New from Mattel: Tramp Stamp Barbie

[lame54]

http://www.inquisitr.com/23088/new-from-mattel-tramp-stamp-barbie/



Mattel has launched a new range of Barbies that allow little girls to add tattoos to their dolls.

The new Barbie dolls are part of Mattel’s “Totally Tattoos” range, and include tattoos of hearts, flowers, stars, rabbits, butterflies, and a Barbie silhouette. One tattoo though includes a heart and Ken’s name, and is perfectly sized as a tramp stamp on the lower back, as per the picture above.

The Daily Mail reports that not everyone is happy with the move, with one expert claiming that it further sexualizes children’s play. Mattel argues that “This type of open-ended, creative play is a healthy form of self expression that Barbie brings to girls.”

[KharmaTrain]

1. The Stamp That Bothers Me...

...the one that says "Indonesia". I remember a time when Barbies were made in the good ole U.S. of A.

A far as the tramp stamp...says more about a mom or adult who buys that for a kid....

[lame54]

3. but that's the part that's going to get Ken off...

he's republican you know

[Johonny]

11. +1

Tatoo's are really, really, popular here and those fake ones the kids really seem to love so it is probably more than mom and dad.

[tblue37]

21. At the laundromat a couple of weeks ago I saw a little boy--

maybe 6 or 7 years old--with what I am pretty darned sure was a real tattoo on his forearm. The tattoo was of a very large (about 2" long, and a bit wider than that because of the legs), very realistic spider. I actually got close to look at it, because I was so freaked out that a child that young would have a tattoo, and of something so many people would find repulsive. No doubt he will find many young women rather squeamish about his body art when he is ready to date, and unless he always wears long sleeves when he grows up, many potential employers will automatically eliminate him from consideration when it's time o hire.

I cannot believe it is legal to tattoo a child like that, but probably the mother didn't concern herself with legalities.

A child that young has no way of understanding what effects might follow from having a tattoo like that in such a visible location. Nor could he have understood the level of pain or the health risks involved in getting a tattoo--though I imagine he totally understood the pain while undergoing the procedure!

Many of his future choices will now be limited because of that tattoo. I was absolutely horrified, but I couldn't imagine what to do about it at the time--maybe because I was so shocked.

In most cases I actually will interfere if I see a parent doing something that puts a child at risk in some way, but I was so gobsmacked over the tattoo that by the time I gathered my wits and returned to the laundromat, the mother and her two kids were gone.

[LadyHawkAZ]

27. Some states allow it w/parental consent

but I don't know ANY artists who will do it on a child that young, the skin changes too much during adolescence.

Then again, it's a bad economy and all, maybe one just took the $ and didn't care.

[Ilsa]

32. I've seen tattooed children a couple of times in Texas

and it really freaks me out. It shocks me that it's legal.

[Yavin4]

17. Well, Because our Meddling EPA Does Not Allow The Toxic Residue from Making That Doll

to pollute our waters, that's why it has to be made in Indonesia.

They don't care about their drinking water or air.


:sarcasm:

[adigal]

2. Yes, because tattooing a man's name on your back

is such a healthy form of self-expression.

They are called coasters by many men, named for a place to put your beer during, ahem, intimate moments, and are not considered wholesome by many of the male gender. This is absurd.

[Ian David]

5. They can also watch The Daily Show at the same time. n/t

[adigal]

14. LOL!! Hadn't thought about that!!! n/t

[LeftinOH]

4. So classy (Not).

[Ian David]

6. You can also stick Ken's facial hair on Barbie to give her pubes. n/t

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Not that Mattel suggests placing that tattoo there

That just seems to have been the Daily Mail's idea. You can see Mattel's marketing in a video here - just looks like capitalism to me (ie they're trying to sell girls something more): http://jezebel.com/5235865/are-moms-actually-livid-over-tattoo-barbie

And the 'expert' claiming it sexualises children's play turn out to be anonymous 'critics' quoted by the Mail, with no 'expert' description. Who seem to think a tattoo is more sexual than Barbie's infamous impossible body shape.

Anyway, this is 2 years old, and I haven't noticed the corruption of Barbie-owning girls yet.

[lame54]

8. This is 2 years old?...

thanks - I didn't catch that

[Romulox]

9. "tramp stamp" = soooo unattractive.

Please. Women of the world--you are beautiful as you are! PLEASE don't get an upper butt tattoo! PLEASE!

[snooper2]

18. Oh come on, what's wrong with this body "art"

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_50sNzTMd1fY/SpeH0_gGpJI/AAAAAAAAAs0/ZbBa5Q60fXc/s400/tramp+stamp1.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_50sNzTMd1fY/SpeHzbmRlFI/AAAAAAAAAsc/8ZBbxNmCUpU/s400/tramp+stamp4.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_50sNzTMd1fY/SpeHy_FG3pI/AAAAAAAAAsU/R8ExB84ckBc/s400/tramp+stamp5.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_50sNzTMd1fY/SpeIACgD7-I/AAAAAAAAAs8/IN3vKuwCCCw/s400/tramp+stamp10.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_50sNzTMd1fY/SpeIPIp0R-I/AAAAAAAAAuE/Z4Nju_RLteQ/s400/tramp+stamp11.jpg


And my favorite...

