CWA Says Barbie Website Promotes Gender Confusion

[norml]

CWA Says Barbie Website Promotes Gender Confusion

Monday, Jan. 2, 2006 Posted: 4:55:37PM EST

The Barbie Doll website is asking children aged 4-8 for their sex.


A poll on the Barbie Doll's website asks children to select their gender, and there are not two, but three choices. ''I don't know'' is the third option, and Christian ministries point out the homosexual agenda behind this latest move made by Mattel, the toy company that owns Girl Dolls, Fisher-Price, and Hot Wheels. (Photo: The Christian Post)

The choices are three: “girl,” “boy,” and “I don't know."

This new move by the iconic and trend-setting Barbie Doll is promoting gender confusion among children, according to Concerned Women for America (CWA).

Director of the ministry's Culture & Family Institute, Bob Knight, gave the inside message behind this latest move of the homosexual activist agenda.

"It's the idea that well, maybe people aren't born a particular biological sex, or they are but that shouldn't determine their gender identity," Knight said. "And that's a very big component of the homosexual activist agenda now."

The acronyms for the movement used to be limited to L and G, which stands for lesbian and gay. Then they added the letter, B, which means bisexual. Now it's LGBT – lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender – and some even add Q, which stands for questioning youth, Knight pointed out.

"In other words, any kid who's not sure about who he is, he's fair game to try to persuade to have same sex acts," said Knight.


snip


http://www.christianpost.com/article/society/2150/section/cwa.says.barbie.website.promotes.gender.confusion/1.htm

[sakabatou]

1. CWA... whackjobs.

[Erika]

2. Why doesn't CWA bake cookies and teach their own

and stay out of everyone's else's life. What's their need to push their right wing fanatic agenda down everyone's throats? That's not America.

[silverweb]

3. Sure. Okay.

I'm on the "official" Mattel Barbie site right now and sure can't find anything asking for gender selection. I also note that the article does not give a link. Maybe part of the game is that you have to look really, really hard to find offense? Or maybe, just maybe, no link is given because the accusation is fabricated?

:shrug:

Just askin'....

[sugapablo]

17. I couldn't find it either...

And I really looked. And MAN, was it an annoying site for anyone who would select "Male" given the opportunity. :)

[Orangepeel]

31. there's a question here

http://barbie.everythinggirl.com/activities/friends/backpack/newuser.asp

The options are actually "boy", "girl" and "I don't want to say"

Maybe CWA is talking about a different area or the site changed it already. Regardless, however, what a stupid thing to be up in arms about.

*I* didn't have to look really hard to find it, because my daughter sometimes plays with this site, but it still took a little bit of searching.

[silverweb]

42. Willful misinterpretation.

"I don't want to say" is hardly the same thing as "I don't know" or "Other" or whatever these CWA idiots are screaming about.

"I don't want to say" is merely a privacy option, like saying "None of your business."

These people are freaking nuts!

:crazy:

[Orangepeel]

44. absolutely

they are freaking nuts!

But, to clarify, a post later in the thread gives a link to another question on the site where "I don't know" is an option.

Probably, it is a cut and paste error and the person building the site would have put "I don't want to say" there as well if they had given any thought to it. Naturally, they didn't give any thought to it because the whole "controversy" is completely trivial and stupid, like the CWA idiots themselves.

[Realityhack]

48. Absolutely right.

seems to me under some leagal systems that might even be slander ;-)

Providing a privacy option is an important part of being internet-safety friendly. Seems to me that 'famialy' oriented organizations should be fans of that. But Ohhh nooo they have to make shit up to get offended at.

Only way it wasn't willful misrepresentation is if Matell changed it already and I find that unlikely.

[radwriter0555]

4. Soooo what's wrong with love & sex with someone of the same gender?

It's just love and sex. It shouldn't matter.

[951-Riverside]

5. CWA doesnt have a leg to stand of if mattel holds their ground

By the way isnt it illegal for mattel to ask kids to give out their info unless its with the consent of their parents?

