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Raising Daughters Outside the Barbie Princess Environment!
Added: 81 days ago.
Added by: RaisingOurDaughters
Section: General.
Status: This question is Closed. (Questions will be closed after 10 days.)


We recently found out we are expecting a little girl and are very excited. I am very interested to hear from you experienced moms who have made a conserted effort to raise your daughters outside of the Barbie/Princess world. As an outsider with little experience with girls it seems as though everything is princess & barbie`s. It just seems to be overwhelming. Seems that girl, princess & barbie all go hand in hand. How do you get away from it? How do you balance it, or moderate it in your homes and everyday lives? How do you handle the pressure your daughter gets from other girls that are into Barbie? How do you raise your little girl to understand that you can be a girl and be feminine & beautiful without Barbie Princess? And why does it seem like all girls clothing is just pink? There doesn`t seem to be much choice. I completely respect those of you who decide to bring all of this into your lives and I don`t want to offend anyone- that certainly isn`t my intention. I obviously don`t really support the whole pink barbie culture for myself and I don`t think I am alone so I`d love to hear from you experienced moms who are dealing with this on a day to day basis. Feel free to reply on my page! Thanks

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made2bmom - 80 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) Well, it's really hard to stay away from it when you have other people buying clothes and toys for your daughter. But we're not against those things or anything. I like to have a variety of toys for her to play with so she has musical toys, dolls, stuffed animals, educational toys and even cars and toys encouraging make believe. As they get older, they'll gravitate towards certain toys whether you influence them or not. And our daughter has plenty of clothes that aren't pink. She likes to say that pink is her favorite color...and brown...and blue...and green. She loves them all. And we had nothing to do with her choosing them. It's not wrong to want to steer your girl away from the princess images but I wouldn't ban them from the house either. They should be able to form their personalities, likes and dislikes on their own without nudging from any outside influences.

dvsrunt - 80 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) My daughter is 5 and never plays with Barbies'. I think it has alot to do with your childs personality. She adores Littelest Pet Shop and has for about 2 years now!! She loves to be dirty and yes her favorite color is pink...I don't think you should worry so much about what she plays with as long as you play right along with her.

BAMMOM - 80 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) I have a daughter who is 12 years old going on 13 and let me say that it has been a really challenging time trying to go against the whole "girls must be girly" mind set that society has instilled into everything. I refused from day one to buy any clothing, including shoes, that had any characters to it. I would buy her clothes that were pretty but nothing in pink or purple. My mother is very feminine and I was very tomboy growing up. So between me and my mom, my daughter is now a girl who loves art, soccer, painting her nails and eyeshadow but is way more comfortable in jeans and t-shirts. She is comfortable in a dress as well as in her sweaty soccer gear. I think that if you stick to you guns and explain to your daughter while you are raising her to believe that she is beautiful within as well as out she will be that girl that every girl wants to be friends with and every guy wants to date. (I can see that problem developing at my home now.) I think you will be a great mom.

jeni - 80 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) Truthfully, my daughter loves to play with her "art stuff" as well as the tub of barbies... My husband and I try to stress inner beauty, consideration and courtsey as opposed to outer beauty, because outer beauty can fade or be taken - the inner stuff will always be there... Good luck...

ibaheir2dathrone - 80 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) I Can not Stand the Bratz!! To me they are Worse than Barbie. We have taught our daughter that beauty comes from the inside out. That you don't need to wear makeup to be beautiful. Skimpy clothes are a NO-NO. She is 10, you won't belive how many of her friends have Boyfriends already! In Our Opinion, if you allow your child to play grown she will act grown a heck of a lot faster. Yes, she will be who she wants to be. Yet, you can steer her in the right way. (whatever feels right to you.)

jodiie - 81 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) my 3 neices are completely obsessed with all of this brats barbie disney princess's they have all the toys houses their room is wallpapered with it ...i myself liked barbie when i was little it is everyyywhere so you cant just blank it out of their lives maybe you could limit it.. my neices are spoild rotten and get everything i completely disagree when their aloud to walk around with brats all over their jeans and all over their coats ( personal opinion-i think it looks TACKY).. if you daughter takes an interest in it why dont you let her have 4-5 barbies..and maybe let her have her bedsheet as barbie or something when shes older that way she gets abit of what she wants and abit of what you want ( not having dolls all over your house) i think the brats dolls are vile! makeup all over their faces and mini skirts they look like complete s**gs ( again my own opinion) and my daughter will not be having them.. barbie ill let her have but ill limit it to a few dolls and a house maybe the bed covers but no way will she be playing with brats i think its so a wrong example you could maybe buy them a book with barbie/ disney princess's in but again.. limit it its hard you cant just say ''no'' in the middle of a store my gob you want to hear the screams! ive seen it myself lol i agree with everything kayleen said

jaydsmom - 81 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) Although I believe you can control what you allow your daughter to have in your home, you will not be able to change her tastes as she gets older. I was a tom boy through and through and never understood the attraction of barbie or pink. I have a little girl who is almost 7 now. She is completely into everything girly. She loves pink and purple and barbie and bratz. I put her is soccer and skating and swimming. She goes, and she tries, but it is not her. She has also been in gymnastics since she was 3. She excels in it. She was terrified of her yellow bike. She refused to ride it. I broke down and I bought her a pretty purple one and now she rides her 2 wheeler proudly. You can try your best, but there is no way you can change your duaghters personality. If she likes it, she likes it. Not much you can do.

