Monday, February 16, 2009

Barbie



That bitch has everything. *sigh* And now she has a fashion show dedicated to her! 50 designers created Barbie inspired fashions for a show this Valentine's Day. (Barbie turns 50 this year.) And she's never looked sluttier. I like to think of the progression of Barbie. The originals were so wholesome. Then they got a little more sophisticated. Now they are just outrageous. But at least there are more ethnicities to chose from. And more career minded Barbies. Who says you can't look like a hussy and be a doctor? If you're going to be a feminist, you can't discriminate. I learned that from Bobbi.

I love and hate talking to women about their memories of their Barbies. It seems as though everyone had all the cool stuff, and I didn't. I always wanted the dream house. My first Barbie was Skipper. Of course my older sister got the real Barbie. They came in swimsuits and had tan lines. Cool. Then one Christmas I got the horse from Santa. The brush set came in a little plastic bag marked "Made in China". I was very confused. "This should say 'Made by Elves!'" Mary Jane just smirked. I found out the Santa truth very soon, sadly. Then there was the Corvette. Our hamsters fit in there perfectly. Got some good photos of that. It was during the height of Miami Vice. And the hair salon! Forgot about that.

I loved the make believe world of Barbies. The clothes, the glamour, playing house with Ken and the blow up furniture I bought from a White Elephant sale at school. I had a lot of homemade furniture, too. I guess having no money spurred my creativity. Yay for being broke! I liked playing with cousin Brenda's retro Barbies. She had groovy ones with groovy styles. I was amazed at the vintage-like appeal.

I used to think little girls wouldn't be influenced by Barbies. They're just toys, make believe. But the more I think about it, the more I realize playing with Barbies probably did shape my personality a little. Not that I want a Corvette, or a horse. Damn, her! She is bad!

I hope this little blog makes you think of all the fun times you had playing Barbies.

5 comments:

A Fuss said...

I never had a Ken doll, so I used to use one of my brother's GI Joe figures, which was a) Hector, not sure if you knew him but he looked like a pirate and b) half Barbie's size.

b said...

I never was much for Barbie (the man-hating feminist that I am.) BUT, I would kill for her figure... I'm really not kidding.

MJS said...

I still have fond memories of Brenda's Barbie airplane, the only one I have ever seen. LOVED that thing!

Anonymous said...

Your Barbie stories are just like mine, except I didn't have an older sister. My first "Barbie" was really Skipper...never got the Dream House, but I was lucky enough to get the yellow and white blow up furniture and the Corvette also!
Too funny. I ended up cutting all my Barbie's hair and making them punk with dyed hair.
Maybe that's why I have all boys?

MJS said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxn567bHny8

I found your pink corvette

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