[LeftyMom]

6. Little kids take some time to develop gender identity

It's just within the past month or two that LeftyKid (4 1/2) got real clear about who's a girl and who's a boy and that he's a boy.

That's fairly normal from a child development perspective as far as I know- at his age I thought all the hair metal bands that were really popular then were female because of thier long poofy hair. :eyes:

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. Here is their REAL objection:

"Some critics have said the Barbie Dolls really have convinced American girls that the materialistic way of life is the way to go," said Knight. "You have to have the hot cars, and the tropical scene. And Barbie has the perfect figure and the perfect outfits."

"It's really steering girls away from the idea of womanhood as predominantly – in terms of Christians – serving the Lord, getting married, having kids, building a home. You don't see any of that with Barbie - it's all about things."

[DesEtoiles]

11. pssst...feminists have hated barbie for a long time! welcome to the party.

[Hypatia82]

33. That's some feminists...

some just don't really see the big deal in a toy.

[DRoseDARs]

8. Erm, more likely: When they set up the website, there were default choices

...and this little thing just slipped by unnoticed.

That, or CWA needs to shut the fuck up.

Or both. :)

[Vidar]

9. If "I don't know"= homosexual, shrub is in trouble.

[tenshi816]

10. What BS.

There's no such poll anywhere on the website that I can find. If these people would spend a fraction of the time they spend obsessing about the non-existent "homosexual agenda" on actually following Christ's teachings, the world might actually become a better place. Instead, they spend their lives with their minds in the gutter.

[Hekate]

12. Is one of their radical clerics going to pronounce a fatwa on Barbie?

I guess outing Tinky-Winky just wasn't enough in terms of making the world of children safe for their adult dirty minds.

As a feminist, I've always had some issues with Barbie and initially I wouldn't get one for my daughter, who was born in 1975. She had lots of other dolls and toys, though, so I didn't think she was exactly deprived until...she went to the Swap Meet with the family of one of her little friends, and out of pity they bought her a Barbie of her very own. :eyes:

Sometimes you just have to give in to the culture on small things. There were plenty of other opportunities to talk with my kids about materialism and advertising.

The CWA and their ilk need to get a life. For the love of Christ (since they brought him into the fray) why aren't they going after violent video games? Those things warp more lives than Barbie and Ken ever could.

Hekate

[okoboji]

13. link

http://barbie.everythinggirl.com/activities/friends/backpack/newuser.asp


but....

the choices are:

boy
girl
I don't want to say

[Starbucks Anarchist]

18. Nice catch!

:toast:

[sugapablo]

19. Well...

They could've changed it after receiving criticism.

Either way, this whole issue over gays, et al, HAS to be the biggest "WHO GIVES A FUCK" issue of all time!

Who the fuck cares if two guys want to play with each other? Or two girls? Or two "I don't knows"?

I guess they'll be damned to hell for loving each other too much?

I guess these people prefer to look up to leaders who kill and torture rather than who love and accept.

[Ian David]

34. I visited the barbie site and nobody has solicited me for sex acts yet

Am I supposed to stick a colored handkerchief in my back pocket or something for this to work?

I'm confused.

Maybe Concerned Women For America are wrong?

[Critters2]

39. Your earring must be on the wrong side

that, or no one finds you attractive.;-) Maybe someone from CWA will hit on ya!

[Nomen Tuum]

14. And WHO handles CWA's finances?

http://www.blogactive.com/2005/06/nyt-exposes-family-research-counciland.html

And what does Lee LaHaye, the chief financial officer of the CWA have to say about these "coordinated attacks?" In addition to being a gay man who runs all of CWA’s finances, Lee is the gay son of CWA founders Tim and Beverly LaHaye. Could anything be more pathetic than that, really?

I wonder how many members of CWA know THAT??????

[HuffleClaw]

26. oh, but i'm sure he's REPENTED and been CUUUUURED

of his godless affliction!

