Melanie Berliet

Host

Barbie & Body Dysmorphia

Mar 26, 2014·46 visitors

Kayt Sukel

Cohost

Stage· 263 messages

Mar 26, 2014

Barbie, the classic doll famous for its "proportions," is often blamed for females' body image issues. But are young girls who internalize their toys' outrageously tiny waists and large breasts really more susceptible to body dysmorphia, or are adults and the media alike fixated on a convenient target? When it comes to promoting a healthy body image, who's responsible? And how can we all do a better job?

Melanie Berliet · 4:59 PM

Hello hello!

Kayt Sukel · 5:00 PM

Hello, hello!

Kayt Sukel · 5:00 PM

Hello, hello!

Kayt Sukel · 5:00 PM

Mel and I are excited to be talking about Barbie and body dysmorphia.

Melanie Berliet · 5:00 PM

Very much so!

Kayt Sukel · 5:00 PM

Now that I've gained a step-daughter, I find that I think about this stuff SO MUCH MORE THAN I SHOULD.

Melanie Berliet · 5:00 PM

I was going to start by asking you about that!

Melanie Berliet · 5:01 PM

Does your step daughter play with dolls?

Kayt Sukel · 5:01 PM

She does. She is a huge American Girl doll fan. But she also plays with Barbies and Monster High dolls.

Melanie Berliet · 5:01 PM

And Equestria girl dolls?

Kayt Sukel · 5:01 PM

I affectionately refer to the Monster High dolls as the supernatural sluts.

Kayt Sukel · 5:01 PM

Because I'm not judge-y at all.

Melanie Berliet · 5:01 PM

They're all unrealistic looking, that's for sure (Barbie tends to get the brunt of it, though)

Melanie Berliet · 5:02 PM

hahaha

Kayt Sukel · 5:02 PM

I don't even know the Equestria dolls! I'm afraid to look!

Melanie Berliet · 5:02 PM

Monster High dolls have the most ridiculously large cat eyes

Kayt Sukel · 5:02 PM

But I've noticed, both with Barbie, and these other brands of dolls: it's not just the dolls proportions.

Kayt Sukel · 5:02 PM

It's the way that the dolls are dressed.

Melanie Berliet · 5:02 PM

Right.

Melanie Berliet · 5:02 PM

And their makeup

Kayt Sukel · 5:02 PM

Don't get me started on the make-up!

Melanie Berliet · 5:02 PM

It's all over the top

Kayt Sukel · 5:02 PM

I mean, a 7-year-old, in my opinion, should not be able to debate the merits of a smoky eye.

Melanie Berliet · 5:02 PM

Do you think girls would enjoy dolls that look realistic less?

Kayt Sukel · 5:03 PM

But I may just be showing my own bias since I am incapable of such eye make-up feats.

Kayt Sukel · 5:03 PM

I don't. I see the American Girl dolls--and while they are outrageously expensive, girls really like the idea of having dolls that look like them.

Melanie Berliet · 5:03 PM

There's a campaign to crowdsource funding for a "normal Barbie" doll http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/normal-barbie-doll-with-average-female-body-is-coming-to-life/284212/

Kayt Sukel · 5:03 PM

Yes! Lamily: http://time.com/12786/the-new-barbie-meet-the-doll-with-an-average-womans-proportions/

Kayt Sukel · 5:03 PM

Does Lamily look less fun to you?

Melanie Berliet · 5:04 PM

Hmm. You know, that's a harder question to answer than I thought it would be. My knee jerk reaction was to say "of course not." But.....

Kayt Sukel · 5:04 PM

The problem with the prototype is that it doesn't have the "flash" of regular Barbie.

Kayt Sukel · 5:05 PM

There's no corvette, or meringue wedding dress,

Melanie Berliet · 5:05 PM

for whatever reason, she does look like more of a maternal figure than someone I think I'd want to pretend was my friend (or a grownup version of me, hypothetically)

Kayt Sukel · 5:05 PM

or even a Lamily-esque Ken to make the day fun.

Melanie Berliet · 5:05 PM

Did you play with Barbies as a kid?

