer your question tho. I, too, find piles of them all over the place in various states of undress, together with a couple of headless ones. They particularly like putting them in the bath. Casting my mind back to my childhood, I certainly had a fascination with Barbie's boobs. So smooth and perfect. Very tactile. (God, where am I going with this??!). I also liked cutting off their hair - specially when it got all matted and manky. Maybe undressing them is fun, with a view to putting some nice little outfit back on, but then it's just too boring trying to get their arms back in through the arm holes of some tight little shiny number? I know I always struggled with the pants...
Many thanks all of you, for your comments. Still not really the wiser. Don't think Ken comes into it as the girls are only 3 & 5!
I tend to think that "Her on the Hill" is right and the clothes are just too difficult to get back on!
Hmmm. I'm sure there is interesting psychology here but I'll be blowed if I know what it is!
I totally agree with "Her On The Hill." My 2nd daughter loved Barbies and loved them especially when they had pretty dresses on. But was so disappointed when the shoes never stayed on. And I hated dressing them for her. But she would say please in her 3 year old ways and her big brown eyes fluttering at me. Waiting patiently sucking her thumb and me trying not to throw the damn thing across the room.
Oh, I forgot to mention that when my oldest was in preschool she had a little friend. When I dropped her off at her house for a play- date I heard her Mom yell at her daughter not to take her shoelaces out of her shoes. I thought a bit weird. But not as weird as what I saw when I walked in the little girls pink girlie bedroom about 20 Barbies tied up with shoelaces and hung about the room. HHmmm first plat-date was also the last.
I remember our daughter doing the exact same thing. I also remember she was always taking off her clothes and running around the house naked, except for her nappy. I am pleased to say at age 22 she doesn't do either now........so it must be a phase??? LOL
Gill a fellow Brit living in Canada
Wow maggie that photo looks freaky!!
I used to do he same with my action men when I was a boy... fetish or just being inquisitive?! I'm not sure! haha
I thought of you last night: I watched Mike Leigh's "Nuts In May" for the first time in years!! and remembered how great Alison Steadman was in that!: "Keith he's completely ignored you! what are you going to do Keith?!" hahaha classic!
I didn't know about this ... my dolls always were dressed. I even dressed my teddy bears ... is that normal?
i don't know why this happens, but my argument for NOT buying the $50 barbie (as opposed to the $5 barbie) was always 'they all look the same naked!!!)"
May be dressing dollies holds no fun, now making dresses to dress dollies does. I mean what fun is it if its all done for you.
Kids like creative play- hence dols hair gets cut and if u can feed ot do stuff with them they get more attention
My daughters had a lot of bald , oddly dressed Barbies
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