Image via Wikipedia
Something dawned on me today. Women have served in the Armed Forces alongside men for years. If the flesh and blood, real bullets military allows women soldiers why are the makers of G.I. Joe still behind the curve? I grew up on an Army base and hated Barbie much to my younger sister’s confusion. Hate may be the wrong word. I didn’t hate Barbie so much as I hated what she stood for and to some extent still does. Yes, I am aware that she has come a long way from her inception but to me she will always be vapid and come across as too concerned with breaking a nail to ever earn my respect. I an also aware that Barbie has enlisted in every branch of the service although in order to find her in a uniform you have to shop on the base itself most of the time.
That being said Barbie wouldn’t survive basic training long enough to become the female company clerk who sleeps the commanding officer. The world of plastic needs to catch up with the real world. If people are worried about what message a girl with short hair might suggest they should know that military women aren’t required to cut their hair. Instead a woman with long hair is only required to make sure that her hair stay up off her collar while on duty. So I am left to wonder why the makers of G.I. Joe haven’t yet caught up with reality.
January 27th, 2012 at 1:43 am
That’s something I never thought about before either… interesting. I suppose they don’t think there’d be much of a market for G.I. Jane or Soldier Barbie dolls.
January 27th, 2012 at 2:17 am
Nobody ever asked any of the girls I knew…if they had they would see an entirely different perspective.