permaculture

["Marsha Hanzi" <hanzibra@svn.com.br>]

Hello Scott,

As mother of three daughters now grown, I have some ideas about what Barbie
represents.  She is the American ideal of feminine beauty, imposed on us
since the 40´s.  Our modern Venus, so to say.  She has been the model of
blond blue-eyed  hour-glass ( today less so- she has changed dimensions over
time) ideal of beauty which has made life unhappy for millions of American
women over the years ( i.e. those who do not conform to this
ideal)...Incredible as it may seem, she is very popular here in Brazil
 although there is now a  mullata version on the market).  The richer a
woman is, the more she looks like B arbie-- artificially thin thanks to
surgery, long blond hair thanks to shampoos and dyes, really like the
doll....

So this question of Barbie is deep and has a lot to do with our image of the
feminine ideal and the sad impulse to make everybody look alike...

What is a doll?  It is the mirror for a child of him/herself, a companion.
But today´s dolls are hard, mechanical, artificial...
Not very good companion-types.  The Steiner schools recommend that a doll
be;

1) Harmonious in proportion, as it is a mirror.
2)  Similar to the child ( in body type, hair color, etc.)
3) With little expression on the face, as the child´s imagination puts it
there...
4) Made of natural materials, so very agreeable to the touch.  Normally
these dolls are stuffed with pure wool.  They have a warmth to them that
really makes them feel alive... They are also perfectly washable-- but wash
like a baby, in a baby bath etc.  Dolls are alive and real to the child,.
and throwing one in the washing machine can be traumatic...More so taking
off the head for repairs, etc...
5) Made lovingly by someone sincerely interested in the child-- the child
feels it immediately...

PS. I produce these dolls as a sideline when it´s too hot to farm-- you
touched a button...

Good luck!

Marsha in Brazil
our new webpage (in Portuguese) www.permacultura-bahia.org