When I’m feeling cynical, I’d say that Mattel has figured out another way to extract money from people…but honestly, this is also wonderfully nice. They’re making a Down Syndrome Barbie. Every kid deserves a little happiness and recognition of their existence.
Unfortunately, and predictably, right-wing a-holes are mocking the idea. Here’s Steven Crowder and his crew sniggering at the retards
over this toy.
Mattel launches Down syndrome Barbie. https://t.co/DMUOlo5mYq pic.twitter.com/KyOzIcGozH
— Steven Crowder (@scrowder) April 26, 2023
Crowder recently announced that he was getting divorced (he’s also pissed that no-fault divorce means his wife has the right to leave him). His reaction here might explain why his ex-wife got fed up with him.
Both points being my reaction exactly. 8-)
I’ve never heard of Stephen Crowder, and I’ve decided I’m not going to try to find out who he is. I think I have the idea.
But I like this doll, too. There’s something magic, after years and years of being invisible, in seeing something in the world that tells you you do exist after all, that other people have begun to recognize that fact.
Thus, inevitably, somebody somewhere has to mock the idea. If they themselves aren’t invisible, they suspect that they deserve to be, so they resent someone who has rightly escaped the invisibility they never deserved to have thrust upon them in the first place.
They want to be able to help abuse on people with downs syndrome just like heavier people, or others normally not represented. If others get representation that is harder and they lose someone to do social displays of superiority over. And they feel like they lose attention.
This is where it’s useful to remember that humor is about relieving negative feelings. They feel negative about a doll of a girl with downs syndrome. The first thing I heard was a joke responding to “breaking barriers” with “r*+ard strength”. Using a slur when feeling insecure…
I’d never heard of Steven Crowder either.
For good reasons. He is a generic right wingnut bigot and hater who never had an original thought in his life. Anti-gay, anti-trans, racist, misogynist, Covid-19 virus denier, climate change denier. He is actually not very bright.
That whole “woke” outrage is becoming tiresome honestly.
A company try something minor that is not awful for a change, the MAGA trolls start crying “woke” to try to generate outrage and say something insulting because that’s their job.
Then that reaction is used to incite more outrage on the left, for good reasons
I don’t see any end to that, it’s depressing.
I have a painful headache since this morning, and that’s not helping either
I’d call it boring.
Strangely enough, It is almost exclusively used by right wingnuts as an insult.
Most normal people don’t call themselves woke.
It is like the fable of the boy who called wolf too many times.
After a while people get bored and stop paying attention.
We are about there.
oh, god, for all of you who don’t know who Crowder is, be so pleased you don’t. he’s a really angry person who thinks he’s funny when he’s dishing out his anger in the form of bigotry against any minority group that last crossed his field of vision.
I’ve had some success in laughingly mocking the appearance of the pejorative use of wokeness and demanding the new appropriator to define it and explain why it’s a bad thing as of they were a child. It interferes with always being on the attack and they have to make their words have “value”.
Old enough to remember when the Right considered children w Downs – like Sarah Palin’s grandson – “god’s precious angels,” and said people were heroes for not aborting them.
So the Right has descended even further.
Yeah, I’ll take your word on that. I’ve read enough quotes from him to call up my inner strangler, I don’t need to hear his voice on top of that.
And yes, these people’s attempts at humor are…feeble. Always punching down, and totally predictable.
“And those minorities…they don’t even look like us. What’s up with that?”
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
Fuck.
Because they are hateful jerks who bully and dislike anyone that isn’t them or that they think can get away with bullying really.
Ah, but they’re quick to call to the bible.
In their version, Jesus said, “make the children suffer for me”.
If there isn’t a hell, we need to invent one just for these monsters.
Kudos to Matel for going where the biggest market share is likely to be (diversity), So far, they have avoided making a mockery of any group, but the risk is there. May good sense continue to prevail.
Just another overgrown child who never got past making fun of anyone and everyone who seemed “weird” or different.
Most little kids go through a phase where they find making fun of others makes them feel powerful. Unfortunately, some people apparently never grow past that phase. And thanks to present-day “social” media, they get to keep on getting rewarded for being obnoxious, instead of either changing their act or keeping to themselves.
Mattel got even more flack for giving us “Black Barbie,” “Moon Goddess Barbie,” and “Pregnant Cut-Away-View Barbie.”
@ ^ Raging Bee :If only the algorithims were designed to punish not reward such behaviour. Sigh.
@15 RB. That was.
O/T: Jerry Springer of The Jerry Springer Show fame has just died at the age of 79.
https://www.wlwt.com/article/jerry-springer-dead/43721918
Yeah, I’m right there with you. It is nice, though, when companies realize that inclusiveness is good for profit, as well as just being good.
Cue the right wing calling for a boycott because how dare a company use free speech to be inclusive?
Let’s see what Kid Rock tries (and fails) to shoot at this time. I’m guessing he’ll have a harder (though much more amusing) time trying to hit a doll than a case of lame-ass beer…
“downs syndrome” and “recognition of existence”.