[Plaid Adder]

49. The gay son of the LaHayes?

Wow. Talk about life in hell.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

[LordshipLadyship]

15. seems to me the CWA are the ones that are confused

here's part of the mattel info
You agree that you will not: (a) use this Website for any commercial or political purpose (including, without limitation, for purposes of advertising, soliciting funds, collecting product prices, or selling products);

So by my thinking CWA is using it for political purposes, violating the mattel rules. No organization to my mind that excludes part of the population without a legitimate reason is worthy of the title 'religious'

and yes, it says I don't want to tell, not 'I don't know' so they, not surprisingly for some Christian groups, are lying.

and btw Happy DU year :)

[Vogon_Glory]

16. Irony: CWA Is Also Mad At American Girl Dolls, Too! n/t

The irony is that CWA is no doubt also part of the bunch calling for a boycott of American Girl dolls, too. Since there's clearly no pleasing these nutters short of complete and utter capitulation, maybe the CWA will choose to follow their Wahabbi Islamist colleagues and call for a boycott of ALL dolls. :sarcasm:

[roseBudd]

20. virtually all survey questions have an I don't know selection

[Vickers]

21. I think some folks just hate dolls, like some people are with clowns

Maybe they are scared of 'em? Bad childhood experience or something. :shrug:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

23. c. . c. . c. . clowns? Like those scary guys in the White House?

That IS scary.

[MaineDem]

22. This women's group is headed by a man

Now that tells me something!

And reading the headline I couldn't figure out why the Communications Workers of America was concerned with Barbie. I never associated CWA with these whack jobs.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

24. Sounds like a job for the "Barbie Liberation Organization":

In 1989 the Barbie Liberation Organization was formed. Taking advantage of similarities in the voice hardware of Teen Talk Barbie and the Talking Duke G.I. Joe doll, er, ?action figure,? they absconded with several hundred of each and performed a stereotype-change operation on the lot.

The surgery was no simple matter ? circuit boards had to be trimmed, a capacitor moved, and a switch re-engineered. The press made it sound like an easy pop-and-switch operation, but this took some research and dedication.

The BLO returned the altered dolls to the toy store shelves, who then resold them to children who had to invent scenarios for Barbies who yelled ?Vengeance is mine!? and G.I. Joes who daydreamed ?Let?s plan our dream wedding!? Cleverly placed ?call your local TV news? stickers on the back ensured that the media would have genuine recipients to interview as soon as the news broke.

One BLO member counted up the many benefits of their program: ?The storekeepers make money twice, we stimulate the economy ? the consumer gets a better product ? and our message gets heard.?

http://www.sniggle.net/barbie.php

It was facilitated by the peeps at rTMark, who have done some great stuff.

http://www.rtmark.com/legacy/history.html

A documentary about them, in their guise as "The Yes Men", is currently out on DVD.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006N2DSI

[HuffleClaw]

25. concerned women of america

all eleven of 'em. what a bunch of idiots. just begging for some free publicity.

[Archae]

27. Found the offending poll...

Looks more like a simple screwup to me.

http://barbie.everythinggirl.com/activities/btv/poll/index.aspx?pollid=118

[dogfacedboy]

28. My fundie sister in law says these people

are even too whacked out for her. A woman at her church tried to get her interested in CWA, but the SIL thought they were, in her words, "a bit extreme."
I was a surprised by this because my SIL is always railing against "the gay agenda", "the attacks on Christianity", etc.

[Archae]

29. I just e-mailed the author of this screed...

According to her answer, you know what her next article will be about?

"Lesbian Barbie."

I'm serious!
This "Christian" needs to frikkin' get a LIFE. :crazy:

[Bridget Burke]

30. Well, we've known about Ken for some time....

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

http://www.raiderofthelostkitsch.com/gaykenpics.html

[Archae]

37. Yeah but Ken has no balls!

I doubt gays would want a partner with no genitals! :D

[MrMonk]

38. Ken spent too much time answering to Barbie

[Plaid Adder]

47. There actually is a book out there,

and unfortunately I forget the title, but it's about the various ways in which children 'deconstruct' their Barbies, and I think there's a chapter about giving Barbie a lesbian makeover. Perhaps that's what this woman is talking about. Or, perhaps she's one of the people I apostrophized in post 46 below.

