Barbie Home

"Barbie cares only about clothes.  Barbie's "mind" is filled only with Saturday-night dates and/or wedding plans.  My response is if that is so, it's because the little girl who is playing with her chooses to concentrate on those facets of a woman's life" ~ Ruth Handler (Handler 43).

Ruth Handler also believed that Barbie represents female independence.  She offered females a break from the June Cleaver mold (Handler 44).

But what about Barbie's mold - her figure, stature, that side-long stare?

Whether you love her, hate her, or think you couldn't care any less, Barbie has deeply influenced American popular culture since her debut in 1959.

For many, Barbie represents fond memories of their childhood - Boomers reminiscent of warm childhood fantasies in a time where they felt their lives were safer and less complicated.  Yet, not everybody shares warm feelings for Barbie.

"For decades, Barbie has remained torpedo-titted, open-mouthed, tippy-toed and vagina-less in her cellophane coffin-and, ever since I was little, she has threatened me" (Gilman 14).

This rings all too true for many women; however, the suppression of our insecurities prevents us from admitting it, and we are loathing owning it.

Sure, it's probably not likely that the average adult female is thinking about Barbie Millicent Roberts as she is getting herself ready for the day, unless she trips over one on the way to the bathroom.  However, how often has Barbie tripped America's view of the ideal woman concerning body image, gender roles, and personal identity?

We are constantly ambushed with imagery that is manifest of Barbie in the mass media that affects how we view ourselves when we look into the mirror every morning. 

"American children and adolescents spend 22-28 hours per week viewing television, more than any other activity except sleeping.  By the age of 70 they will have spent 7-10 years of their lives watching TV" ~ The Kaiser Family Foundation (Kill Your TV).  Cindy Jackson is record holder for most cosmetic surgeries http://www.cindyjackson.com/index.html

Barbie has become so commonplace that we no longer recognize or acknowledge her affect on society - at least among the average Gen-Xer.  Barbie is not new; she has always been around.  

Indeed, she hasn't aged a bit, and she's not going to.  "She can never bloat.  She has no children to betray her.  Nor can she rot, wrinkle, overdose, or go out of style" (Lord 7).

From Disney's princesses to Charlie's Angels, mass media glorifies and cleaves to these images that "bombard us with smiling, air-brushed, anorexic, and compliant women whose message seems to be "Shut up, get a face-lift, and stop eating" (Douglas 11).

In fact, Vintage Barbie Slumber Party #1642 of 1965 came with a miniature scale and booklet titled "How to Lose Weight," and on the inside it read, "Don't Eat" (Prochaska). 

Regardless of the relentless criticism thrusted at Barbie, her physique has hardly changed over the years, in reality or fantasy.  Her approximate dimensions (if she were life-size) are an astounding 39-18-33 at 7'2", 125lbs! (Wilbur).

RuPaul

Perhaps this is why Barbie especially appeals to Drag Queens.  "Barbie has, in fact, a drag queen's body:  broad shoulders and narrow hips, which are quintessentially male, and exaggerated breasts, which aren't" (Lord 14).

Barbie also has very little to offer women of color.

"Jewish, black, Asian and Latina girls began to realize slowly and painfully that if you didn't look like Barbie, you didn't fit in" (Gilman 17).

It wasn't until the 1980's that the faces of Barbie's ethnic friends didn't share the same face mold as Barbie.  Previously, only their vinyl coloring had changed. 

In 1997, an African American Barbie was recalled for its imprudent cross-advertisement with Nabisco's Oreo Cookies, "Oreo Fun Barbie" (Barbie).

Because of Barbie "[w]e have learned to despise the curves, bulges, stretch marks, and wrinkles that mean we've probably worked hard in and out of our homes, produced some fabulous children, enjoyed a good meal or two, tossed back a few drinks, laughed, cried, gotten sunburned more than once, endured countless indignities, and, in general, led pretty full and varied lives" (Douglas 12).

It's no wonder that more and more Barbies are being tossed in blenders, blown to bits via fire-cracker, and mutilated beyond recognition.