@Thomas,
Thomas wrote:
ehBeth wrote: Let's see. Barbie was probably the first grown-up woman I knew personally who had a job, owned her own car, lived by herself in an apartment. That sort of thing didn't happen much in the suburbs in the early 1960's.
That's right hon. And we down here in West Virginia still don't appreciate women of her kind. Next thing you know they want to vote!
The idea that Barbie is any kind of positive role model or any symbol of progress in society is ridiculous.
I am very happy that Mija has plenty of real positive role models-- Women who are engineers. Women who love math (and are good at it). Women with all sorts of normal figures and skin tones. Women who prefer boxing to shopping. Women with different lifestyles and interests.
Let's talk about the cultural impact of Barbies. Has Barbie ever done anything out of the mainstream traditional roles of womanhood at the time she was marketed?
Has there ever been a Barbie in a same sex relationship? Heck, has Barbie even been portrayed in an interracial relationship?
Of course Barbie wasn't around for the Sufferage movement... but do you think she would have been marketed as a Sufferagette at the time? What similarities do you see between Alice Paul and Barbie? I bet Barbie has never even been to jail.
No! Barbie is a symbol of the stereotypes in society. As, such she is hampering progressive change, not supporting it. If she ever get's around to supporting progress in society it is about 10 or 15 years after the change has already been made.
