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Barbie - the menace in the pink box? Barbie is an icon - no arguing that - but we don't have to LIKE her. Some thoughts on her and her effect on women. PLUS! A bonus addition of an older column that contrasts Barbie compared to Superheros as role models - and the sexual implications it would have to be a superhero. (don't ask how Ina got to sex from rolemodels - it's just who she is...)
Barbie. That evil shade of pink that creates instant feelings that range
from contempt to disgust to envy to amusement to hate. As a young girl I
had several Barbies. What girl doesn't? It seems that in our culture you
can't be a young girl and not have one or those 12" fashionistas in your
room. I was lucky. My 1st one was from the 60's. She had red hair and
unlike her partners in crime from the 70's and beyond, her wrists moved
and her elbows/knees bent. She wasn't quite of the same build either. I'm
quite sure, looking back at it, that she was, in reality, not a Barbie but
probably a Midge or someone else of passing importance in that world of the
doll who has everything.
As time went and by and more and more blonde goddesses were given to me, my
red-head was the only one who didn't suffer the incredible and intolerable indignities that I inflicted upon the rest. My Barbies were given everything that I could ask for for them (parents and other family members thrilled that I was asking for "girly" things). High rise apartments, airplanes, tent campers, corvettes, horses, you name it and in the attempt to sway me over to playing with dolls, I got whatever I asked for when it came to "Babs." Of course I got a Ken too. He was not something I'd asked for as an accessory for the girls. I did, however, ask for the 12" G.I.Joe with the "kung fu grip" and after much tantrum throwing, got him. I was also given a "Mod Ken" at the same time. Where Joe had his "kung fu grip" and a flocked head of hair, Ken had a set of adhesive facial hair of all sorts: full beard, goatee, moustaches (3 kinds), sideburns (2 kinds),and a very shaggy hair cut. He was a very strange addition to the box of fashion dolls to say the very least.
I think there were many times that I fairly liked my Barbies. Like when she and Joe would plot to take over the airplane. She'd steal some facial hair from Mod Ken (usually the mutton chop sideburns and a big moustache) along with the pilot's uniform while Joe was shoving Pilot Ken (now in just his skivvies) under the counter in the galley. Or when Joe would sneak into the campsite and he and Barbie would fold Ken into the tent-trailer then drive off in the pink corvette convertible. I was in heaven the year that the movie "Jaws" came out because that same year they made a "tennis" and a "golf" Barbie who had a strange middle section that was a kind of ball joint but that allowed them to swing a golf club or a tennis racket. It also allowed for them to come apart at the middle - perfect for shark attacks in the bathtub or for Joe's magic act of cutting the
blonde in half and not putting her back together.
Horses were a passion with me (still are) but Babs really fell short. In order for her to ride you had to pop one of her legs out of the socket - because we KNOW that real women don't ride side-saddle. Not fun trying to have one leg dangling in the pants while riding since her leg often simply fell out of the pants and then she fell off. When "Ballerina Barbie" came out she was flexible enough to ride astride (having been created so that she could do the splits) but try as I might, I could never get that stupid crown off her head.
Of course she too was another blonde. Sigh.
Barbie. Blonde, leggy, extremely thin with unbelievably perky and hard breasts. Toes in a permanent arch that would cause amazing cramps in anyone else's feet but hers. Perfectly tanned skin (in a blue eyed blonde??). Permanent makeup and ALWAYS with long hair (At least they came with long hair out of the boxes. Then it was a trip to the "stylist" for them.) Is it any wonder that young girls who think of this as a standard of beauty have self esteem issues
later on? Presented with the "perfect woman" who has anything she wants is it a wonder when real women and real role models come up lacking? Because men seem to be attracted most to this ideal (well at least The Media tells us that they are) this is also a source of image problems and self esteem issues in grown women.
