Like so many of you (what is up with that?!), I could have written this same story. Except my nemesis is at kindergarten and her name is Ella. Is it permissible to really hate a child that you don't know? I hate Ella. Ella has big sisters, and thus has access to completely age-inappropriate crap that I really didn't want to have to deal with yet. Ella likes to say things like "your shoes are ugly". Then my daughter won't wear those shoes anymore. I live in fear every time she goes to school with new clothes. If Ella decides that they are unacceptable, it's all over. And Ella loves Barbie.

I'm a tomboy from way back. I never played with dolls. I was given Barbies for Christmas one year, and I promptly decapitated them to find out how their hair was attached and sliced into their knees to find out what made them click. My mother thought I was destined to be a serial killer. So when DD came home asking for Barbie, I nearly blew a gasket. No way. No how. If it's a choice between Bratz and Barbie, I'll go for Barbie. But it isn't that choice. She hasn't ever even seen a Barbie. She doesn't know what it is. She just wants Barbie stuff. Over my dead body.

I took her to the shops the other day to buy fishing rods for our trip. We chose rods for her brother and her friend that came with us. Then she looked up, saw (ACK!) a Barbie pink backpack fishing rod kit and said "I WANT THE BARBIE ONE!". The conversation follows:
me: No.
DD: Why not?
me: I don't like Barbie.
DD: Why?
me: I don't like what she teaches girls about their bodies.
DD: But Ella likes Barbie.
me: That's Ella's mommy's choice. Different families have different rules.
DD: But I like Barbie.
me: You don't even know what Barbie is.
DD: But I like Barbie.
me: sigh. Okay. Let's try something else. That fishing rod isn't a good one. The people that make Barbie want to make lots of money, so they put a picture of Barbie on a flimsy fishing rod to make you want to buy it. The red one is a better rod. It has more things in the set and it will last longer. You won't even be able to fish very well with the Barbie one.
DD. But I want the Barbie one.
me: I give up. No. You may have the red one. If you keep asking, I'm going to buy your brother one and you'll have to ask him to borrow it.
DD: silence

I won. Barely. But I've been doing a lot of thinking. Is it really Barbie that bothers me so badly? Not really. It's not age appropriate, and I'm keeping her from it for as long as possible. But it's just a doll. What bothers me is the endless amount of crap that is marketed at my daughter with Barbie on it. And the endless arguments that we could have based on whether or not she NEEDS the Barbie sunglasses. So I've put my foot down. No branding. I don't care that much about the toys and movies. Watch Dora and Ariel all you want. But I am not buying Ariel pencils. I refuse. And I don't give a damn what Ella has.