I remember being a 6-year-old, playing with that controversial super model of dolls,  that we all lovingly knew as Barbie.  The media hated her, parents complained about her millions of tiny accessories and girls like me, loved her.  My mother in particular hated the shoes and ear rings that were constantly being caught by a vacuum cleaner and causing me to panic until she safely removed it by tearing open the bag, to retrieve the miniscule piece of pointy plastic.  To this day she still complains about the bits that could not be contained, and the clothes that were impossible to get on, not to mention the fact that clothes never stayed on the doll, she was just a model to our never-ending fashion shows. 

But the days of  complaining about Barbie’s large bust, and small waist have seemed to have died, I still hear the odd Mom complaining that she’s bad body image for children, but I think now, after having the “light bulb” moment I’ve had, I could easily take that long-legged, golden-haired hussy, and make her look like a spokesperson for the Dove campaign.

Have you taken a look at a Polly Pocket?  I mean, really taken a look.  Barbie complainers, watch out.  This little lady has more in store for your vacuum than you can imagine!  She’s small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, or for parents, small enough to fit into the soft sensitive arche of your foot as you walk through a dark bedroom.  Her lovely wardrobe is made from a rubbery slimy substance that not only loves to have any kind of fuzz or fur stick to it, but my one cat thinks the bouncy effect is a lot of fun to bat around the house.  She comes with a large selection of shoes, necklaces, belts, purses, and other accessories that are each all small enough to fit on a fingernail.  All made with the same slimy rubber that wedges its way into the fibers of the carpet.  My Mom had better back off about those Barbie shoes. 

 Barbie’s many wardrobe changes are really no different from Polly.  She has a large amount of interchangable outfits, that are seemingly easy to slip off, but when coming to getting those little arms, into the little arm holes, the slime just doesn’t seem to help.  I always have little fingers pressing so hard on the sleeve that the rubber turns white and I have to back off, and wiggle it around untill I see those pasty pointy pink fingers finally peer at me from the sleeve end. When I hand off the now fully dressed doll, I am met 20 seconds later with an underwear adorned Polly, and a fist full of bouncy clothes. 

Lately I was met with another dressing request, a nice skirt number that was purple and had little flowers printed on the shirt.  I dressed her in her new get-up, and before I passed her off to the one that would undress her again, my hubby reached for the doll.  Not a common move in this house, but he stared at the doll with utter disbelief on his face.  “Look at that skirt! ”, leave it to a man to notice that the skirt was designed in such a way that the back was shorter than the front, showing off clearly Polly’s lovely purple undergarments.  I took the doll, adjusted the skirt, thinking I had it on backwards.  No, now it just looked funny.  No matter what I did, the skirt wanted to sit a certain way, and leave a breeze available for Miss Polly.  Then I held up the doll, looking at the unavoidable show of the undergarments, and noticed that Polly had an incredible “I.T.C.”  (inner thigh clearance), in fact her legs were long, but extremely thin.  Toes pointed to wear high heals like her tall rival.  So how is it that Barbie, being a fully grown woman, is punished for having a large bust, small waist, and a set of long (let’s face it) admirable legs, when really, she is more realistically proportionate than todays new contenders. 

Polly pocket has decent sized bust, she does have a bra on after all, and her waist is small, stomach and bum non-existent.  Barbie at least had a set of thighs on her, she had legs that were shapely, and they connected to a bum that was bigger than her waist.  I look at the differences and yet similarities to these dolls, and think that probably by today’s standards Barbie is on the chunky side!  Now, is it that because Polly is younger, and smaller, that she’s overlooked by the media fuss that was so hard on poor Barbie? 

What is it that Polly does?  She has lots of party accessories, pools, beach chairs, and a cool little convertible, but does she have a job?  How can she, she’s in school I thought, my girls have the “Too cool for school” set.  I don’t see her trying on the many different rolls that Barbie so boldly explored.  Being a doctor, a teacher, a vet, and all the other “careers” that she’s had.  Oh, I do appologies…she may have a shop that she washes dogs and cats…I think.

You may believe that I’m comparing apples to oranges.  No, they are not the same doll, not anywhere near the same size, and that may be the reason she’s gained in popularity.  What the makers of this doll probably figured out fast, was that most doll houses are a lot smaller than a Barbie, and Polly fits nicely into any of them, without needing a specific massive house for her, like Barbie.  Polly is small, so you can have more of them.  The large suitcase for a collection of 10 or more Barbies, (and clothes) is no longer necessary.  Our 15 or so Polly’s and all her millions of possessions are all kept in a tote smaller than a shoebox.  My girls have both dolls.  Barbie still has the nicest hair, but her and her many friends, remain piled naked in a box, not being touched, while Polly and her friends use her gorgeous pink kitchen and  fridge set.  Polly gets brought to grandparent’s houses, she comes on trips too.  She has to go shoeless on such trips though. 

Barbie may be a stronger contender in a house with girls that are more interested in hair “do’s” and have enough imagination to not need a house and furniture, but in my house, where Polly’s many furnishings are carefully placed in special rooms of her house, she’s the doll of choice.  Her permanent hair not a bother, and less of a hassle.  Besides if you wanted to brush hair, we have My Little Ponies for that.  Who are now a better match with Polly than Barbie and her farm of  “miniature horses”.

I don’t know if it’s her traveling size, or if it’s her ability to amalgamate other toys into the “game”, or if she’s just cuter and has a friendlier smile, but I get the feeling that she’s going to be around not only in our toy bins here for quite a while, but on the shelves of stores for quite some time still… vacuums everywhere bearing the consequences.

I do however want to give a big “shout out” to the boys I saw playing “road hockey”, on the road….  YAY YOU!! (and yay to your parents)   That warmed my heart.   

* I just want to make it perfectly clear, I am not against the use of helmets for things such as biking and even skateboarding,  my point was just expressing that we can’t be protected from everything, life happens.