Girl = Princess?

Recently, I bought two Barbie dolls as a gift to two girls, aged 5 and 9 respectively. Both girls like the dolls, if not crazy about them. I believe the feeling of wanting a Barbie doll by all girls stemmed from all the Barbie movies that we watched as well as the endless bombarding of advertisement around us to be like a princess or Barbie, with perfect face, hair, and clothes.

In this modern world, are we relating being feminine to acting like a princess and owning a Barbie-like appearance? Is Barbie just a phase of our favourite toy which will pass when we grow older? Will we be so obsessed to be like Barbie, that we always try to accessorize ourselves and improve our appearance so as to be more like Barbie? Are there any other girls' toys that is not related to Barbie or princess that is more mind and character building that will accompany us in the rest of our life's journey?

What happen to real feminism? What happen to needlework? What happen to being ladylike? Why nowadays our girls are not being taught needlework from young age? Cross-stitch, knitting, crochet, embroidery, tatting, etc. seem so outdated nowadays compared to Barbie and princesses. Well, can we not based these needlework lessons on Barbie and princesses?

Even lessons to be ladylike take a backseat, way behind our goals of getting good results during our school days, learning new skills that is supposedly beneficial to us and aiming for material things in our lives. What happen to girls who are taught to stand straight, walk straight, sit and talk properly and control ourselves with proper mannerism? Are these basic manners also considered outdated and not applicable in this modern world?

In this changing world, I really do not know how to teach and educate my baby girl to be a 'proper' person. Should I let Barbie and princesses rule her world or should I be more strict on basic mannerism? Should I refrain myself from introducing her to any Barbie dolls, like I did with my boys with guns, as they are not of much value and shallow? Hmm, I will need to plan and strategize on what to teach my baby girl for the next 6 years, before releasing her to the real world.

In the meantime, no Barbie present for my girl, please.... Thank you.