Barbie and happiness
Jan. 9th, 2004 11:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miriam_eTwo interesting things:
Today my sister Sue bought a Barbie book for her youngest daughter (Sophie is Barbie-crazy). I chuckled derisively and started reading it aloud in the car on the way home and I have to say I was astonished. Not only is it extremely well written, but it is full of empowering ideas. This was a great suprise to me as I tend to think of Barbie as little more than shallow exploitation. Here was a book aimed at very young children, but which didn't shy away from large, multisyllabic words, had Barbie carrying a torch in her purse, unfazed by the building being thrown into darkness, and able to find a fuse box to fix it. She chatted with royalty as if they were old friends on the opening of a new hospital for children. The story even ventured into morality and the causes of antisocial behavior -- a guy stole some jewels so that he might be able to afford to get medical treatment for his son. I was gobsmacked! When I was a kid we had books about Jack fetching water from a well and a cat that sits on a mat.
The other interesting thing I wanted to note here is that there seems to be some tentative evidence that happiness grows brain cells. Looks like the puritans and fundamentalists got it even more wrong than is generally thought. Self deprivation is not only not a good thing, it would appear to be positively retarding. (To be completely honest here, the research I'm basing this upon notes that there is a link between depression and a lack in production of new brain cells. It actually couples absence of depression with proliferation of new brain cells. I'm extending this a little bit further in a way that seems fairly obvious to me, though there is the remote chance that I'm not completely warranted in that.)
Heheheh :D
While I'm writing this one of the big green tree frogs is walking up the outside of the window stalking moths. This is sooooo cool. I love this place!
Today my sister Sue bought a Barbie book for her youngest daughter (Sophie is Barbie-crazy). I chuckled derisively and started reading it aloud in the car on the way home and I have to say I was astonished. Not only is it extremely well written, but it is full of empowering ideas. This was a great suprise to me as I tend to think of Barbie as little more than shallow exploitation. Here was a book aimed at very young children, but which didn't shy away from large, multisyllabic words, had Barbie carrying a torch in her purse, unfazed by the building being thrown into darkness, and able to find a fuse box to fix it. She chatted with royalty as if they were old friends on the opening of a new hospital for children. The story even ventured into morality and the causes of antisocial behavior -- a guy stole some jewels so that he might be able to afford to get medical treatment for his son. I was gobsmacked! When I was a kid we had books about Jack fetching water from a well and a cat that sits on a mat.
The other interesting thing I wanted to note here is that there seems to be some tentative evidence that happiness grows brain cells. Looks like the puritans and fundamentalists got it even more wrong than is generally thought. Self deprivation is not only not a good thing, it would appear to be positively retarding. (To be completely honest here, the research I'm basing this upon notes that there is a link between depression and a lack in production of new brain cells. It actually couples absence of depression with proliferation of new brain cells. I'm extending this a little bit further in a way that seems fairly obvious to me, though there is the remote chance that I'm not completely warranted in that.)
Heheheh :D
While I'm writing this one of the big green tree frogs is walking up the outside of the window stalking moths. This is sooooo cool. I love this place!