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My daughter does not need unreal standards of beauty to make her feel inadequate. I refuse to let Barbie raise my daughter, says this post.
While I was growing up, I absolutely loved Barbie. I would beg my mother for a new Barbie every time we ventured into the toy department. As soon as we neared those Pepto-Bismol-pink displays, I would get butterflies and daydream of Barbie’s and my next adventure together.
On one such trip, my mother finally acquiesced and bought me Peaches ‘n’ Cream Barbie. She kept her in the closet and said she would be my birthday gift.
Fortunately (or unfortunately) for me, Peaches ‘n’ Cream sat in her pink box staring down at me with her eternally painted smile through her see-through plastic window. I looked forward to our reunion with eagerness.
When the happy day arrived, I carefully removed Peaches ‘n’ Cream from her packaging, and slowly examined her with the precision of a doctor. She was perfect – waist length blonde tresses, and big blue eyes. Peaches ‘n’ Cream Barbie was beautiful — and I looked nothing like her.
She was perfect – waist length blonde tresses, and big blue eyes. Peaches ‘n’ Cream Barbie was beautiful — and I looked nothing like her.
It’s bad enough that Barbie is a poor anatomical role model for young girls, all unbalanced rack and legs for days. But when I had asked my mother what was meant by “peaches ‘n’ cream”, she shook her head. “I don’t know,” she had replied.
It was years later that I learned the meaning: a creamy white complexion with a blush of peach. Something I would never have. I was thankful my 6-year-old self and my 30-something-year-old mother never knew this at the time.
Now that I’m a 30-something myself with a young impressionable daughter of my own, I am determined that she have a doll who looks more like her. Enter Nahji, from Assam, India. Nahji is part of a collection called Hearts 4 Hearts Girls whose proceeds partially go to helping young girls in the countries they represent, including: Dell (USA), Consuelo (Mexico), Rahel (Ethiopia), Tipi (Laos), and Lilian (Belarus).
I immediately purchased this doll for Pumpkin’s second birthday. Never mind that the box loudly stated For Ages 6+ or that my daughter was more interested in the box Nahji came in rather than in Nahji herself. She has dark beautiful hair and large lovely brown eyes. She is perfect —and she looks everything like us.
This post was first published here.
Pic credit: Image of girl playing with Barbies via Stefano Tinti/Shutterstock.
Jen has always enjoyed visual communications and writing ever since her school spelling bee days. She is passionate about design and the written word. When she's not blogging, playing wife, mom, international politics aficionado, read more...
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Being a writer, Nivedita Louis recognises the struggles of a first-time woman writer and helps many articulate their voice with development, content edits as a publisher.
“I usually write during night”, says author Nivedita Louis during our conversation. Chuckling she continues,” It’s easier then to focus solely on writing. Nivedita Louis is a writer, with varied interests and one of the founders of Her Stories, a feminist publishing house, based in Chennai.
In a candid conversation she shared her journey from small-town Tamil Nadu to becoming a history buff, an award-winning author and now a publisher.
Nivedita was born and raised in a small town in Tamil Nadu. It was for schooling that she first arrived in Chennai. Then known as Madras, she recalls being awed by the city. Her love-story with the city, its people and thus began which continues till date. She credits her perseverance and passion to make a difference to her days as a vocational student among the elite sections of Madras.
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