Melanie Berliet · 5:05 PM

(I did not so much)

Kayt Sukel · 5:05 PM

But this is a normal body. What is it about a normal body that makes it seem "less than"?

Kayt Sukel · 5:05 PM

I did play with Barbies.

Melanie Berliet · 5:06 PM

Did you use them to explore your sexuality?

Kayt Sukel · 5:06 PM

Lots of pretend play. But I also, admittedly, liked the clothes.

Kayt Sukel · 5:06 PM

And yep, Barbie used to get it on quite a bit with Ken. And other Barbies, too, come to think of it.

Kayt Sukel · 5:06 PM

I used to like to re-create Dallas plot lines.

Kayt Sukel · 5:07 PM

But I think Lamily could be used in a similar ways. She has kind of a Su-ellen look to her.

Melanie Berliet · 5:07 PM

I never thought about having my dolls (I did have an American Girl doll) act out sex stuff. So it struck me as interesting that a lot of others were doing so: http://nymag.com/thecut/2014/02/addicted-to-likes-social-media-makes-us-needier.html

Kayt Sukel · 5:07 PM

I don't know that kind of acting out is specific to Barbie though. It would be easy to make the claim since she's built like a porn star. Yet...

Kayt Sukel · 5:08 PM

I think, in a world where girls are supposed to dampen down their sexuality, you use what tools you got to explore.

Melanie Berliet · 5:08 PM

I pasted the wrong nymag link before. whoops! here is the right one: http://nymag.com/thecut/2014/02/my-barbies-had-so-much-sex-it-was-great.html

Melanie Berliet · 5:08 PM

I remember stuffing my bra and dry humping a large stuffed bear

Melanie Berliet · 5:08 PM

So there was that

Kayt Sukel · 5:08 PM

I've even heard of kids acting out with stuffed animals.

Melanie Berliet · 5:08 PM

Maybe I wanted to be more in on the action

Kayt Sukel · 5:08 PM

JINX!

Melanie Berliet · 5:08 PM

Oh wow!

Melanie Berliet · 5:08 PM

And my "bra" I mean "junior training bra"

Melanie Berliet · 5:09 PM

Or the bra borrowed from mom

Kayt Sukel · 5:09 PM

I think kids often use toys and tools to make sense of the world.

Kayt Sukel · 5:09 PM

So using dolls or bears or whatever happens to be around to understand more about sex makes sense to me.

Melanie Berliet · 5:09 PM

But do you think kids are internalizing unrealistic body images by playing with dolls? Or are grownups too paranoid?

Kayt Sukel · 5:09 PM

That's an interesting question.

Kayt Sukel · 5:10 PM

First, I ask, why pick on Barbie? I mean, she's hardly the stand alone here.

Kayt Sukel · 5:10 PM

What about the girls on children's television shows?

Melanie Berliet · 5:10 PM

very good point

Kayt Sukel · 5:10 PM

What about fashion magazines? Movie stars?

Melanie Berliet · 5:10 PM

Right.

Kayt Sukel · 5:10 PM

I think girls are getting messages from all over that there are "good" bodies and "bad" bodies.

Kayt Sukel · 5:10 PM

Even, alas, from their own parents.

Melanie Berliet · 5:10 PM

well remember when Barbie was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated? The swimsuit edition, I believe....

Kayt Sukel · 5:10 PM

Yes!

Melanie Berliet · 5:11 PM

Which is more harmful: unrealistic dolls, or magazines that feature unrealistic images of real people?

Kayt Sukel · 5:11 PM

It made me wonder if it offended Kate Upton/Pamela Anderson.

Kayt Sukel · 5:11 PM

The idea that their bodies could be replaced with a toy.

Melanie Berliet · 5:11 PM

I actually thought it was pretty funny.

Melanie Berliet · 5:11 PM

I didn't find it offensive. I was surprised, in fact, to read that some people thought the message behind that move was "you are all dolls."

Melanie Berliet · 5:12 PM

(I like that you're standing up for those real life beauties. hehe)

Kayt Sukel · 5:12 PM

Here's the thing: there's women being a little insecure about their bodies and then there is a clinical diagnosis of body dysmorphia.