kbushby - 81 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) if your daughter wants to have barbies and princess things you should let her.. i was a barbie fanatic as a little girl and it wasnt about trying to be like barbie it was about using my imagination and playing house. there isnt any way to avoid it, unless you dont let your kid watch tv, watch disney movies, go to school or anything like that. the girlie barbie/princess thing is everywhere. she may want to be a girls girl and get barbies or she may not. kayleen explained it all in a great way!!

***MDelly*** - 81 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) I have 2 daughters and one on the way. I def understand what your saying. Its good to teach your girls that they can just be themselves and not have to be like these barbie/princesses that they seem to idolize and want to dress up just like. However, I just kinda let my girls decide for themselves and they love the disney princesses but not so much barbie. I just tell them you are your own person and you don't have to immitate anyone and my oldest def understands that. My youngest it will soon come. As for pink...I am down right sick of pink too! LOL Maybe its just cuz I have had 2 girls and everything is pink that you see for baby girls. I try to find clothing that are other colors besides pink/purples. But like Iskill said there are tons more colors to choose from when they hit toddler clothing. I feel your pain. I wish little girls weren't so obsessed with the whole barbie/princess stuff.

lskill - 81 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) I have 2 girls (twins) and I never pushed them toward or pulled them away from ANY toy or character. We had lots of different things in our house, including "boy" toys. Ironically, one of them is a princess and the other a "tom-boy." I let them decide for themselves what they like. I think that gave them a good foundation for not feeling pressured by other kids. They like what they like and they don't care what other people think. As for the pink clothes, I feel your pain. I was so sick of pink. That gets easier as they get older. Toddler clothes seem to have more color choices.

tsj824 - 81 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) Kayleen said it all. She is right. Your daughter will follow you.

kayleen - 81 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) I was glad to see that you chose to bring up this subject and prompt mother’s to give thought to the idea that just maybe Barbie/princess bombardment has the potential to be counterproductive. I have a 6 year old girl and 4 year old boy. I am going to start off by saying that yes, my daughter does have several Barbies. 5 to be exact. I have never restricted her interests and don’t try to explain to push my ideals onto her. I want her to be her own person and make her own decisions. HOWEVER, as her mother I obviously want to instill in her a “moral compass“, so to speak. The way to do this isn’t as difficult as some mother’s might think. My daughter follows my cues. If we are in the toy isle and my daughter is showing interest in one of those “BRAT” dolls. I will say something like, “ Hmm, that’s not very nice to call someone a brat is it?” And she will then make her own conclusion. And most of the time, it’s the one I hope she will make. I will also show her how pretty Barbie looks in her gown without all the clown makeup on her face that most of the other dolls wear. She agrees with me on this and I believe it is partly because I don’t present myself in that way. Hence, she follows my cues… Your child will most emulate the same sex parent. It’s a proven fact of life. The best thing you can do is set an example and trust your child to make his or her own decisions. Yes, my daughter has some Barbie’s. She’s not obsessed with them, nor did she choose hoochie outfits for them, and I give myself the credit for that! My daughter would much rather be outside in the garden with me or helping me out in the kitchen. That is the way we have found balance in our home. But believe me, your daughter will more than likely go through a “stage” of wanting to play Barbie’s and princess all the time. And you know what? That’s ok. All little girls want to be a princess and I think it would be wrong to try and suppress her interests in that are of play. Girls want to be feminine , and there is nothing wrong with that. But I also believe that your ideals about women in society will shine through without you having to do anything other than be yourself and live your life with dignity in front of your daughter. It will find balance all on it’s own…

leahs - 81 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) My dh was worried about that as well, he actually wont allow anyone to buy her 'Barbie' dolls, she has a few baby dolls and she has a bunch of trucks, she will play with both usually at the same time. You really have to let them take the lead, offer a variety of toys and clothing for that matter as they get older they will choose for themselves how 'girly' they will become. Our daughter loves to wear dresses etc but she also can't wait until she is tall enough to ride the dirtbike by herself. Oh and I also can't stand that 90% of girls clothes are pink, it's not that I hate pink but my daughters hair is red so can you say 'clash',lol.

amber325 - 81 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) What is wrong with barbie and pink? I mean there is other things they can play with.(littlest pet shop, stuffed animals etc) ..and they can wear yellow and green... I dont plan on calling my little girl a princess cause I see way to may annoying/spoiled girls that get that nickname now lol. But personally I dont find anything wrong with raising your daughter to be feminine or girly, or letting her feel pretty.