Rethinking Barbie (the doll) and her positive impact

[Anonymous]

OP if you haven’t seen it you should definitely check out this documentary about Barbie, it’s very good.

[Anonymous]

I saw the Barbie movie and it’s very much Grrrlll Power and all about women running the world and not being defined by a man. It’s a fun movie with a message.

And everyone in the audience was wearing pink—even boys.

So much fun!

[Anonymous]

The only Barbie toy I remember enjoying playing with was this:

It’s weird af to play with a disembodied head, but it helped me channel my desire to style hair or apply makeup into Barbie instead of focusing on my own looks.

[Anonymous]

Im a Gen X’er and fricking loved my barbies. Also not white and really didn’t give a shit that my barbies were blonde. I made clothes for my barbie and sent her on dates with my brother’s Han Solo action figure. He’d pick her up in the millennium falcon. Joyless scolds who like to self-righteously crap all over a toy are the worst.

[Anonymous]

The theater in Rockville had a very diverse audience. Very. It was awesome!

[Anonymous]

I must know the marketing budget for this movie. They are in overdrive trying to make this thing happen.

[Anonymous]

I had barbies and never thought my body should look like hers. It's clearly freakishly unhuman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Makes you wonder about the people who come up with this stuff. Any insecurities I had came from f’ed up adults, not inanimate objects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had barbies and never thought my body should look like hers. It's clearly freakishly unhuman.

Sure, it’s a freak, but that’s not how children see it. That freak never made a appearance in our home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

+1

THIS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The theater in Rockville had a very diverse audience. Very. It was awesome!

Love this - as long limbed "freak" (sic - thanks and eff you PP!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I must know the marketing budget for this movie. They are in overdrive trying to make this thing happen.

Thinking the same thing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Makes you wonder about the people who come up with this stuff. Any insecurities I had came from f’ed up adults, not inanimate objects.

This!

In the linked Hulu documentary they show Gloria Steinem lamenting/pontificating about how the problem with Barbie is that we shouldn’t judge women by their looks/what’s on the outside and instead should judge people by what’s on the inside.

Um, sure…but Barbie is a *toy doll* not a real person.

I think we can sort people into two groups:

People who detest Barbie = generally negative, glass is half empty types

People who think Barbie is a toy that doesn’t actually wield any power over human beings, societal norms, the patriarchy, etc. = generally positive, glass is half full types

Fun vs wah wah wah mopey dopey

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I must know the marketing budget for this movie. They are in overdrive trying to make this thing happen.

Thinking the same thing!

$100M! That’s a lot of pink outfits!