Kayt Sukel · 5:12 PM

Often, people with anorexia have BDD.

Melanie Berliet · 5:12 PM

and bulimia, presumably

Kayt Sukel · 5:12 PM

And there's been a good bit of work to suggest that BDD comes from the brain working a little differently.

Kayt Sukel · 5:13 PM

That, for some reason, the BDD brain processes visual information differently. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100201171525.htm

Melanie Berliet · 5:13 PM

Is the brain impacted early on by these dolls? It must be hard to get to the root of BDD.

Kayt Sukel · 5:13 PM

It's a good question. But nearly impossible to answer.

Kayt Sukel · 5:13 PM

It's probably a mix of the two.

Kayt Sukel · 5:14 PM

A biological predisposition that then gets reinforced by all the beauty stereotypes.

Melanie Berliet · 5:14 PM

Which are rampant throughout our lives

Kayt Sukel · 5:14 PM

Indeed.

Melanie Berliet · 5:14 PM

there's no hiding from them, that's the thing!

Kayt Sukel · 5:14 PM

In fact, I was just reading that bulimia is becoming more and more common in middle age.

Melanie Berliet · 5:14 PM

That makes me sad

Melanie Berliet · 5:15 PM

It is also more common in men than most people think.

Kayt Sukel · 5:15 PM

It's not just for teenagers anymore. And middle-aged women are saying they want to look like Gwyneth Paltrow or Madonna or whomever that is still rocking a tiny, toned body after 40.

Kayt Sukel · 5:15 PM

Yes--muscle dysmorphia is gaining a lot of traction in the research world.

Melanie Berliet · 5:15 PM

Right, without the luxury of a personal trainer and the time to workout for hours a day

Kayt Sukel · 5:15 PM

Unlike women, who seem to see their bodies as too big, many men see their bodies as too small.

Kayt Sukel · 5:15 PM

They have problems and hit the gym in order to bulk up.

Melanie Berliet · 5:15 PM

the whole beauty industry is founded on aspirations.

Kayt Sukel · 5:16 PM

It raises the question: what should our aspirations be?

Kayt Sukel · 5:16 PM

I'm not good at figuring those out for myself...but I hope, for my daughter, that it's about being healthy.

Kayt Sukel · 5:16 PM

Having a body that is strong and capable.

Melanie Berliet · 5:16 PM

do you think kids are capable of understanding the difference between the doll version of a human body and the actual reality? Is that something you've discussed with your daughter?

Kayt Sukel · 5:16 PM

Something that helps her reach her goals.

Kayt Sukel · 5:17 PM

I have not. I know she understands dolls aren't real.

Melanie Berliet · 5:17 PM

Something healthy!

Kayt Sukel · 5:17 PM

But as an interesting aside, she has two cousins who are European models.

Melanie Berliet · 5:17 PM

oh wow

Melanie Berliet · 5:17 PM

does she think of that as a cool thing?

Kayt Sukel · 5:17 PM

Both are about 6 feet tall, both are blonde and gorgeous and very European model-y.

Kayt Sukel · 5:17 PM

She does think it's cool.

Melanie Berliet · 5:18 PM

it's a glamorized lifestyle, that's for sure

Kayt Sukel · 5:18 PM

But at Christmas time, she told their Mom that she had heard that you had to be beautiful and skinny to be a model.

Kayt Sukel · 5:18 PM

And their Mom shut her down.

Melanie Berliet · 5:18 PM

what did she say?

Kayt Sukel · 5:18 PM

She told my daughter that her cousins eat healthy, stay active and live full lives.

Kayt Sukel · 5:18 PM

And I loved that!

Melanie Berliet · 5:18 PM

well that's good!

Kayt Sukel · 5:18 PM

And I tried to add to the conversation that part of what makes her cousins so beautiful is just as much about their experience and their attitudes.

Melanie Berliet · 5:19 PM

right. confidence is indeed beautiful!

Kayt Sukel · 5:19 PM

They are both smart, curious, amazing girls.

Kayt Sukel · 5:19 PM

I would like her to see more than just "skinny, beautiful."

