Barbie At 50, Still A Rolemodel

Not Happy Barbie

by Lilly of Lillyslife

aged_barbieDon’t underestimate the reach of the Internet, ever. Barbie Googles, it seems, and she is not happy! With me!!

I just got an email from a Barbie confidante pointing out that Barbie was a subject of parody in my blog on two separate occasions ( here) and that perhaps it may be in my interests to make a public apology.

Apparently she is unhappy that the word Barbie has come to be used as a derogatory slang term for a girl or woman who is considered…um…. shallow.

Barbie is litigious happy. I had no idea that just like any star, she has been the subject of numerous controversies and many lawsuits, often involving parody of her and her lifestyle.

The confidante has gone to great lengths to assure me that there is more to Barbie (aka Barbara Millicent Roberts) than meets the eye.

Barbie turned 50 on March 9 and is living it up in the South of France, with Ken (Carson). As you may remember, Barbie and Ken had a tumultuous relationship for years after meeting on a television commercial in 1961 (yes Braja, she was born a teenager).

They split up in 2004 amid rumours that she was more than good friends with Blaine, the Aussie boogie boarder. After spending some quality time apart, Barbie went on to become a presidential candidate, a Canadian Mountie and lived in India (thanks Ugich!). Ken went to the Middle East where he studied Buddism and learnt to cook. He came back wearing cargo pants and a purse. They reconciled in 2006.

There they are on the left with Barbie’s sister Kelly (yeah sure!!). Ken, of course, has been reluctant to ever tie the knot which must be painful for Barbie given the number of wedding gowns she has bought over the years. Quite frankly I always thought Ken was gay and I’ve been waiting a life time for him to come out …..I still cannot get those images of Ken in his hot pink floral Hawaiian shirts out of my head, some 30 odd years after we first met.

Barbie has had varied careers. I thought her career extended to the fact that she was 5′ 9″, weighed 110lbs, and had the vital statistics of 36/18/33. Or, the fact she uttered some great lines when she finally started talking in 1992 like, “Will we ever have enough clothes?”, “I love shopping!”, “Wanna have a pizza party?” or “Math class is tough!” Or, that she was banned from making public appearances in middle Eastern countries. What more could there possibly be?

Well it seems Barbie has known the kind of success that only Oprah understands and the rest of us dream about. She was rated No. 43 on the list of 100 most influential people of all time who “never lived”. She has been a doctor, astronaut, Nascar driver, American Idol contestant, fashion designer, Olympic figure skater, rock star and on it goes (is it just me or does anyone see some resemblance to Posh Spice here).

She has had over 40 pets including horses, a panda, a lion cub, and a zebra. She has owned a wide range of vehicles, including pink convertibles, trailers and jeeps. She also holds a pilot’s license, and operates commercial airliners in addition to serving as a flight attendant.

She is surrounded by a close group of friends – including Hispanic Teresa, Midge, African American Christie and Steven. And she has been feted all over the world by all the top designers.

OK Barbie, I do apologise for thinking you were so incredibly shallow. There is definitely more to you then meets the eye. However, could you do us all a favor and try looking your age? Perhaps less botox, some grey hair, character lines and a tiny bit of a middle aged spread? The world is ready for a very attractive and sexy middle aged Barbie.

Be brave. You could be a trail blazer…..and finally gain some real street cred. They do say 50 is the new 30 after all!

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  • Andrea

    I still have all my Barbies and I am 42. Then again I still have a lot of my childhood toys. I do not think I was overly influenced by Barbie but I sure was by TV though. I agree it is the real live adults in our lives that influenced us as children.

  • http://www.lillyslife.com Lilly

    Allison, thanks for your comment. You sound like my daughter was. Barbie was put in her place, in the toybox, he he.

    Oh now that was interesting about the HIV stats. How frightening is that? I am going to read that and may even blog about it too. Thanks for adding it. I think Duchess may have mistakenly left her comment here meant of another post but I am glad you put that link there.

  • http://www.lillyslife.com Lilly

    Thanks Banoffi, Laura and Duchess for your comments. I guess the issue is how could Barbie have remained so popular over the last 50 years?

    My interest as a child was because I loved dressing up in my mother’s jewellery, high heels and wearing her lipstick. I loved dressing up Barbie in all sorts of outfits I recall. It was like playing grownups. I am not sure if I paid much attention to her unrealistic figure but who knows. I am sure there have been many psychologists who have looked at this issue. Now we just have to look at Hollywood or magazines to find the same unrealisitc role models. In fact, they were always there.

