Barbie
Icon of Femininity
“Just a Piece of Plastic”?
Questions
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Does it makes sense to condemn Barbie
as a negative role model who embodies…
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subordinate femininity?
compulsory heterosexuality?
white, blonde culture?
corporate dominance?
How else might we regard her?
Barbie and the commodification of race
and gender difference
More than simple
instruments of pleasure and
amusement, toys and games
play crucial roles in helping
children determine what is
valuable in and around them.
Dolls in particular invite
children to replicate them, to
imagine themselves in their
dolls’ images. What does it
mean, then, when little girls
are given dolls to play with
that in no way resemble
them?
Ducille, “Dyes and Dolls” (1994)
“Dream in their own image?”
Regardless of what color dyes the dolls are
dipped in or what costumes they are
adorned with, the image they present in
the same mythically thin, long-legged,
luxuriously-haired, buxom beauty.
Ducille, “Dyes and Dolls,” 1994
Toy Theory?
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objects that do the dirty work of
patriarchy and capitalism . . . in
the guise of child’s play.
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symbol and a symptom of what
multiculturalism has become at
the hands of contemporary
commodity culture:
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…gives us the face of cultural
diversity without the particulars
of cultural difference.
(Ducille, 1994)
Image: https://s-media-cacheak0.pinimg.com/736x/aa/a5/65/aaa565563
30ab82cbea9c52db55a9058.jpg
Barbie
Fashionista
collection,
2015
No matter how much scholars attempt to intellectualize it
otherwise, "race" generally means "non-white", and "black" is still
related to skin colour, hair texture, facial features, body type, and
other outward signifiers of difference. A less neutral term for
such signifiers is, of course, stereotypes. In playing the game of
difference with its ethnic dolls, Mattel either defies or deploys
these stereotypes, depending on cost and convenience. (Ducille,
272)
“From Colored Francie of the 1960s to Soul Train Shani of the 1990s
[and beyond], Mattel has seized every opportunity to profit from shifts
in racial, cultural, and social politics” (Ducille, Skin Trade, 39).
Mexican Barbie, 2013
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We need to
theorize race and
gender not as
meaningless but
as meaningful -as sites of
difference, filled
with constructed
meanings that are
in need of
constant decoding
and interrogation.
(Ducille, 275)
Shani, Nichelle and Asha (1992)
Barbie® Quinceañera Doll
Pink Label®
Designer: Carlyle Nuera
Release Date: 2/8/2017
Feliz Quinceañera! From the beautiful ceremony
presenting a young woman to family and friends, to
the elaborate festivities, Quinceañera Barbie® doll
is excited to celebrate a young woman's 15th
birthday. This beautiful doll makes the perfect
keepsake to mark this special day and celebration.
•Body Type: ModelMuse
•Facial sculpt: Teresa
•Fashion Sewn On: No
•Fashion: Royal purple quinceañera era gown with
vertical tulle accents; bodice features sheer overlay
with silver holographic glitter print
•Accessories: Gem-drop earrings, silvery tiara,
bracelet, and shoes
•Doll Stand: Yes
•Package Dimensions (H/D/W): 13“ x 3“x 8.5“
From navigating the skies to skating on ice, from health
care to pet care, from emergency response to culinary arts,
Barbie® doll's career aspirations know no bounds. Future
professionals can explore their own career aspirations and
many possibilities with themed dolls. Each doll wears a
professional outfit with signature style and comes with an
iconic accessory to expand storytelling fun.
The Barbie® firefighter doll is ready to fight any fire in a
red firefighter coat, black pants and boots.
A red firefighter hat with a "B" emblem completes the
uniform and keeps Barbie® doll safe when she’s fighting
fires!
Be anything with Barbie® career dolls!
Barbie® firefighter doll is ready to fight any fire in a red
firefighter coat, black pants and boots.
A red firefighter’s hat with signature “B” emblem completes
the uniform and keeps Barbie® doll safe when she’s
fighting fires!
Collect all the Barbie® career dolls to expand the
professional storytelling fun.
http://www.motherinthemix.com/singlepost/2016/02/03/The-New-Barbie-My-Mixed-Review
Barbie and the straight-to-DVD
market
1:03:00 – “pink, post-feminist pedagogy”?
Rogers, “Hetero Barbie”
In no uncertain terms Barbie
demonstrates that femininity
is a manufactured reality. It
entails a lot of artifice, a lot
of clothes, a lot of props
such as cuddly poodles and
shopping bags, and a lot of
effort, however satisfying at
times. If Barbie can join
drag queens as an exemplar
of the constructed character
of femininity, she can also be
an icon of nonheterosexual
femininity. (Rogers, 95)
RuPaul, “RuBarbie,” and Drag
Barbie … points to what Jesse
Barrett (1996) sees as “mass
culture’s power to define,
commodify, and mutate sexual
identity.” Put more queerly in
terms used in Out magazine:
RuPaul’s larger-than-life,
gayer-than-gay presence on
runways, VH1, and New York
radio and everywhere else …
suggests that the mall of
America has embraced him not
as a novelty but as a genuine
homo star. But it doesn’t take
a drag queen to have an
impact. (1997:96)
Mattell can unintentionally sponsor
the same impact, it seems.... (96)
Barbie Activism
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Barbie Liberation Organization
THE BLO -- BARBIE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION -- STRIKES
By BRIGITTE GREENBERG Associated Press Writer
SAN DIEGO (AP)
When 7-year-old Zachariah Zelin ripped off the Christmas wrapping, he
squealed with delight. Santa brought the talking G.I. Joe doll he wanted.
Problem was, Joe talked like Barbie.
His doll stands at the ready in its Army fatigues, machine gun and hand
grenades at its side. But it says things like, "Want to go shopping?"
The BLO has claimed responsibility. That's Barbie Liberation Organization.
Made up of more than 50 concerned parents, feminists and other activists,
the BLO claims to have surreptitiously switched the voice boxes on 300
G.I. Joe and Barbie dolls across the United States this holiday season.
"We have operatives all over the country," said one BLO member, who
wished to remain anonymous. "Our goal is to reveal and correct the
problem of gender- based stereotyping in children's toys." Among the
messages the tampered G.I. Joe utters are, "I love school. Don't you?"
and "Let's sing with the band tonight." In a deep voice, the altered Barbie
says, among other things, "Dead men tell no lies."
Toy Theory, again.
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Barbie and similar dolls: objects
that do the dirty work of patriarchy
and capitalism in the most insidious
way – in the guise of child’s play.
(Ducille, 1994)

a symbol and a symptom of what
multiculturalism has become at the
hands of contemporary commodity
culture: an easy and immensely
profitable way off the hook of
Eurocentrism that gives us the face
of cultural diversity without the
particulars of cultural difference.
(Ducille, 1994)