Melanie Berliet · 5:19 PM

I have to address something a Mattel rep said about the whole Barbie/Sports Illustrated thing

Kayt Sukel · 5:19 PM

But it's tough when that is the consistent messaging.

Melanie Berliet · 5:19 PM

“Today, truly anything is possible for a girl,” wrote a Mattel marketing rep assuming the voice of the classic plastic beauty. “Let us place no limitations on her dreams, and that includes being girly if she likes.”

Kayt Sukel · 5:19 PM

I remember reading that and snickering a little.

Kayt Sukel · 5:20 PM

What does being girly mean?

Melanie Berliet · 5:20 PM

While I wasn't really offended by Barbie on the mag's cover, that comment definitely offended me.

Kayt Sukel · 5:20 PM

Wearing nice clothes? High heels?

Melanie Berliet · 5:20 PM

EXACTLY

Melanie Berliet · 5:20 PM

therein lies the problem

Kayt Sukel · 5:20 PM

Or getting a boob job?

Kayt Sukel · 5:20 PM

I remember your piece on plastic surgery.

Kayt Sukel · 5:20 PM

And some of the things those docs said to you.

Melanie Berliet · 5:20 PM

Oh yes!

Melanie Berliet · 5:21 PM

The plastic surgery story in question: http://www.vanityfair.com/style/features/2009/02/plastic-surgery200902

Kayt Sukel · 5:21 PM

That's one thing I totally am a hard ass about with my kids. There is no "girl" or "boy" stuff.

Kayt Sukel · 5:21 PM

There is just stuff you like.

Melanie Berliet · 5:21 PM

I am a relatively body confident gal. Have always been tall and thin, but those doctors tore me to bits and it HURT

Kayt Sukel · 5:21 PM

I am also a relatively body confident gal. But I'm the opposite. Short and curvy. And I hurt for you when I read that.

Melanie Berliet · 5:21 PM

yeah. I resent the girl/boy divide. and it's everywhere!

Kayt Sukel · 5:22 PM

I also imagined what they might say to me if I walked into that office.

Melanie Berliet · 5:22 PM

more and more of my friends are having kids these days and i can't get a blue ribbon on a gift for a girl.

Melanie Berliet · 5:22 PM

I think there is sadly a subset of women who want the doctor who tears their body to pieces.

Kayt Sukel · 5:22 PM

I'm not sure how/when it happens. I joke that I blame the public schools for Justin Bieber and the gender divide.

Melanie Berliet · 5:22 PM

hahaha

Kayt Sukel · 5:23 PM

But my kids are adamant that there is girl stuff/boy stuff.

Kayt Sukel · 5:23 PM

So I have to remind my daughter that she likes basketball. And my son that he's played with a Tinkerbell before.

Melanie Berliet · 5:23 PM

good for you!

Melanie Berliet · 5:23 PM

my little brother wore lots of barrettes as a kid

Melanie Berliet · 5:23 PM

as the brother of two older sisters

Melanie Berliet · 5:24 PM

Indeed, Trey!

Kayt Sukel · 5:24 PM

★ Spotlighted from Trey Williamson

“Have ya'll seen the Normal Barbie? http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/normal-barbie-doll-with-average-female-body-is-coming-to-life/284212/”

Melanie Berliet · 5:24 PM

I think it's definitely a solid idea/concept. But I do wonder whether kids will want to play with it in place of the other options.

Kayt Sukel · 5:25 PM

It would be interesting to test it.

Melanie Berliet · 5:25 PM

Definitely!

Kayt Sukel · 5:25 PM

Put Lamily, Barbie, Supernatural Slut and other dolls in a rool.

Kayt Sukel · 5:25 PM

room, rather.

Kayt Sukel · 5:25 PM

See which one gets the most play.

Kayt Sukel · 5:25 PM

The other interesting question about bodies, for me, is how much girls look to their Moms for ideas about bodies and beauty.

Kayt Sukel · 5:26 PM

And what happens when the women in their life don't take the same approach.

Melanie Berliet · 5:26 PM

I think that's a very good point. I definitely internalized a lot of my mom's approach to beauty.

