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Meet Lammily the "normal" Barbie doll. Now with stretch marks, cellulite and acne.

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Malyse

Member
Dang, Barbie's on some Doogie Howser shit then.
I know, right? But according to official Barbie canon (who the fuck knew that there was Barbie canon?!), Barbie is two years older than her younger sister Skipper. And Skipper is 14. Or 13, so Barbie maybe is 15. But she's definitely a teen. The box says Teen Fashion Model Barbie.
 

genjiZERO

Member
My problem with stuff like this is that who is it "normal" for? Clearly this doll isn't taking ethnicity into consideration. Furthermore, how old is it supposed to be? Personally, I'm pretty sure stretch marks aren't normal for children. Also, cellulite is a sign of being out of shape. Just because the average American is out of shape doesn't mean people should accept it as the cultural standard. However, just because I'm critical of this doll too don't think I approve of Barbi either.
 

tcrunch

Member

You are right that they look at pretty faces for longer (e: though do babies consider Barbies to have beautiful faces is a good question too - they might respond just to the greater contrast between lip and face color though). I also think it would be hard to challenge a Barbie with a Lamilly (ach, that name) based purely on kid response because Barbie is so entrenched on the actual market. Mindful parents could always get them one though. This is sort of moot for changing the overall system though, because you can't expect the parents to buy anything besides what the kids want. And I think this goes back more to what BeatResets was trying to expand your response into than what you actually said, so I'll leave it there. Lamilly is probably doomed.


I already knew about this and I was not disagreeing that Elsa outfits sold more than Anna. I was saying your reasoning for why that is (discounting her magic and what I might say is arguably superior fashion) was limited and did not depict the whole story. If Anna had come out the gate with the exact same powers and background it might be a fair comparison based only on physical attributes, but then we wouldn't have a movie anyway. Basically, you need a better example for this which doesn't have so many conflicting factors.
 
Yeah - she looks like an average woman. That said, what girl wants to give her dolly stretch marks, cellulite, and acne? The decals actually make Lammily (again, crappy name) look like a burn victim or suffering from a severe skin disease. Those additions take this from being a serious product to limited-run ironic joke gift territory.
 

Cagey

Banned
Yeah. It's weird how these toymakers have to put Barbie down in order to differentiate themselves. It's like these toys are sold to parents as a way of making a political statement. It's less about what the kids actually want or are interested in.

That's exactly who these sorts of alternative toys are marketed towards: the parents.
 
Interesting that cellulite, acne and stretch marks are considered beautiful to you. You can argue that they're normal, but you don't have to go to the opposite extreme and pretend they aren't ugly.

At the point in the discussion where I replied, no one had posted pictures of the cellulite, acne, or stretch mark decals. All that was shown was the base doll. I find it fascinating that this body type, let alone her (fine) face, is considered ugly (style jokes withstanding):

barbieombre.jpg


Cellulite, stretch marks, and even acne, are just a reality for some women, even women who are "hot". I don't consider them marks of beauty, but I don't really think they're ugly anymore. That's just me, though.
 

Crocodile

Member
In terms of both age and gender, I'm pretty far removed from the play experiences and preferences of little girls so my opinion can only carry so much weight. I can only recall my own childhood and while I wasn't super big into action figures (I had some Ninja Turtles & Transformers but I was more was mostly a legos & ecrector sets kind of guy) when it was time to "play pretend" mimicking real life wasn't something that was of interest to me. I was more interested in the fantastical or technological than trying to role play myself in 10, 20 etc. years. So I normally would have a hard time envisioning a scenario in which a "realistic" and "average" looking doll is appealing to most children. This is of course different from roleplaying like as a future and aspirational career (like say doctor, teacher, scientist, lawyer, chef, the rare politician who isn't a docuhebag, etc.) but that is a kind of goal oriented playing within an ideal rather than just mimicking the human "average".

All that being said, watching the accompanying video, it seems a lot of kids are resonating to this. A lot of responses were "it's different" rather than "its better" but shit doesn't exist in a vacuum so what can you do.This felt like it might be a case of a product for adults to pat each other on the back saying how progressive they are but if the kids, the actual target market, want this and are made happier by this then that is what I care about and it would be a win for everybody. If this sentiment is shared by children at large then I think that would be a boon for the toy market as a whole. The accessories described in the topic (which are unfortunately dominating the conversation and gave me a weird impression of this product at first glance) however strike me as a "who would want this?" and "progressive in name only" kind of thing without a doubt. By the time those afflictions might be an issue wouldn't you be anywhere from slightly to WAY too old to care about dolls as more than collectors items or sentimental mementos?
 

