Rethinking Barbie (the doll) and her positive impact

[Anonymous]

While the last generation or so revolted against Barbie, I think they fixated on the wrong things and completely missed the critically important positive impact the Barbie doll made on girls. Hear me out.

Barbie was launched at a time when the only dolls available were baby dolls. Generations of girls were limited to dolls and related toys that fostered gendered stereotypes of playing house and preparing for a life of motherhood and housework.

Barbie wasn’t a wife or mother. Barbie was living her best life as a presumably wealthy single lady! Her boyfriend was an afterthought, and he didn’t have a career, house, or car.

Barbie on the other hand was a doctor, lawyer, president, etc. She was everything because she could be anything.

And she never married or had kids. She didn’t need to.

That’s the impact she made at a time when the only other dolls and toys for girls were baby dolls with diapers, bottles, kitchens, etc.

Barbie shifted the narrative.

[Anonymous]

The Barbies at our house are mostly naked in the Dream House pool, regardless of whatever job Mattel gives them.

[Anonymous]

Well, as a short, stocky girl, I really didn't appreciate Barbie-encouraged body norms. I starved myself, but ultimately, I was still short and broad, even when bony, and Barbieness was unattainable.

[Anonymous]

Barbie wasn’t all those professions until much later. For a very long time all she was was a beautiful blonde with unnatural body propo.

[Anonymous]

My mom was already a doctor so I didn’t need to have a Barbie to dream I could be one. Plus, the Barbie version of a doctor seemed nothing like the real version.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes a doll is just a doll.

Barbie was a very fun toy to play with. I loved her outfits and I had the cutest Barbie house and furniture. It really wasn’t more meaningful than that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While the last generation or so revolted against Barbie, I think they fixated on the wrong things and completely missed the critically important positive impact the Barbie doll made on girls. Hear me out.

Barbie was launched at a time when the only dolls available were baby dolls. Generations of girls were limited to dolls and related toys that fostered gendered stereotypes of playing house and preparing for a life of motherhood and housework.

Barbie wasn’t a wife or mother. Barbie was living her best life as a presumably wealthy single lady! Her boyfriend was an afterthought, and he didn’t have a career, house, or car.

Barbie on the other hand was a doctor, lawyer, president, etc. She was everything because she could be anything.

And she never married or had kids. She didn’t need to.

That’s the impact she made at a time when the only other dolls and toys for girls were baby dolls with diapers, bottles, kitchens, etc.

Barbie shifted the narrative.

As a Gen Xer who grew up with Barbie, I couldn’t agree any more.

I knew my Barbie dolls had picture perfect bodies and I was also smart enough to know that no one had a body like that in real life….

Because Barbie was a toy.
Plain & simple.

She was a fantasy.

I thought Miss Piggy had great cleavage yet I NEVER COMPARED myself to her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Barbies at our house are mostly naked in the Dream House pool, regardless of whatever job Mattel gives them.

Yes, you can make her a Lawyer Scientist Ballerina but her main job is being naked.

[Anonymous]

She could have achieved all that and have been made with girls actually in mind and not men's idealized female bodies.

Frankly, dressing barbies was so hard I didn't like them. getting the pants on was torture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, as a short, stocky girl, I really didn't appreciate Barbie-encouraged body norms. I starved myself, but ultimately, I was still short and broad, even when bony, and Barbieness was unattainable.

100 times, this! I’ll add that I’m not a white girl either so Barbie did not hit. The fact that they diversified the line a few years ago was a long time coming.

[Anonymous]

I was born in the late 70s. Never played with Barbies. To me they were the epitome of gender stereotypes. This skinny hour glass blonde who came with high heels and pink and was everything stereotypically feminine. As a tomboy I had nothing in common with Barbies and their pink girly girl lives.

[Anonymous]

The Wall Street Journal movie reviewer was critical of the movie. Do women really have it that bad now? Men have a lot of societal pressures and challenges too.

[Anonymous]

There is a Barbie-like woman at one of my child’s sports. She seems beautiful, fit, rich, friendly, tall, blonde, and care free. But she also kind of evokes a “hot mess” - too much of everything, from lashes to fluorescent clothing to over-processed hair. A lot of modern style is
more understated, regardless of a person’s substance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes a doll is just a doll.

Barbie was a very fun toy to play with. I loved her outfits and I had the cutest Barbie house and furniture. It really wasn’t more meaningful than that.

Sorry. I think you’re on the wrong website. This one is full of angst, and people that insist on finding the deepest possible meaning on things that are seemingly innocuous. You’re looking for the website with normal people.

[Anonymous]

Never had a Barbie. My mom got us Skipper instead.