Kayt Sukel · 5:26 PM

Say, a Mom and a step-Mom, or a Mom and a sister, etc.

Kayt Sukel · 5:26 PM

My Mom is definitely a low maintenance kind of woman. But she definitely let everyone know if she felt like she had put on a pound or two.

Melanie Berliet · 5:26 PM

Although I will say that I didn't realize it until I was an adult

Kayt Sukel · 5:27 PM

That's an interesting question, Sasha.

Kayt Sukel · 5:27 PM

★ Spotlighted from Sasha A. Tcherevkoff

“What type of corporate governance should be in place for the major toy retailers to address these issues? Do we think that placing regulators inside the companies (much like wall street and the SEC does)?”

Kayt Sukel · 5:27 PM

I don't know that the toy companies should have any governance.

Melanie Berliet · 5:27 PM

Yeah, that's dangerous territory. Then will clothing companies be governed too?

Kayt Sukel · 5:28 PM

But I'd be curious what toy companies are doing in order to learn more about what gets girls to pick up their toys.

Kayt Sukel · 5:28 PM

I think a lot of it has more to do with glamour than body type.

Kayt Sukel · 5:28 PM

Although, the women that most girls see as glamourous do tend to have a certain type of body.

Kayt Sukel · 5:29 PM

Glamour is all about mystery, aspiration.

Melanie Berliet · 5:29 PM

Btw, on the note of the gender divide problem. Remember the whole GoldieBlox viral video

Melanie Berliet · 5:29 PM

There was an outcry that those toys, while more gender neutral, were still pink.

Kayt Sukel · 5:29 PM

Sasha, agreed. I'd love it if they'd share it!

Kayt Sukel · 5:29 PM

★ Spotlighted from Sasha A. Tcherevkoff

“I would assume they have very sophisticated data that drives their toy making decisions....this is a 50 billion dollar industry”

Kayt Sukel · 5:29 PM

So, I got my daughter the GoldieBlox for Christmas.

Melanie Berliet · 5:29 PM

Did she like it?

Kayt Sukel · 5:29 PM

She takes the little pieces and plays pretend with them.

Kayt Sukel · 5:30 PM

She does not try to do the "engineering."

Melanie Berliet · 5:30 PM

That's awesome.

Kayt Sukel · 5:30 PM

And even though I'm a math/science junkie, when I tried to do it, I wasn't all that into it.

Melanie Berliet · 5:30 PM

interesting

Kayt Sukel · 5:30 PM

The LEGO pink stuff is what really irks me.

Kayt Sukel · 5:30 PM

I played with LEGO much, much more than dolls when I was little.

Melanie Berliet · 5:30 PM

There is a very cool company called Little Bits making electronic legos

Kayt Sukel · 5:30 PM

And back then, there were no pink LEGOs. You basically had the primary colors.

Melanie Berliet · 5:30 PM

http://littlebits.cc/?gclid=CMuJpaLdsL0CFcx9OgodfHAA9w

Kayt Sukel · 5:31 PM

You didn't have as many kits either. You built with your imagination.

Kayt Sukel · 5:31 PM

I feel like LEGO friends kind of defeats the purpose of LEGOs. You build this little (and often way to easy) pet shop or jet ski, and then that's it.

Melanie Berliet · 5:32 PM

I used to love LEGOs

Melanie Berliet · 5:32 PM

and lincoln logs. and teenage mutant ninja turtle

Kayt Sukel · 5:32 PM

But girls today really see LEGO as a boys' toy.

Kayt Sukel · 5:32 PM

HA! You could play TMNT with my son all day long. He'd love it.

Melanie Berliet · 5:32 PM

but I distinctly remember my mom (who's a progressive lady) saying "I wish you were born a boy for your own sake" because I always wanted "boy" toys

Kayt Sukel · 5:33 PM

I'm showing my age but I loved Thundercats and LEGO.

Melanie Berliet · 5:33 PM

Ghost Busters too, I forgot to mention

Kayt Sukel · 5:33 PM

I wish we could drop the "boy" and "girl" designations and just get stuff that kids love to play with.