It's a sad little world the CWA lives in,

The Plaid Adder

[Ian David]

32. Why worry about Barbie and not the gay male prostitute in The White House?

I'm speaking about Jeff Gannon, of course.

But I suppose that may also apply to George W. Bush.

Some people say.

[noonwitch]

35. Without seeing the Mattel website, could it be that this is more for

adults looking to buy a present for a kid? It would make sense to have the three options, in that case, because the adult may be buying a generic toy to donate to charity that the buyer would want to be a toy for either a boy or girl? Mattel's Barbie and Hot Wheels toys are pretty gender specific, although I know of plenty of girls who play with Hot Wheels, if not many boys who play with Barbie. But games, sports-related toys, baby toys, Fisher-Price "Little People" toys and many others are not played with by one gender, and are loved by boys and girls equally.

Really, how many 4 and 5 year olds can read well enough to get to Mattel's website? 4 and 5 year olds use the mouse on the computer, to click on stuff, not the keyboard. Most 5 year olds are just starting to read.

[FlaGranny]

36. Now, don't try being reasonable!

:D We can't have that.

[Realityhack]

60. Its a flash game aimed at kids.

The thing is the choice they calim existed may never have existed (ie they pulled it out their ass).

Plenty of kids who play with barbies are plenty capable of using (and DO use) computers.

[onager]

40. Wonder what they make of Fulla?

I'm currently living/working in Egypt (Alexandria), and I see the Fulla dolls all over the place. She's kicking Barbie's butt in this neck of the woods:

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/12/22/1135032135918.html

Oh, Fulla is Muslim. So I can pretty much imagine what the Concerned Bints Of America would think of her. ("Oh how cute! And WHERE is 'Suicide Bomber Fulla'?")

BTW, the CWA is probably a lot bigger than some of us hope. Their leader, Beverly La Haye, is the wife of Tim LaHaye. He not only co-wrote the Left Behind books, but co-founded the ultra-secretive and theocratic Council for National Policy. Bev La Haye spends all her time traveling, and convincing other women they should stay home.

Standard Disclaimer: atheist. I don't have a god in this fight.

[Ian David]

41. Darksided!!!! Darksided!!! n/t

[bleedingheart]

43. Fulla could also be viewed as babushka barbie...hahahaha

sorry but I clicked on the link and in that picture the doll looks like my great great grandmother Eva who was fresh off the boat from Eastern Europe when the picture was taken.....


When I was a girl I used to dress my barbies as nuns...kids generally will mimic their surroundings in play....and my CCD classes were taught by nuns.

[jmowreader]

45. I'm more worried about the children who select "boy"

Come on, ladies. I went to the barbie.com website and checked it out.

No self-respecting boy would be caught dead on this website.

Not even the ones who see Jeff Gannon as a role model.

Shit, man, this site is too "girly" for half the GIRLS who have internet access.

[UncleSepp]

66. Edited...

I DO NOT WANT TO BE POLITE.
I DO NOT WANT TO BE RATIONAL.

However, I also don't want to be tombstoned, so I've edited this post not to say what I really think.

[UncleSepp]

67. What, you're worried the boy might act outside his gender role?

Oh noes! His poor little pee pee might fall off! He might act like an inferior GIRL!

Please tell me you forgot your sarcasm tag.

[AlienGirl]

68. My eldest son loved Barbie.com for several years

And yes, he has plenty of self-respect...enough not to give a rat's ass whether narrow-minded people think he should be more "manly."

He went to his first counterprotest against Fred Phelps when he was four, and gave the coolest interview to a local alternative news show about how "anyone who wants to should be allowed to wear makeup."

