Our Daughters

I haven't blogged in a very long time. It would seem, contrary to popular belief, I really don't have that much to say. Until today. I came across an article on the Associated Press' website, (click to read article) that has me up on my soap box. Two "advocacy groups", the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and the Center for a New American Dream, are calling for the Girl Scouts to end their partnership with Barbie, which only began within the past year. Their reasoning? Girl Scouts shouldn't be told to look up to Barbie, to have her as a role model. She supports sexualizing women, impossible body types, and just goes against everything the Girl Scouts stand for. Now that I am a new Girl Scout leader, I read any article about the Scouts. And this one, my anger over the absurdity, has less to do with the Girl Scouts than with being a mom. Sure, the Scouts try to teach our girls they can do anything they want, be anything they desire. But that job, to mold the girls into the best adults they can be, isn't our entire responsibility. The parents of these girls have that job, and they hold the majority of the power to do so. Not a doll, not an actress, not a singer, not society. Children ultimately listen to their mothers, sisters, aunts. As parents, we have one job, to raise our children to be the future of this country, of this planet. We have to raise them to be respectful, to push themselves to their full potential, to want to better themselves, and their surroundings. This job shouldn't fall to outside sources, as it is YOUR ONLY JOB AS A PARENT. I never had any "famous" role models. I had my parents, my family, teachers, coaches... you know, the normal people that children should look up to. I'd say I turned out pretty OK!


That being said, why is society so stuck on the fact that Barbie is a role model for girls? Why would any child idolize a toy? I had plenty of Barbies growing up, as did most of the girls I know. I never wanted to look like her. Never had any ideas in my head that I should ever aspire to look like her. Never thought, gah, I am so ugly because I don't look like a plastic doll. I'll admit though, I had a Barbie Ice Cream shop, and boy did I want to own one once I grew up. And what about the Veterinarian Barbie? Who else wanted to be a doggie doctor? Those types of things are what the Girl Scouts are partnering with Barbie for, not her looks. The fact that she isn't just "Housewife, Laundry, Cooking, Cleaning Barbie". The Girl Scouts aren't using Barbie as a role model for our girls, they are using her as an example the girls can understand. they want to show them that they can be just about anything under the sun. The girls know Barbie, probably have a ton of them, that makes her easier to relate to. They aren't putting out flyers saying, Look up to her, Aspire to be her, You will never amount to anything if you don't look like her. No, they are simply saying, Girls, you can be anything you set your mind to. 



If we all turned off our televisions, our phones, our computers, (after you read my blog!) and spend more time with our children, they won't have to look at outside sources to find a role model. Then we wouldn't have to throw such a tantrum when Barbie is on the cover of Sports Illustrated, or Miley Cyrus "twerks", or when any other famous celebrity does anything we wouldn't want our children to do. If you have taught them right from wrong, taught them how to be upstanding, honest, love-themselves types of people, you won't have to worry that they will look up to other, less positive people. They will know that a doll is just a doll, and they don't have to look like her to be perfect. They will know that they, our daughters, are perfect, just they way they are.