    I was only reading a magazine from 1930 this week at the library. I was shocked. If we think we have an unhealthy obsession with the body beautiful now then it was a lot worse then. The magazine was telling women how thin they had to be and what body shape (boyish) they should have. my curves would have been run out of town in those days. An unrealistic standard of beauty has always been an issue and driven by the media purely to sell products.

    I grew up to be 5ft 9″ with long blonde hair just ten times her waist and hip measurements, ha ha. I never thought she was anything other than a plastic doll. My real role models were my mother and aunties and older sisters and grandmothers.

    My daughter on the other hand wasn’t into dolls at all. Someone gave her about 8 Barbies once. Other than removing their heads and taking off all their clothes and leaving them in the toy box she wasnt interested. She grew up to be a lawyer which some may say was evident from her Barbie days. I think we give Barbie and dolls like her way too much power. Its we mothers that influence our small children the most. I wonder how many small children hear their mommies talking about their weight, their wrinkles, the stars they most admire because of theri looks etc etc.

    Regardless Barbie is an interesting phenomenon and has made a lot of money for Mattel.

    Lilly

  • http://www.womenbloom.com/blog Allison

    VERY clever writing! RE: Barbie…I never understood the fascination myself. I was always a terrible disappointment to my grandmother who tried her very best to get me hooked on coffee and Barbie to no avail. I was always more interested in ponies and horses although Barbie’s friend Midge (does anyone remember her?) was mildly interesting for about 5 minutes. As for Ken…nanh.

    Re: HIV…not sure that goes with this post but it just happens that I was contacted by someone at MORE magazine a few days ago about an alarming article that will be in the new issue. 1 in 3 women newly affected by HIV in the US are over 40. Because they don’t worry so much about pregnancy they don’t use condoms. That and we’re operating under ‘old’ rules with respect to the dating game. And, our husbands are apparently playing around more than we know… Anyway, a little scary. Here is the preview link: http://www.box.net/shared/yokidl77pg

  • http://www.duchessomnium.com Duchess

    Jane,

    I was trying to be pricky. Debate on this is important. Knee jerk reactions are easy and since reasoned debate is rare I thought I would take a stand far on the other side.

    I like evidence. I hate political correctness. I think there are some things that we don’t have to worry (quite so much) about as we get older. It is not PC to say so.

    (I’m know being provocative again.)

    The fact is, there hasn’t been the predicted explosion in AIDS even in YOUNG people, let alone in the middle aged, or even more improbably, in the elderly. I really do think it is mostly a non issue for the elderly, viagra notwithstanding.

    I am not saying it doesn’t happen and it is not a potential problem, and not a small one if you’ve got it. But the fact seems to be that the AIDS virus is really quite fragile and difficult to catch. You really have to help it by some seriously risky behaviour or else you have to get it straight into your veins. I admit that will do it.

    Heterosexual transmission, despite the scary predictions of the 80s and 90s is still not at all common outside Africa. There are particular reasons that Africa was affected and these are being addressed. The rate of infection there, in countries that are dealing with the problem (especially Uganda) has dropped dramatically.

    I’m not saying be complacent or be stupid. I’m just wondering whether most midliffers have a better chance of being run over by a bus — but AIDS makes better copy.

  • http://www.duchessomnium.com Duchess

    There has been a lot of research as Barbie turns 50. Some of it suggests that Barbie’s body, scaled up, would be so imbalanced she would fall over.

    In any case it is clear that Barbie, at whatever age, makes a poor role model. According to the BBC, posted a couple of weeks ago

    “Researchers at Finland’s University Central Hospital in Helsinki say if Barbie were life size she would lack the 17 to 22% body fat required for a woman to menstruate. So again, not an unachievable figure, but certainly not a healthy one. ”

    The full article is here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7920962.stm

    I only very reluctantly allowed my daughters Barbies in the same way I allowed my sons guns. I never banned them (because I know the lure of forbidden fruit) but I didn’t buy them either. I let my children have gifts other people gave them, and I let them buy them with their own pocket money.

    But if they asked me I said, Mummy thinks Barbie’s feet are just too silly. But of course you can spend your pocket money on whatever you like.

  • http://www.rebelliousthoughtsofawoman.com Laura

    What? Now we need to start buying mature Barbie’s? What 5-year old girl wants to play with a doll that looks like her grandmother? It still puzzles me that they want to play with a very mature doll. So in what world do girls play with Barbies and American Girl dolls at the same time and what does that say about the flexible mind of a child?

  • http://www.toffeebanoffie.blogspot.com Banoff

    Of course Mattel must know that if they bought out a middle age Barbie there might just be a whole new market out there – middle aged women. I was one of those who loved my Barbie but I never knew all that about her. what an accomplished woman she is and she still has her 19 inch waist. Wow. As for Ken well always thought he was questionable..

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