Minor problem there though…HOW does one recognize downs syndrome patients without awkwardness?
A serious question, and let me explain. I was taught that calling attention to a handicap was rude, and I was taught that Down Syndrome is just that and they want to be treated like everyone else. No issues there! So whenever I meet someone with Downs Syndrome, I ignore it completely as it’s usually irrelevant.
Doing exactly that got me harassed once as “not recognizing their great accomplishments” during some school event when they were trying to give him special recognition (track & field I think it was) when I simply retorted something like “He’s not defined by his disease so who cares if he has it or not? You let him run because you say he’s equal to everyone else and I agree totally. He came in second, good for him. Ran a good race. What more does he need, a parade?”
This sort of thing happens all the time sadly, so I’m comfortable using myself as an example. In the case of the barbie I don’t care because I see the issue as self-defeating (calling special attention to a group who’s goals are not to be treated differently). I don’t see race and I don’t see disabilities unless it’s literally affecting what I’m doing (a blind person isn’t going to drive me to work anytime soon) so I ignore them or point them out…and both responses are bad. What’s the third option?
So there you go…am I supposed to give special praise for the downs, or am I supposed to treat them like everyone else? You can’t have it both ways…either they get special attention for their disability, or they do not. Pick one! How am I wrong here, really? Honestly would like to know as I’m trying to do the right thing and getting shit regardless.
What’s interesting about that Crowder tweet is that he’s even getting push back from conservatives who are for some reason surprised by this.
You aren’t a prominent mega-corporation making popular dolls for children.
So comparing yourself to Mattel is irrelevant.
It is an apples to oranges comparison.
I don’t believe you.
Apart from being an obnoxious, whiny, self-obsessed arsehole, you mean?
Better they waste what intellect they having mocking a few ounces of plastic and cloth rather than a real, live person but we all know they equally capable there as well. See D. trump, TFG.
Downs syndrome people are entitled to the same respect as other humans.
And I see nothing wrong with the doll, and people who resent the doll are douchebags.
(Having said that, I am in favor of pregnancy screening to reduce the risk of severe disabilities and lethal inheritable diseases.
I am not into eugenics, I just want to reduce suffering. What I find heart-breaking is that people with a chromosome abnormality so often get Alzheimer’s disease)
Goddamnit. Why did I click that link? My neck muscles grow ever bigger from shaking my head back and forth. fuck these people, and I use that term loosely.
@22 mamba.
You’re wrong because you missed how difficult it can be to ‘be normal’ for someone with a disability. So the downs kid who came second wasn’t starting from the same line, and you can acknowledge their extra difficulties while also respecting that they are human just like you and not ‘other’.
The barbie though, I must be a bit thick because I would never have picked it as downs and needed it pointed out (from the pic. I couldn’t bring myself to watch the vid) It’s not like any other barbie has a realistic face or body. She just looks like a pretty doll, and maybe that’s also the point.
mamba #22
sounds like you started the fight
As Charles Pierce would say: “These really are the mole people.”
@28, I’ve a wonderful conical cheese grater that’d be perfect for the task.
@22. mamba :
Okay, you have asked so please I am going to ask you in return not to be too defensive and immediately respond to what people – what I among others here – will say in response. Which I expect you will find harsh and potentially hurtful although I’ll try not to be. Please think about it and don’t just get angry and dig yourself into a deeper hole.
I say this because you aren’t the first person to go through this. Many others have. I’ve been through it myself and I did NOT respond well. So take it from lived experience that digging deeper and denying reality and shooting the messengers here are not good ideas or tactics that work out well. Please hit pause, take some time to really contemplate and think about this before reacting.
Thing is you do see race, you – we all do and can’t help it because whilst “race” is a biological fallacy it is deeply ingrained in our culture and affects everyone’s lives especially those who are victims of racism. Their lives and experiences matter and they remain disadvatanged unfairly because of it. Pretending this isn’t so and that the social construct of “race” ïsn’t there is wrong and does real dmaage because you pretend that there’s no issues to solve and that things are already equal when they’re not. Its a form of the Just World Fallacy.
It also means that – even without meaning to – you treat & think of people of colour, non-whites, badly becuase you treat them as if their lived experiences, the factors that impact their lives and make things harder for them aren’t real when they are. Its like having a group of athletes running a foot race and some have large backpacks full of bricks and yet you pretend not to see those and think the race between those weighed down by bricks and those without is equal when it is not.
We live in a society where everyone – yes, me as well – is a bit racist unless we are actively fighting back against racism, actively seeing and rejecting the racism that is part of the fabric of our society because racism is part of our cultural and social and media environment. It is the air we breathe and we cannot help it unless we realise it is there and try to clean it up like cleaning pollution out of air and working not tolet the factories pump it into the air. This is an ongoing constant wearying, often infuriating job that won’t be complete in our lifetimes. Like with air, its easy to be used to it. We don’t see it and understand it becuase we’re not the one’s most affected by it since we don’t have disabilities like asthma or pollen or chemical alleggies to racism. Metaphorically speaking here.
