Barbie or Cosmo: What's the Difference?

My friend never told me about it directly, but she was pretty upset a few years ago when I sent her (then) 3 year old daughter a Barbie Princess for her Birthday. I found out later from a mutual friend, that my friend threw away the Barbie and movie that came with it, claiming that it was perpetuating and forcing a stereotypical, backwards, 1950's, female role model onto her daughter.

Flash forward 3 more years and I visit my friend and her child. The kid has tons of Barbie's and a chest of dress-up princess dresses, tiaras, slippers, boas, and you name it...her room is covered. The girl is a frilly girly-girl who loves dolls, dress up, and especially Barbie Princess. Seems over time, my friend learned (possibly from her other friends who listen to Terri Gross) that ultimately, it's okay to let your daughter play house and dress up.

Flash even more forward to today and my friend visits me with her (now) 2 daughters. During the course of the visit, my friend floods my house with: People Magazine, O Magazine, Cosmo Magazine, The National Enquirer, and various other glitterati magazines.

So, here's the thing: I have two sons who are - I believe - too young to have headlines like, "TEN WAYS TO PLEASE YOUR MAN IN BED" glaring at them in the living room. In addition, all the magazines were full of 'news' about who looks best in a particular brand of dress, what super model is wearing the cutest shoes, how to wear your make-up, what clothing lines are popular, how to look sexy, and on and on. I felt a huge double standard emerging along with a blinding hypocrisy.

Am I wrong, or aren't those magazines just another rhetorical version of today's BARBIE? Isn't my friend teaching her child - by way of making those 'training manual' magazines available, and also by studying them herself - isn't she perpetuating and forcing a female standard on her daughters? Just like giving them a Barbie! But these stereotypes come in the form of written instruction and photos - to make sure you have no confusion about what you need to look like, act like, dress, and desire, as you develop into a young lady, right?

I don't have daughters, so I don't know what it is all about. But I do know Barbie is a WAY better stereotype than growing up to be/look like a stereotyped pop diva from People. Barbie doesn't come with the baggage of hitting-bottom-and-bouncing-back headlines...or driving-drunk-but-building-an-orphanage; or five-marriages-8 kids-and-a-reality-show-makes-us-cool-cause-we're-real baggage; at least with Barbie, you make it what you want it to be...kind of.

However, I bet, when my friend's daughters grow up and strive to look like some archetypal 'woman' --because they will, who do you think my friend will blame?

Yep. Me and my feeble attempt to send a doll when the kid turned 3.