When it comes to the Kardashian sisters, I'm with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. My apologies to the whole Klan, but they're far from role models for my daughter. So I'm going to jump right on the pearl clutching bandwagon and beg Mattel to tell us the rumor that a Kardashian Barbie doll line is on the way is just that: a rumor.
Because Kim Kardashian as Barbie's doll pal means all you have to do is have a rich daddy, make some fantastically bad choices about love, share every single iota of your personal life with the world, and someone thinks you'd make a great role model material to the wee ones. Heaven help us.
Rumor has it right now this would be a limited edition line, although there's no detail on WHO it would be marketed to. Before you Barbie-lovers get your panties in a bunch, I'm well aware of the fact that Barbies aren't always made for little girls. This could be another one of those high-priced lines that only idiots buy for their kids (In fact, I've got one word for the moms buying their daughters the likes of the $250 Christian Louboutin Barbie: crazy).
But to borrow a phrase from the ever awesome STFU, Parents, I'm mommyjacking this whole disastrous plan.
Because I'm getting a little sick of the Barbie manufacturers trying to have it both ways. Every time they make a doll that's not 100 percent kid-appropriate, they start screaming "ooh, it's for adults." Only problem is, they made it look JUST LIKE the dolls for little girls. Not to mention they're selling both sides in the same places.
Six-year-old kids do not understand nuance. They get "Mommy said, no, I'm not buying it." But as hard as you try to explain, they don't understand why. They DO understand that they've just seen Kim Kardashian in the shape of their fave, and now they want to know all about her.
I've tried to avoid Barbie. I don't buy them. But this company has done such a good job of marketing to little girls that it's nearly impossible. Her friends have them, and people love to buy them as gifts.
Which leaves me, mother of the little girl, dependent on a company to do what's right, to stop looking at the almighty dollar and decide who the heck they're selling to. Because unlike a company that traditional makes products for adults, Barbie IS a children's toy company. And regardless of what they name a line, to a little girl, a doll is a doll is a doll.
If they want us to buy Barbie because she is supposed to teach our girls they can grow up to be an chef or an architect, they need to remember that a Kardashian Barbie doll would be sending a message to our girls too.
Do we really want them growing up to be trashy reality stars?
Image via david_shankbone/Flickr