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_50sNzTMd1fY/SpeINT0ZDpI/AAAAAAAAAtk/_oPWVKBXcPE/s400/tramp+stamp15.jpg

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Romulox]

23. That lady (!???) offers mustache rides?

Color me confused! :wow:

[pinboy3niner]

10. Enough with the Sarah Palin threads already!1!!

:evilgrin:

[Brickbat]

12. I'd say that "INDONESIA" on the back is more offensive than the tramp stamp.

[BrklynLiberal]

15. That was my first thought as well...

[KittyWampus]

13. I'd be fine with this if these were removable rub on tattoos included with the doll. Oh wait, they

are. Nevermind.

[slackmaster]

16. Imagine a bunch of 80-year-old Tramp Stamp Barbies in a nursing home

The horrors.

[QuintanarooBoy]

19. That's not a tramp stamp in the picture

Still, it's disturbing. Mattel apparently thinks that "self-expression" should include being sexually provocative.

[lame54]

24. yes it is - clearly

[Poll_Blind]

20. Marked like chattel. How liberating.

:eyes:

PB

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

22. Do the kiddies have to blow them up?

[shanti]

25. oh my

i must be getting old, but this bugs :( can't imagine buying one for my GD.

[LadyHawkAZ]

26. Healthy WHAT now???

Oversize boobs on an undersized distorted body with LOTS of fashion accessories and now with tattoos? That's HEALTHY??? You can't present an impossible-to-obtain ideal look to a child and call it SELF-expression, never mind HEALTHY self-expression. Who the hell thought that shit up?



:puke:

[seabeyond]

33. ah lady....

the nifty on the net is you get a little of what a poster is saying. have an idea of how they think. and then boom.... lol, a totally different post which contradicts a picture created. granted, a totally inaccurate picture, because we really dont know

but it does make the whole things fun

[JHB]

28. Ok, I'm not inclined to get a tatoo, but...

"tramp stamp"? Really?

(and in case it ain't clear, the question is directed at the term, not the ink)

[Dawson Leery]

29. Tattoo = Body Mutilation.

[jmowreader]

30. So the overt materialism is okay now?

[Romulox]

31. Is everyone aware of the origin of Barbie?

History

In the beginning Lilli was a German cartoon character, created by Reinhard Beuthien for the tabloid Bild-Zeitung in Hamburg, Germany. In 1953 Bild-Zeitung decided to market a Lilli doll and contacted Max Weissbrodt from the toy company O&M Hausser in Neustadt/Coburg, Germany. Following Beuthien's drawings, Weissbrodt designed the prototype of the doll, which was on sale from 1955 to 1964, when Mattel acquired the rights to the doll and German production stopped. Until then production numbers reached 130,000. Today Lilli is a collector's piece as Barbie is, and commands prices up to several thousand Euros, depending on condition, packaging and clothes.

<snip>

The Doll

Lilli was available in two sizes, 30 cm (12 inches) and 19 cm (7 and a half inches). She held three patents absolutely new in doll-making: The head wasn't connected to the neck but ended at the chin; the hair wasn't rooted but a cut-out scalp that was attached by a hidden metal screw; the legs didn't sprawl open when she was sitting. The doll was made of plastic and had molded eyelashes, pale skin and a painted face with side glancing eyes, high narrow eyebrows and red lips. Her fingernails were painted red, too. She wore her hair in a ponytail with one curl kissing the forehead. Her shoes and earrings were molded on. Her limbs were attached inside by coated rubber bands. The cartoon Lilli was blonde but a few of the dolls had other hair colours. Each Lilli doll carried a miniature Bild-Zeitung and was sold in a clear plastic tube.

In 1955 the tall dolls cost 12 Marks, the small 7.50 Marks. German office workers then had a monthly salary of approximately 200 to 300 Marks, so the doll was by no means a cheap toy. She was originally marketed to adults in bars and tobacco shops as a joke or gag gift. Many parents considered her not appropriate for children. Ariel Levy refers to her as a "sex doll" in Female Chauvinist Pigs and in interviews on the Lilli-inspired Barbie doll, Eve Ensler refers to Lilli (without elaboration) as a "sex toy"<1>. A German brochure from the 1950s states that Lilli was "always discreet," and that her wardrobe made her "the star of every bar." Although the doll was originally not designed as a children's toy, she eventually became popular with children. Doll houses, room settings, furniture, and other toy accessories to scale with the small Lilli were produced by German toy factories to cash in on her popularity amongst children and parents. Lilli and her fashions were sold as children's toys in a number of European countries, including Italy and Scandinavian states. Lilli was as high-profiled and successful as a toy as she was as an adult novelty, although outside of Germany she is mostly remembered in the latter guise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild_Lilli_doll

[seabeyond]

34. i use to like tattoos. the artful position and the creation chosen. the other weekend

i ahd seen so many bodies covered in them, i came to the realization i do not like them, at all, anymore. too much, too many, all over. bummer. now i even see a little one and i have a negative feel to it.

[Dreamer Tatum]

35. Having a hard as hell time seeing how this is a problem

...when kids see scads of adults with tats all over the place all the time.

[yellowcanine]

36. So when do we get Biker Barbie?

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQUL4VRteUq1iQFIAf6OyyFuDxm_P0UBjTVD0JvBPHBLhJGbz2X