Melanie Berliet · 5:33 PM

Yeah, that would be nice. In whatever color they please!

Kayt Sukel · 5:34 PM

That's the thing: I feel like, as someone who just became Mom to a girl--I watch the Disney shows, see the branded books, see the toy ads.

Kayt Sukel · 5:34 PM

And it feels like girls are constantly being told how they should be a girl.

Melanie Berliet · 5:34 PM

★ Spotlighted from brittany mangold

“Hasbro has made some small steps with the black and silver Easy-Bake oven... after a teen petitoned for some change.”

Kayt Sukel · 5:34 PM

Pink! Make-up! Skirts!

Kayt Sukel · 5:34 PM

And it's not that it's inherently bad. I'm not against pink per se.

Melanie Berliet · 5:34 PM

do you think your boy is equally confronted with "boy" stereotypes?

Kayt Sukel · 5:34 PM

But why can't girls have the option to climb trees and wear skirts?

Kayt Sukel · 5:35 PM

There are definitely "boy" stereotypes. But I don't know that they are as strong.

Melanie Berliet · 5:35 PM

They do! (And then they're branded a "tomboy"). Womp womp.

Kayt Sukel · 5:35 PM

I don't know if it's the golden age of the metrosexual coming into play here, but it seems less insidious to me.

Melanie Berliet · 5:35 PM

How does your husband feel about all of this?

Kayt Sukel · 5:36 PM

He agrees with me on the "boy/girl" designations.

Kayt Sukel · 5:36 PM

And he definitely wishes more of the shows and stuff targeted to girls focused more on substance than style.

Melanie Berliet · 5:36 PM

Do you think having a daughter makes men more sensitive to the pressure placed on women to be beautiful/sexy/hot/etc/

Kayt Sukel · 5:37 PM

I've never asked him that question. I have a feeling it will hit him during the teen years.

Kayt Sukel · 5:37 PM

I feel more sensitive to it.

Kayt Sukel · 5:37 PM

And I do feel like it's changed.

Melanie Berliet · 5:37 PM

I will say I resent it when men get all "protective" and start saying their daughter will never date, not have sex, etc....

Kayt Sukel · 5:37 PM

I remember thinking that Denise Huxtable was the pinnacle of style on the Cosby Show when I was a little girl.

Kayt Sukel · 5:38 PM

But that show also had Rudy and Vanessa and Claire--and they dressed up and they dressed down.

Kayt Sukel · 5:38 PM

I feel like no girl dresses down these days.

Melanie Berliet · 5:38 PM

Except maybe Lena Dunham

Kayt Sukel · 5:38 PM

I also resent that.

Kayt Sukel · 5:38 PM

Because it's just the other end of the same shitty stick.

Melanie Berliet · 5:38 PM

Remember that awesome dude who wrote that letter about how he hopes his girl will grow up to enjoy sex? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ferrett-steinmetz/dear-daughter-i-hope-you-have-awesome-sex_b_3755185.html

Kayt Sukel · 5:38 PM

Girls are objects.

Kayt Sukel · 5:38 PM

YES!

Melanie Berliet · 5:38 PM

I really appreciated that man's perspective

Kayt Sukel · 5:39 PM

I appreciated it. But I also sighed a little. Because he was still "giving permission."

Melanie Berliet · 5:39 PM

a solid point

Kayt Sukel · 5:39 PM

If he wrote that same letter to both his sons and daughters, I would have been a bit happier.

Melanie Berliet · 5:40 PM

I've definitely never heard of any parent worrying that their son will be too sexual.

Kayt Sukel · 5:40 PM

Again, I'm new to this whole girl parenting thing...

Kayt Sukel · 5:40 PM

and I say "girl" parenting like it is supposed to be different than raising a son.

Kayt Sukel · 5:40 PM

And I don't think it is, at the core.

Melanie Berliet · 5:40 PM

right

Kayt Sukel · 5:40 PM

But I will say that the things that the world throws at you, as a parent, are different.

Melanie Berliet · 5:40 PM

it shouldn't be (though I am admittedly not a parent)

Melanie Berliet · 5:41 PM

Core values defy sex!

