viday, August 14, 1992 - North Shore News — 7

INSIGHTS»

Barbie gets pregnant...and still looks perfect

IT’S A sign of the times that many parents are thrilled
with the impending arrival of a ‘‘pregnancy doll’’ ou the

market.

I’m referring to Mattel’s My
Bundle Baby, due in steres in
September, Just imagine Barbie,
looking like she never ate anything
but celery, with a strap-on pouch

: concealing her little bundle, and
you've got Mattel’s mother-to-be.

Predictably, the doll has caused
considerable controversy among
-child development specialists and
‘other opinion makers.

“- Some specialists question
«whether a young child needs to
. “know what it’s like to bé pregnant
“(make that Mattel’s version of .
what it’s like to be pregnant).
"Others see the doll as a way to
help parents answer their child’s
.. questions on the subject of
- pregnancy.
: While I have some sympathy
for parents who dread queries
_ from their children about The Big
-P, I question the value of a pro-
‘duct like My Bundle Baby as a
‘highly useful educational resourse.
Pm with Mrs. Common Sense
herself, Ann Landers, who blasted:
the doll for glamorizing pregnan-
y. The doll, Ann pointed out,
‘looks like a beauty queen and,
after the baby pops out, magically
: gets back her super slim figure.

Catherine
Atyeo

JUST ADD WATER

If I were a six-year-old girl and
were given My Bundle Baby, I’d

” probably end up thinking

pregnancy was just one really neat
gee whiz thing.

Can’t you just hear the conver-
sation between an excited six-
year-old and her mother?

Daughter: *‘Gee, Mommy, did I
come in a pouch just like My
Bundle Baby?’’

octors’ reaction:

was not ‘hysterical’

Dear Editor:

David: Muir's letter to the edi-
tor, “Hysterical doctors’ reaction
anneyini,”” clearly demonstrates

“the politics of envy that NOP
strategists hoped to capitalize on
in their dispute with B.C. doctors.

But that strategy is failing,
because mainstream British Col-
umbians believe that doctors
deserve the same bargaining rights
as. other groups, private or public
ector. .

“Muir says that doctors cannot
expect. sympathy from the public
-because they’re - running an ex.
‘pensive. media. campaign” and
‘earn ‘*quadruple what most of us
‘can ever expect.””

“Because Mr. Muir either chose

ot to, or perhaps wasn’t quali-
fied to train in the medica! pro-

fession, he resents others who did.
=“ don’t imagine physicians are
looking for sympathy from the

ublic, but rather are reacting to a
government which, -behind closed

loors, removed their fundamental
‘bargaining rights.

Considering
short-sighted actions by Mike
Harcoust and his health minister,
it’s hard to call the doctor's reac-
tion hysterical.

if the B.C. Government
Employees Union, or another
union, was treated in this high-
tianded manner, it’s a sure bet
that B.C. would see just what
hysterics are all about. Of course,
the NDP would never treat one of
fis client groups in this manner.

The media reported that the
B.C. Medical Association
repeatedly asked the premier to
intervene in this dispute and has
twice requested third-party media-
tion. That's not hysterics. That’s a
reasonatle request aimed at end-
ing this dispute,

Mr. ?duir’s ‘statements depict
the old-schoo! doctrine of social-
istic thiuking that, incredibly, still
thrives among a small minority of
British Columbians.

Bob Biagioni, President
West Vancouver-Capilane
Social Credit Constituency -

\

lake dunce caps

‘Fr am itor onding to the recent
Ieiter. by Streb Collins, in which
he. recommended  that__ life-size
cement statues be placed in Lynn

anyon |.Park to commemorate
those who have died there. :

According to him, the statues

£ ould reflect . youthful vigor,
boldness and courage. I have a
rther suggestion. I think the
atues should all be wearing
dunce caps to indicate the stupidi-
ty they exhibited for jumping
from cliffs which are fenced and
well-marked with warning signs.
I think some. of the cement
‘statues could-.also: be clutching

cement beer cans to indicate which
of the victims had been drinking
at the time of their deaths.

._Mr. Collins feels that these
young men and women ail suc-
cumbed to the ‘‘deceitful lure’ of
the canyon. Canyons are not
deceitful. Those who died jurip-
ing knew of and were well warn-
ed about the risks they were tak-
ing.

