Barbie Turns 50

I've been reading and hearing a ton about Barbie's 50th birthday today. It's got me thinking about the complicated relationship I've had with this silly doll.

When I was six years old I somehow come to have my aunt's 1960s Midge doll, but otherwise my parents were anti-Barbie. All Midge came with was a striped bathing suit. There were no elaborate outfits to put her in, no car, no dream house. A friend took pity on my situation and gave me some of her rejects. She had chopped off their hair and painted their faces with red nail polish, but I was delighted nonetheless!

As I got older I started to despise Barbie with all her gowns, unrealistic proportions and "Math class is tough" comments. I hung a Body Shop poster with an image of a more realistically proportioned Barbie-esque doll in my room.


And even though I won't be buying Barbies for my kids, I can appreciate that she's had quite a run. As Veronica on Awearness Blog says:

Barbie's done a lot in her life. She's held many careers, married Ken, left Ken, got back together and even struggled her way through math class. She even beat a popular rival into oblivion.

You absolutely must read Sarah Haskins' really funny piece Barbie's Little Secret. I won't give away all the funny stuff (c'mon what did you really do with your Barbies?!). But Sarah Haskins sums up the complicated relationship that a lot of feminists seem to have with Barbie:

After all, in her own strange way, she was a pioneer -- a trailblazing figure in branding, a woman whose every tiny wobbly step paved the way for the questionable role models that perplex and concern parents today, be they Bratz or Disney Princesses.

Worst Toy of the Year

Will it be the Cadillac Escalade that three-year-olds can learn to gas guzzle with? Or the Barbie Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader doll that's oozing gender stereotypes?

Check out the other contestants and vote for Campaign for a Commerical-Free Childhood's award for worst toy of the year.

 

Barbie Beats Bratz

A judge today said that Bratz makers can no longer sell their dolls. It has nothing to do with their sexy outfits and excessively made up faces though.

Apparently Bratz infringed on a Mattel copyright. According to Salon:

"For several years, Mattel has promised to 'litigate to the death' over what it called (for realz, no joke) a 'Barbie genocide.' After winning a $100 million lawsuit against MGA, Mattel decided to wage its own 'genocide,' and called for all Bratz dolls to be impounded and destroyed. It's like a feud between rival prom queens, only in the language of, like, actual war."

Oh goodness--the jokes are gonna write themselves!

So now that Mattel owns the Bratz concept (they must be so proud!), who knows if they'll destroy all the dolls or start selling them. Barbie and Bratz all under one big Mattel umbrella of unrealistic body images for girls? Whoa that might be too much for me! Let's hope they opt to destroy the Bratz dolls.