The Barbie dilemma continues 50 years later

One of the criticisms all along about Barbie has been that her figure and style was a bit too "adult" and commercialized for some parents' tastes.

One of my co-workers pointed me to a column by Terry Mattingly, On Religion, about the challenges of pushing too grownup of a style and culture on little girls. Terry's column ran locally in the Ann Arbor.com newspaper; but you'll also find it many places across the web including The Republic of Columbus, Ind. A snippet:

Barbie dolls are not the only products that define this dilemma, but they are highly symbolic. In an essay for the journal Books & Culture, Riley noted the power of a story recounted in "Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture," a book by feminist Peggy Orenstein. The anecdote begins with her filmmaker husband approving a Barbie purchase for their young daughter.

"I demanded that he take it away from her. She started to cry. So I gave it back," wrote Orenstein.

The parents argued some more and the Barbie went back on the Target shelf.

I did buy my daughter Barbie dolls. I bought myself Barbie dolls.

I realize that some moms are not entirely pleased with the concept. But here's a thought:

It will be hard to get through childhood without dolls of any sort crossing your daughter's path.

So, what dolls would you find acceptable? Brats and that over the top attitude? American Girls and their pricey wardrobes? Disney dolls and the princess extreme that genre has turned into?

Or a Barbie with her sisters, Skipper and Kelly; her friends Teresa and Kira and Ken; for whom you can easily find retail and handmade doll clothes and furniture to suit a variety of tastes, fashion and sensibilities?

By the way, there has been a doll on my desk since May 1997. And I had a customer remark today about my tradition and my current doll - a So in Style African-American friend Kara in 1960s 'mod' handcrafted outfit.