Tucker

[Plaid Adder]

46. The CWA should get down on their knees and THANK JESUS for BARBIE!

For decades now Barbie has been supporting the same rigid, demeaning, unrealistic definition of femininity that the CWA has rallied around. Sure, maybe Barbie is a little oversexed, maybe a little too scarily buxom for the good ladies of the CWA. Maybe they've found themselves trembling in fright as their clandestine glances at Barbie's plastic bust trigger long-buried homoerotic urges. Maybe the CWA holds special prayer circles to help Concerned Women of America struggle with their forbidden lusts for Barbie's tiny tilted feet, waspish waist, and candy-floss blonde hair. But apart from that, ladies, WHAT are you complaining about? If you turn on Barbie, who ELSE is going to help you turn the girls of America into bubble-headed bimbos who think math is hard and care only about pleasing their Kens and going to the mall to support the American economy?*

Ken, OK, I could see where they were coming from. But Barbie? C'mon!

The Plaid Adder

*Note: Barbie conversions not 100% effective. I had a ballerina Barbie when I was a kid, and look at me now.

[OnionPatch]

65. You hit the nail on the head

:rofl:

[Realityhack]

50. Any proof that answer EVER existed?

Answer now is
boy
girl
I don't want to say

Which sure seems fine by me.

So was the choice ever diffrent or is it more like

CWA = Lying sacks of shit who make junk up just to get mad and slander inocent companies.

Guess thats what god really wants.

[knitter4democracy]

51. I think the CWA promotes gender confusion, myself.

I mean, with all their hollering and advocating and work, those women aren't exactly staying at home, raising their children meekly, are they?

May God have a sense of humor and make their best friends all be GLBT who come out of the closet over this. It will at least make them think.

[MaineDem]

53. And notice their leader is a MAN

If that wasn't so sad it would be funny.

Totally off topic...are you familar with the brioche stitch? I'm working a sweater in that stitch and it's a bear to figure out. I think I have it now but the first few rows are a little screwy. :D

[knitter4democracy]

54. There was a great article series on that.

It was in INKnitters magazine, and they had the best explanation of that stitch I've ever seen--with really good pictures, too. You should be able to find back copies if you contact them.

Of course their leader is a man. They can't do anything without a man telling them what to do. :eyes: I went to college with women like that, and they ticked me off then. They really think that they're better Christians for finding and serving a man and having babies. Sick.

[Gatchaman]

52. "I don't know"?!?!?!?

How fucking dumb do they think kids are anyhow?

[AlienGirl]

58. There are children who are intersexed or transgendered

Some of those kids may not identify as either conventional gender. In my opinion "Other" would have been a better third choice, but any third choice is better than none.

Tucker

[Realityhack]

59. Um... there is question as to wither that option was ever present

they currently have a 'I do not want to say' option up which seems like a good idea to me.

[Nikki Stone 1]

55. What do they want from Mattel? A cash settlement? Power?

This sounds like a potential shakedown to me.

[rucky]

56. Well, if you're anatomy matches a Ken Doll...

I Don't Know is your only choice.

[Miss Chybil]

57. Jesus F'n Christ. These people are sick. nt

[Realityhack]

62. which people is that in refrence to? n/t

[Miss Chybil]

63. Oh, sorry... the fundies. The fundies are sick.

Who else would come up with this kind of bullshit besides someone, or a group of someones, with a sick mind. "I don't know" is a perfectly legitimate response for a child who may not know his, or her, sex. However, I doubt too many three and four years olds are completing questionnaires on the web. So, maybe, they're all sick. Everybody's sick. The whole world is full of a bunch of sickos.

Ok. So, I'm having a bad day... Sorry.

[Realityhack]

70. Ah.

It looks like at least perhapse the option 'I don't know' never existed.
By the time I got to the barbie site it didn't. The option was
'I don't want to say'

'I don't know' would be a bit strange to put as a choice to that question in that context. Not evil just a bit strange.

[Barrett808]

61. At first I thought this was my union, Communication Workers of America! nt

[CatWoman]

64. Frankly, I've always wondered about Ken

I mean, come on now -- where's the goods???

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

69. Communications Workers of America

...should sue their asses.