Doll Ramblings

I like smart people to talk with. I like all kinds of music which has intelligent words. That includes folk, rock, a Little country, unfortunately I am too deaf to understand words to rap or hiphop.

So how does this have anything to do with Barbie? They put her in high places but they don't allow her to be Smart. Do you Really think Barbie has the qualifications to be President, an astronaut, or a doctor? What schools did she attend? Was she a State Governor or in Congress? I doubt that some of our Congress people Or some of our Presidents could have passed a high constitution test, Maybe Barbie Belongs in Congress, after all.

Anyway, I like Yue Sai Wawa dolls, some of the Imani dolls, and of course the Get Set Club dolls because they were Expected to be smart and to work at Becoming smart.

One of the problems confronting serious doll makers, (or profitable ones) is that the average age of girls who play with dolls has dropped so much. When I was a kid and the dinosaurs roamed it wasn't unusual, especially among poor families, for a girl to get her first Barbie or another fashion type doll at 8 or 9 years old. And tthey were played with through age 11 or 12, sometimes a bit longer.

Now Barbies and other dolls are routinely sold to girls of 3 to 7. It is hard to work Smart into this age group, And have the glitz and glammor to attract the eyes of little girls.

Yue Sai and Imani do this pretty well. I once had an Imani doll with three wigs, pretty clothes, and a booklet about faith in God, in herself, and a list of her African American role models, in various fields.

As much as I love the Get Set Club dolls, I think the materials sold with them were over the heads of 3 and 4 year-olds. The crafts suggested were excelent, but would have required adult supervision, probably through age 6 or so. And though I loved the idea of the painted toe nails matching their shirts, they didn't have the glitz and glam to attract the average overworked parent.

Parents who Worked very hard to make sure their daughters had good role models and a good self-image loved these dolls, as did I. And Barbie seems to me to have Tried to copy them with the New Generation dolls, which in general, I didn't like.

Barbie is nearly Always Overdressed. How many women do you know who have a layered, full skirted or belled out gown, with a tight bodice, a stole, fau fur something, a hat, purse, and of course, those dreadful little shoes, All Perfectly accessorized? And don't forget the jewelry, the layers of netting under the gown, And the tierra, if there is no hat.

Having One or Two dolls like this is fun, Pretend land. But All of them?

It seems lke if Barbie isn't Overdressed she's Underdressed with something tacky. For myself, I have disconnected stoles which drag the ground from gowns and found that the dolls "looked Better for it. They Felt better to me, because I could Finally feel what the doll was like, And sighted friends said some of them also really visually Looked better.

But there Is a difficult balance to be struck. Enough sparkle tointerest the eye, and not So much that it looks ridiculous. Not an Easy balance to maintain.

Male dolls seem not to be dressed for work, unless they are dancers or in the military. This is unfortunate, too. Prince Menelik, from Olmec dolls is handsome, well dressed, And intelligent looking. He could be an ambasador from an African country. He could be an actor or performer. He is a Royal visiting the states, on business? It's Possible.

Too many Ken dolls hang out on the beach, go to the prom, or spend their time building up abs and figuring out where to take Barbie that night.

It's great to have fun, but a life Other than parties and beaches is good, too. Yue Sai dolls are always good in school, even if only One is a Dr. practicing both Eastern and Western medicine, and one, (my favorite) is an environmentalist.

My pproblem with Yue Sai dolls is that their faces all feel pretty much alike. I Do love their clothing and long hair. And I am told the Panda Protector looks different visually, as she is from Seschuan (can't use spell check on blogger, sorry) Province. There are so Many kinds of Chinese and Chinese-American faces, why not Make a few?

New subject. I have an ethical dilemma. Fashion dolls are made of petrolium and petrolium byproducts. they probably degrade very slowly, in biological terms. We in the U.S. had our "industrial revolution" and got what we wanted plus flooding the world with Our kinds of Stuff.

I really would like to see dolls made in other countries, Fulla, and her Iranian equivalent, dolls from Vietnam, India, etc. I would like to learn about the looks, clothing types, and hair styles of these and many Other countries. But should I buy dolls produced under Horrible working conditions, which also pollute? I can't see pictures of people from around the world, so Dolls are the only way I can learn. If I type in "describe traditional female outfits, Vietnam" I usually get Pictures with a few comments. So, what to do?

New Subjject. Question: Do the Dynamite girls have giant heads?
Thanks.