Opinion | In defense of Barbie
The Barbie doll is often criticized for promoting outdated gender roles and giving little girls unrealistic body images, but the doll has a surprisingly strong feminist history and mission of empowering girls. Photo collage by EMILY PARIS, photo editor
Barbie gets a lot of flack. Understandably so, considering the unrealistic body silhouette and “ideal” blonde blue eyed image it is known for.
Emilia Cuevas Diaz, opinions editor
The Barbie doll is constantly criticized for contributing to little girls developing unhealthy ideas of what they’re supposed to look like. Add to that the criticism the doll has faced for its lack of diversity and you can see why it is so easy for people to set it aside as nothing but a product of a white patriarchal society.
But maybe we’re judging Barbie too quickly. After all, the doll was originally conceived with the philosophy that a little girl can be anything she wants.
When the doll was released in 1959, it was rather revolutionary in that it allowed young girls to imagine a future in which they were something other than housewives. When Ruth Handler — Barbie’s inventor — saw that her daughter’s only options to play with were baby dolls, she decided to create an adult doll so that her daughter could imagine herself having any future she wanted.
And I have to say, the doll has remained loyal to that initial philosophy. Barbie definitely lives up to her slogan, “You Can Be Anything.” In her history, the doll has had over 200 jobs, including but not limited to actress, ballerina, fashion designer, entrepreneur, farmer, secretary, teacher, doctor, astronaut, firefighter and even president.
For a doll that allegedly only makes girls interested in clothes and appearances, Barbie sure has had quite the resume. And a lot of times she has even been ahead of its time, like being president before any women were even on the ballot.
For years now Barbie has inspired little girls all over by showing them they can be anything they want. The fact that you can buy a Barbie for pretty much any interest allows girls to picture themselves in multiple career paths and play with the idea that there are a lot of different paths they can follow.
Not only that, but Barbie has always been unapologetically feminine in her ways, challenging the notion that women need to adapt to a more masculine setting to fit in in fields that are mostly dominated by men.
And even when considering her lack of diversity, Mattel took the time to not just listen to the complaints but to make changes accordingly. While this change might have come later than expected, it was quite significant. Barbie now has nine different body types, 35 skin tones and 94 hairstyles. Beyond just that, Mattel also introduced Barbies with disabilities, with different religions, nationalities and even gender-neutral dolls.
With the Barbie movie coming out later this year, it’s worth discussing that The Barbie brand has shown that it is dedicated to moving forward with a more diverse representation of Barbie while continuing with its mission to empower young children to believe they can be anything they want to be.
So why is it that even though Barbie has long since been an icon of progress for women, all we focus on when we discuss her is her appearance? Why do we care more about what she looks like and less about how she empowers children to believe in themselves?
