This is Part 2 of Barbie: Bald, Presidential, and Armed. You can read Part 1 Here.

The truth is, my daughter has Barbies. Thanks to family and friends she has them. The last time she actually played with them they were flying to a different planet to retrieve some magic plants that could save the earth. I hesitate at the thought of putting the breaks on those games… the earth apparently depends on those Barbies. Thankfully, the Barbies she has are a racially diverse little group, but they are all still Barbies, that look like Barbies.

What message would it send to my daughter to have a bald Barbie? Not because she was sick, or had a friend who was sick. But simply because I want her to think bald can be beautiful. Her power does not lie within her hair, and frankly she doesn’t need to be sick to learn that. So yes, I would buy her a bald Barbie.

My daughter’s two favorite books are “If I Were President” and “Grace for President.” In fact she watched me week after week interview women in politics every week before I came to SheHeroes. She even attended events with me from time to time meeting some inspiring SheHeroes in politics. She knows she can be president if she wants to. But President Barbie could help show my daughter that a girl becoming President isn’t just something we talk about here in our house, it’s just as normal as a girl becoming a vet or getting married, or becoming a cowgirl….

Last but not least, the Katniss Everdeen Barbie. Yes, maybe from my grown up point of view a Katniss doll seems weird. Yes, marketing a Katniss doll does kind of defeat the message of the book. But I have never seen a doll as cool as Katniss. And if the blond, too skinny, make-up wearing Barbies that already haunt me here at home can save the earth and fight Aliens in their foofy dresses, imagine what my daughter would do with a Katniss doll?

Imagine.

Don’t get me wrong; I probably won’t buy any of these. My daughter does play with the Barbies she has from time to time, but frankly she just doesn’t really ask for new ones.

Honestly, when we speak out against Mattel and Barbie and the messages that Barbie sends to our young girls, we aren't actually trying to bring down Barbie. The goal is to make them CHANGE the message. We want them to change the negative things Barbie symbolizes.

Since those are major changes that can’t be made overnight, maybe we should look at these dolls as something positive.  Maybe these dolls are a sign that things are changing. Are some companies, like Mattel starting to slowly (very slowly) realize that our voices are not getting quieter, they are getting louder? Are they starting to see that with every new baby girl born, another mother is also born? A mother who joins the growing number of voices protecting all girls and calling out companies who are trying to hurt them. Maybe, just maybe, someone is listening.

Maybe, this is how change starts. One bow and arrow carrying Barbie at a time…