No one deserves to die while
playing around on a hot summer
day. But spare us the cement
Statues, please.

Sharon Jackson
North Vancouver

the arbitrary,-

Mother: ‘‘Uh, well, not exactly
dear.”

Daughter. ‘‘Mommy, when I
have a baby, will I look just like
My Bundle Baby’s mommy?’’

Mother. ‘Well, um, you might
look a little more like | did,

The fact is, even with this doll
as a supposed learning aid, any
parent who wants to begin guiding
a child into the real world of
pregnancy will have to speak
honestly.

Pm no child psychologist, but it
seems to me ‘‘You grew inside
Mommy’s belly in a special sac’”’
as opposed to ‘You were in a lit-
tle pouch I strapped on for nine
months’’ might be a start.

If a company really wanted to
help parents with facts-of-life
phobia, a product development
team should create a realistic
pregnancy doll.

T have no problem at all pictur-
ing a pregnancy doll with her two
swollen ankles firmly planted in
reality.

For starters, our realistic doll,
call her Blimpy and Beautiful,
would not be some minuscule,
chopstick-sized i icon a child could
fit in a pencil case.

The doll would be three feet
high and definitely hefty for easy
hugging (anyone who has been
pregnant knows you need a lot of

of course I want the B
° ahead. Im all for

concert to

hugs to get through nine months

on a hormonal! roller coaster.)
Clearly, the Blimpy and

Beautiful doll would not look at

all like Barbie with a strategically

placed pouch.

COTISSUNC Ry ET TEE

66 If I were a six-year-old
girl and were given My
Bundle Baby, I'd probably
end up thinking pregnancy
was just one really neat gee
whiz thing. 99

Our realistic doll would have

dead straight shoulder-length hair

(the thought of sitting through a

perm is just too exhausting) and

would have a sort of comfortable,
{l-over chubbiness.

And get rid of that perky ex-
pression on the face of My Bundle
Baby. Our doll would have the
weary but courageous look of
someone who had to get up five
times in the night to pee.

The Blimpy and Beautiful doll
would not sport the high-fashion
maternity wear seldom seen on
those in lumbering mode; for
maximum comfort she would
sport stretchy tights, a huge T- |

FARES

wildlife in fie park

Dear Editor:

I quote from a PBS program:
“The ancient forests of the Pacific
Northwest have survived ice ages,

earthquakes, and volcanic blasts,.

but there are those who say they
will not survive the 1990s.’”

Well, certainly with no help
from West Vancouver Parks
Dept., who apparently are so im-

shirt and worn-out jogging shoes
{though she can’t remember when
she last jogged or even moved
quickly).

To further assist parents who
are at a loss for words when it
comes to discussing pregnancy,
our realistic doli would speak
truthful phrases about the
pregnancy experience.

The child would simply pull a
chord in.the doll’s back and out
would come utterances like:

“‘Who woofed down all the ice
cream? I’m dying for some ice
cream!”’

“T can’t believe it’s only been
six months. It seems like six
years.””

“‘Mext time, we are definitely
using a different brand of con-
dom.”’

“So who’s going to get fixed,
you or me?’’

**Does somebody want to get
their poor, gigantic mother a glass
of milk and the cookie tin?’’

“Don’t panic, but something’s
happening.”

Finally, since a strap-on pouch
is unrealistic, and a simulation of
a trip down the birth canal might
be a tad too realistic for child and
parent, no infant would be be

. hidden in Bimpy and Beautiful. .

Instead, a follow-up, life-size _
baby would be offered called |
Whew! She Made It!

ryan hin,

Don't let trees be obliterated.

pressed with Mr. Wayne Booth’s
money flashing in the snowlight
that they actually are considering
allowing ancient trees
obliterated on Hollyburn Peak so
that we can intead have ski lifts
and ski runs.

While the world is trying to
preserve these ancient giants, and
all talk is of conservation, can it
be that West Vancouver people

to be.

are unaware of what is going on

‘around them? That we are in.

danger of losing our last and most
favorite peak?

Let’s all rally round to save ‘this
one. Enough that we are faced
with a further subdivision above
the Upper Levels Highway.

Sara Reid
West Vancouver