apparently

I didn't actually tear up at the Barbie article, but then body loathing a la Barbie isn't something that men worry so much about.

I think we only have about 5 or so Barbie type dolls, but then I force my daughter to pay for them herself, and it competes with gumballs and now canned soft-drink-style drinks, which I also force her to pay for.

I've given her 1 quarter per year of age per week for this stuff she likes so much, since she could count to ten or so (which was probably much older than when your kids could count to ten, since I don't really teach all that sort of thing when we could just be picking up car parts on a long walk).

My son probably could count to ten now, but he likes "8 9 10" so much that he just can't tolerate the lower numbers long enough to qualify. And actually, his sister will buy him candy when she's purchasing for herself. This generosity surprises me, and is totally un-prompted. I just asked her why, "Because I want to be a big, nice sister."

Another surprise is that he really likes playing with the Barbies now. It's almost as horrifying for a man to grow up thinking Barbie's are realistic as for a woman to grow up thinking that, but he's so cute with them, I can't summon up some correct and kind way to stop it. And why shouldn't Barbie get to operate the backhoe, anyways. (And the backhoe is tenderly driven around in a stroller at other times.)

My goal in feminism is that the full spectrum of human behaviors and characteristics are available to my kids when they need or choose them. That goal has some surprising repercussions.