I'm writing in response to Rebecca Stumpf's Jan. 12 column about BLO - the Barbie Liberation Organization. After seeing the story on the national news, I had no choice but to laugh. Have we as Americans no better contribution to society than to crucify Barbie?

So many things are wrong with society -- discrimination and stereotypes are definitely large ones. But what do we do about the problem? We go right to the injustice's root -- right for the jugular vein. . . Barbie!

I have no problem with Barbie being a doctor, lawyer or any other professional for that matter. But if little girls haven't cared for four decades, why should we?

My question is where is the GLO -- the G.I. Joe Liberation Organization? Talk about a stereotype. On the G.I. Joe cartoon 300 people got killed in one minute. That's almost as bad as Barbie's shopping pastime. Does every little boy who plays with G.I. Joe toys grow up and join the Army or buy a gun? Many of my friends played with G.I. Joe action figures or watched the show as kids and believe it or not none of them has assaulted anyone with an AK-47.

I think we're totally paranoid about how much toys influence our children. How many girls reading this are hungry because you played with Barbie as a child? Thought so.

I wish we'd spend more time informing our children about biases and stereotypes (and violence for that matter -- the BLO mentions nothing about this) and less time trying to make sure little Suzie never gets her hands on a Barbie doll that likes to go shopping.

I've got the perfect solution to this whole ridiculous scenario. We have G.I. Joe and Barbie marry and have kids. G.I. Joe stays home and raises the kids, cleans the house, does all of the shopping and drives a mini-van. Barbie spends four years in the military, goes to college, gets her law degree and becomes an attorney on Capitol Hill. She can even keep her Corvette. Is everyone happy now? Did anyone really care in the first place?