Cagey

Banned
"alternative toys"

Barbie and Barbie-like toys are the norm in American society for dolls; regardless of whether such a norm is good or bad or neutral, it's the norm. This is clearly designed to be an alternative to said norm. Alternative toy. Simple enough.

What is it you think I intended by saying alternative toys, with your use of quotations around the phrase?
 
Are these women hot because of, or despite, cellulite, stretch marks, and acne?

I mean, I was of the understanding the cellulite is one of those things you can't do anything about, in all cases. Same, to an extent, with stretch marks; maybe less so with acne.

In regard to "hot" women, I meant women who fit more of a typical mold of what is considered hot. Like, someone like Kim Kardashian having stretch marks/cellulite (or any "hot" celebrity who has given birth).

EDIT: It sounds like I missed your point, but I don't think it's a because of/despite situation, or at least it shouldn't be.

Cellulite and stretch marks are not just associated with the overweight, as some in here have suggested. My last girlfriend was 5'4", 120 lbs, and had a very curvy figure. She was probably never more than 130-135 lbs, in her entire life--and yet she had some light stretch marks on her butt and breasts, and a little cellulite on her thighs/butt.

"Imperfections" should be accepted...if not celebrated. It's unrealistic to think otherwise, IMO, especially in regards to ones that you have little to no control over.
 

.GqueB.

Banned
So I showed the women at my job this and two things happened:

1. They laughed and said "gross"
2. They started talking about vacation boobs. Apparently women are getting saline injections to temporarily increase the size of their boobs/butts

They they went on to start a conversation about Kim Kardashian and her various outfits in the last year or so. It was a wild ride.
 
T

thepotatoman

Unconfirmed Member
Yeah, this.

I don't find them attractive. They are normal, but normal does NOT mean something is beautiful. It just means it is normal… average even.

That being said, look at Elsa and Anna. It's a good concept in theory, but no one wants to be normal ole Anna (despite the fact that Anna is actually very 'pretty.') They wanna be perfect… like Elsa. Blonde haired, blue eyed, pretty dress, sexy Elsa.

Well, a small amount of cellulite, acne or stretch marks is more attractive to me. I guess it just makes them look more human and real which is a positive in my book.

The problem is that average will never stand out in a way that is required to become popular. Of course kids are going to idolize the one that stands out more as being more unique and rare.
 

Jado

Banned
I was always under the impression that a big part of why girls like Barbies is being able to fantasize about being an adult in a variety of different successful roles. I don't see how this doll doesn't also accomplish that goal while not reinforcing unrealistic body expectations.

Not really, no. Girls like that Barbie is happy, attractive and good at a number of things that most people never get to be in their careers. Wealthy socialite, princess (with magic/fantasy elements), singer/star, fashion icon, super model, cowboy/girl, ballerina/dancer, etc. There is no best selling realistic, stressed-out office worker Barbie. None of the roles are depicted as particularly mundane. Laminny or whatever it's called fails at even being somewhat interesting to a kid. It's a boring person.

Barbie is 16 though.

Not really. Maybe years ago, but now she's clearly an adult and a quick glance at the doll's history on Wikipedia shows that it was always meant to depict an adult woman.
 

riotous

Banned
I don't think it's a "real" first name.

If you google for Lamilly.. you get stories about this doll.. and lots of "La Milly" references.

One Lamilly on LinkedIn.. from Uganda.. using lowercase letters for their name.. probably a spam account.

So don't worry too much about offending anyone lol. It's a horrible name for the doll.
 

Skux

Member
The name is awful though. "Lammily" sounds like "laminate", or "Lamisil" which is a brand name for antifungal medication.
 
i really like this kind of doll. It's kinda like in the middle of everything.

Also, from the video, it seems that it could teach girls not to want to be a hairdresser or a beauty queen only. (that is what barbies seem to try to convey)
 

Zoe

Member
i really like this kind of doll. It's kinda like in the middle of everything.

Also, from the video, it seems that it could teach girls not to want to be a hairdresser or a beauty queen only. (that is what barbies seem to try to convey)

Er... Barbie has been doing the profession dolls for as long as I can remember.
 

Monocle

Member
Hey you guys what if we took a toy that represents a heightened idealized image of a woman and made her completely average and generic instead isn't that a cool idea?
 
Hey you guys what if we took a toy that represents a heightened idealized image of a woman and made her completely average and generic instead isn't that a cool idea?

the problem is that there kinda isn't even any other kind of option.

Most of the dolls are done in the same barbie style. If not believe, please look at monster high, ever after high, and some other crap like that.

This is just an alternative, not a replacement.
 
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