Let's face it - Barbie is a mixed blessing. She tells little girls that they can do anything and be anything they want to be. She also makes them feel that if they don't look like her that they are not pretty, are not desirable, are not "normal." This is especially true for girls "of color" since Barbie seems to never, ever change her body (or even her face, really) to fit the ethnicity that she's supposed to be when she changes out her blonde locks to portray a race other than Caucasian. To me she's almost come to personify evil in a putrid pink box. Just seeing the isle filled with that color of pink in a store is enough to turn my stomach some days. That overwhelming flood of Barbie Pink - yuk. The expansion into TV, video, movies, computers, and the like scares me. Some of the issues I still have about my body that I can trace directly to Barbie and The Media are dark and deep. I can only imagine what will occur with the girls of today who are bombarded with her more than the women of my generation ever were.
For fun I'm including a column I wrote about a year ago that also deals with Barbie - enjoy!
Superheros.
After my last diatribe about women's bodies, you may find this particular topic to be a bit, uhmmm, hypocritical? Well, could be, but face it, as a little girl growing up, wouldn't it have been much more interesting to have some of the female superhero characters to have looked up to, rather than that sniveling, whiny, has everything-her-heart-desires-without-working-for-it Barbie?? Hell, even the female super-villains of today are more interesting and show more emotions than the pink encased status symbol.
Sure, the body-styles on the women you find in comic books are a little over the top. Well, a lot over the top. Highly unrealistic in fact. But hey - it's forgiven when you realize that these are ass-kickin', intelligent, cunning, BEAUTIFUL women who are all about doin' it for themselves. Now THAT'S a role model. Sure, some of them started out for some of the wrong reasons (like revenge) but most do something worthwhile eventually…and the one's who don't?
The ones who are in it just for the self gratification? Well they're referred to as Super Villains but even those women seem to have a great time.
They get to wear highly flattering outfits (never mind that in the "real" world they wouldn't really work well - that's not the point!), they get to meet incredibly interesting people (sure most of them are villains, but they are interesting, you have to admit), and they choose their own destiny for the most part. Who wouldn't want to live that way? Especially when one
looks at Barbie's lifestyle of meandering from job to job (all based on the uniform it seems), always being forced to wear or be surrounded by the color pink (was it her own choice? I'm thinking no…), everywhere you look having clones of yourself with different hair colors, and finally owning a lot of material possessions but never really having anyone to share them with.
Barbie? She has Skipper and Ken to keep her company. A pre-teen and a eunuch - some fun that must be. She's been trapped in hormone hell since her initial concept and THAT is what she gets to work with (well unless the 12" G I Joe comes in to save her on some rare sex-mission). Super heroines? They have super heroes AND super villains at their beck and call. Tell me you wouldn't call up Batman for a quickie if you could…and I KNOW that most women have wondered about other superheroes. Spiderman - aka the KING of BDSM. I mean really, how great is that to have your own bondage ropes coming from your wrists? A girl would have to be careful with most of the X-men of course, but what about someone like the Hulk? Not happy with what he's presenting in bed, get him
a little pissed off and VOILA! More man to work with (and I'm thinking it's everywhere - not just in those arms and legs). The possibilities are wonderful to contemplate. Imagine, for instance, how much fun a girl could have playing around with Aquaman - he breathes through GILLS for gawd's sake! Don't even get me started on the villains….yummmmm….
Then you have the girls. Oh My. You must admit how very very lovely those women are. And sultry, the whole lot of them. And sexy. Don't forget passionate - super heroes (male and female) and super villains are nothing if not passionate. Look at how very close Poison Ivy and Harley Quin have become - you know those girls are closer than just good friends. Wonder Woman comes from an
all-female island, right? Well you know that she could be a lot of fun to play with - magic lasso and all. Then there are the plethora of super heroines from all the independent comics - all of them gorgeous. All of them smart and strong. All of them worthy of causing hearts to flutter whether they belong to a man OR a woman.
Wouldn't it be great fun to be a super hero? Or at least play one for a little while? Oh Come On…you know you want to…Barbie can have her Ken with just his bump. Think of the fun you could have with those superheroes…so much better than a pink plastic corvette and a boyfriend with just a bump.
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