Barbie Fest

Photo Source: jikamajoja @Flickr

Allure recently had a rather fascinating article about Barbie. Have you read it yet? Sure, it covers some information that most of us are familiar with and yes, it is once again a celebratory summary of Barbie's 'life'. But here's where it gets to the aforementioned fascinating bit. When I read the details of how Mattel, throughout time, has developed, promoted and marketed Barbie, I could not help but admire their dedication to this popular doll. Admittedly there was a gasp or two, perhaps a wishful sigh even.

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Barbie has shaped the lives and playtimes of American children for 50 years. I should know. Barbie ruined an entire summer for me, when I was eight. In the process, she taught me a hard-learned lesson about integrity, honor, and what a rat fink my little sister could be, when she set her mind to it.

blackmail

I was one of those kids always out tramping around the horse pasture catching small reptiles, digging holes, re-engineering the paths of small creeks, and inventing ever-more thrilling ways to swing out on the rope from the rafters in the barn loft to drop into the pile of hay, twenty feet below.

The summer I was eight, though, my little sister happened upon me, ahhh, experimenting with matches, in that same barn loft.

Now, we both understood immediately the possible repercussions of the fact I was playing with matches in the hay-stuffed loft of our hundred-year-old barn (in spite of my utter personal confidence from the lofty height of experience gained by being two entire years older than my sister.) For me, those repercussions meant that Mom and Dad absolutely would not ever, ever understand that, while indeed those matches might be dangerous for some children to play with, I was clearly more mature, taking appropriate safety precautions, and felt strongly that I was completely in control of the tiny fires I was experimenting with.

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Dolls are toys. I know this. I know it in the same way that I acknowledge that movies are 'only' entertainment. But does this mean that they have no social significance or impact on our lives? Women have campaigned for years to widen Barbie's waist, make her available in various skin colors, and generally make her more accessible to young girls. But at the end of the day, she is what she is - an overly perfect vision of a woman.

She has everything - money, success, romance - in doses that most of us can only dream of. It is no wonder that I felt a little conflicted whenever I played with my Barbie as a child. Where was the reality? Who else in my life looked or acted like that? Granted, I say this knowing that children who grew up in Hollywood may have had a different experience, but in my little corner of the world women were not slim, buxom, immaculately dressed, perfectly coiffed, accomplished and rich.

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Bratz Rock! (NOT)It's the end of an era. Though their time was short in the toy world, the Bratz will forever be remembered as the skanky, illegitimate little sisters of Barbie. They had their day in court and lost! Barbie makers, Mattel, has been granted an injunction that bars MGA(Bratz makers) from manufacturing or selling anymore of the pouty-mouthed dolls.

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