So yes, you see race, you can’t help it, we all do but pretending it isn’t a factor and isn’t there is the opposite of good and helpful. You, me and everyone else does need to see race and other ~isms because when we see it we can call it what it is and fight back against it and not just breathe it in and accept it unthinkingly.
With tact and grace and compassion. As you’d like to be treated if you had Downs if you can imagine being in their place.
You don’t pretend it isn’t there but, no, you don’t draw attention to it either but you do respect and acknowledge that when they achieve something it might well be harder for them and more of an accomplishment for them because of it.
Is that really so hard?
Aklso seconding what #29 llyris wrote above here too.
Is anyone else getting Tucker Carson Green M&M vibes from Crowder’s outrage?
Wow, he’s only been gone a week and I’ve already forgotten how to spell his name. ;)
In extension of chigau’s #30:
So, you didn’t in fact ignore it. Rather, you explicitly and out loud disagreed with how it was being handled. If that’s your notion of “ignoring”, then I’m not surprised you get into trouble. You could have just been quiet and it wouldn’t have affected your life in any way at all.
You were doing exactly the opposite of what you claim to be doing. Stop doing that and see if that fixes your problem.
Blaming Texas’s no fault divorce law is the least of Crowder’s sins regarding his divorce. Unsurprisingly, it’s so much worse:
Exclusive: Video Reveals Steven Crowder Emotionally Abusing Wife. In Statement, Hilary Crowder’s Family Says She Hid His Emotionally Abusive Behavior For Years
This is why some conservatives are upset with Crowder’s mockery. It demolishes the pedestal they placed Sarah Palin on when she “chose” not to terminate her pregnancy on finding out she was carrying a Down’s Syndrome child (oblivious to the fact that they were praising her for making a choice that they would deny to all women).
About 10 years back there was some talk in the press of the possibility of fixing Down’s Syndrome in vitro, and I got into a discussion with the father of a Down’s Syndrome child who said that he wouldn’t have wanted his daughter to have the treatment because she wouldn’t have been the same sweet and loving young woman she had grown up to be.
Obviously, having become emotionally invested in raising his daughter as she was, with Down’s Syndrome, this is an understandable position to take, but it’s not the rational one. She would still have been his daughter if she had been cured and he would still have been fully invested in her upbringing, and in addition, she would have been much more capable of leading a fully independent life with a much better chance of going on to have relationships and a family of her own. At the time of the pregnancy, who (other than religious fundamentalists) wouldn’t want that for their child?
Steven Crowder might approve of the nazi German phrase “life unworthy of life “. Un…something something leben . I will not bother to look it up.
As a left wing person with a capitalist streak, I am continually amazed at the ideological density of right wingers in situations like this. Nobody is forcing anyone to buy that doll. Mattel, a profit-driven business, sees an opportunity to expand its market and sell more dolls and make more money, and suddenly the champions of free enterprise and the great American way are pissing themselves with indignation that…that what? That the big greedy corporations they claim to love have the gall to recognize a market? That they are more tuned in to the reality of who lives in the world and who plays with dolls?
When their darlings fail to act as moral and cultural police, the champions of unbridled capitalism become communists overnight.
It’s a strange strange world indeed, when outfits like Mattel and Disney and Anheuser-Busch start looking like the good guys in the culture wars.
Mamba, you are forgetting that a girl with Downs might like to have a doll that looks more like herself.
Bugger, I posted a comment here and it vanished without a trace…
To those saying prenatal screening isn’t eugenics, it 100% is.
Sorry, mamba, but you totally lost me with “I don’t see race and I don’t see disabilities.” How is that even possible? Do you see through a person’s skin to the muscles right underneath it? That’s gotta be the lamest X-ray vision EVER. And no, not all disabilities are visible to the eye, but how can you claim not to see the ones that are?
And for someone who claims not to see race or disabilities, you sure do seem sensitive to any attention paid to disabled people.
And no, you didn’t get “harassed” for “not seeing” a disability; you got called out for loudly complaining about other people paying attention to a disabled person. Maybe you should have followed your own advice and stayed quiet about something that didn’t affect you directly. (There’s at least a partial answer to your question about recognizing people without being awkward.)
This is something I’ve noticed about people who loudly insist that they never ever EVER see another person’s race: they’re always bitching about other people going out of their way to be decent to people of other races, and to be less unfair and discriminatory. Cut the “colorblind” shtick already — we’ve heard it before and it’s not fooling anyone.
Seems to me like there’s a big difference between screening in order to let parents make an informed choice vs. screening as a way to ensure mandatory whatever. E.g.
Screening doesn’t reduce the risk of anything. It simply informs the parents of the risks already present. The choice of what to do is fundamentally separate from the screening itself.
The risk is there or not. The choice is there or not. You can have both, either, or neither. There’s no necessary connection.
Not all capitalists are fascists, but every fascist I’ve ever heard of was also a capitalist. Therein lies the conflict.
The Mattel Down syndrome Barbie has now made the national news.
It is also already sold out.
It seems to be widely accepted and popular among people with Down syndrome.