Barbie Torture

No, this is not Klaus Barbie:

Barbie, that plastic icon of girlhood fantasy play, is routinely tortured by children, research has found.

The methods of mutilation are varied and creative, ranging from
scalping to decapitation, burning, breaking and even microwaving,
according to academics from the University of Bath.

The
findings were revealed as part of an in-depth look by psychologists and
management academics into the role of brands among 7 to 11-year-old
schoolchildren.

The researchers had not intended to focus on Barbie, but they
were taken aback by the rejection, hatred and violence she provoked
when they asked the children about their feelings for the doll.

Violence and torture against Barbie were repeatedly reported
across age, school and gender. No other toy or brand name provoked such
a negative response…

She and her colleagues Christine Griffin and
Patricia Gaya Wicks concluded that, while adults may find a child’s
delight in breaking, mutilating and torturing their dolls to be
disturbing, from the child’s point of view they were simply being
imaginative in disposing of an excessive commodity, in the same way as
one might crush cans for recycling.

Here is the story.