Kayt Sukel · 5:41 PM

Exactly!

Kayt Sukel · 5:41 PM

But I don't see my son's favorite shows suggesting that he needs a mini-skirt. Or to drop a few pounds. Or to "beat the boys at any cose."

Kayt Sukel · 5:41 PM

"cost."

Melanie Berliet · 5:42 PM

right. did you hear about this documentary? Missrepresentation: http://film.missrepresentation.org/

Kayt Sukel · 5:42 PM

Yes! I want to see it.

Melanie Berliet · 5:42 PM

I haven't yet seen it either.

Kayt Sukel · 5:42 PM

Unfortunately, unless it is animated, I probably won't before it hits the DVD shelves.

Kayt Sukel · 5:43 PM

Here's a question: why do you think the world is so keen on pushing ideals on girls?

Kayt Sukel · 5:43 PM

From childhood to old age?

Kayt Sukel · 5:43 PM

We are suppose to be thin, to be pretty, to defy aging gracefully.

Kayt Sukel · 5:43 PM

Is it just to keep us in line?

Kayt Sukel · 5:43 PM

(And that may be the question we end on...)

Melanie Berliet · 5:44 PM

I'm nots ure. I definitely am vulnerable to the aging fears at this stage. They're creeping in, even though I believe wholeheartedly in aging gracefully.

Kayt Sukel · 5:44 PM

The MILF phenomenon!

Melanie Berliet · 5:44 PM

Oh right!

Melanie Berliet · 5:45 PM

And the post pregnancy bounce back craze!

Melanie Berliet · 5:45 PM

all unawesome

Kayt Sukel · 5:45 PM

I need to cook, clean, be feminine, work 9 to 5 and some powerful job and STILL be waiting at home, at 6, with a martini clenched between my butt cheeks.

Melanie Berliet · 5:45 PM

haha.

Melanie Berliet · 5:45 PM

Now THAT is an image to end on

Kayt Sukel · 5:45 PM

Thanks, Melanie! As always, a pleasure!

Kayt Sukel · 5:46 PM

We'll be back in two weeks...and we've been brainstorming some good ideas.

Melanie Berliet · 5:46 PM

Thank YOU, Kayt. And thank you all so much for tuning in.

Kayt Sukel · 5:46 PM

But if you have some ideas you'd like Mel and I to discuss. Feel free to email me at info@kaytsukel.com!

Kayt Sukel · 5:46 PM

Thanks, y'all!

Melanie Berliet · 5:46 PM

or myself: melanie.berliet@gmail.com

Melanie Berliet · 5:46 PM

Au revoir!

Kayt Sukel · 5:46 PM

Bis dann!

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Tawkers AdminFeb 23, 2014, 4:30 PM

Welcome to the comment section of the Tawk, where audience members can share their thoughts about the main conversation happening on the left. Don't by shy! Entering questions and comments is the only way to get the attention of the two Hosts on stage!

Blake IanMar 26, 2014, 11:29 AM

Good timing, Gloria Steinem just turned 80 - http://www.upworthy.com/feminist-history-lesson-who-gloria-steinem-is-and-why-shes-an-awesome-role-model?c=ufb1

Trey WilliamsonMar 26, 2014, 5:10 PM★ Spotlighted

Have ya'll seen the Normal Barbie? http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/normal-barbie-doll-with-average-female-body-is-coming-to-life/284212/

Sasha A. TcherevkoffMar 26, 2014, 5:27 PM★ Spotlighted

What type of corporate governance should be in place for the major toy retailers to address these issues? Do we think that placing regulators inside the companies (much like wall street and the SEC does)?

Sasha A. TcherevkoffMar 26, 2014, 5:29 PM★ Spotlighted

I would assume they have very sophisticated data that drives their toy making decisions....this is a 50 billion dollar industry

brittany mangoldMar 26, 2014, 5:33 PM★ Spotlighted

Hasbro has made some small steps with the black and silver Easy-Bake oven... after a teen petitoned for some change.

amir abu araMar 30, 2014, 3:31 PM

how are you

amir abu araMar 30, 2014, 3:31 PM