Many of us, as children, played and loved Barbies; having her clothes and accessories was our most longed dream and, at least I, always wished to have a girl so that I could share with her my passion for the most sold doll of all time. Although the truth is that Barbie is so transversal, it can be used by boys and girls.
Now big, I have discovered that my passion for Barbies is nothing compared to that of other people; on Instagram I follow many collectors of this doll who spend money and time showing their wonderful collection, building scenery, wearing the same clothes as their doll because they consider that they look physically alike (please see the account @ grandmagetreal, a former model who is already a grandmother and is equal to Grandma Barbie who came out in the 90s).
Even televisions arm between their wrists... And others make them onderwear, dress them up from their favorite singers or actresses. It's a great universe of Barbie lovers, that Instagram. There are also accounts selling vintage Barbies; I Don't know if it was a pandemic effect, but those Barbies from the nineties have reappeared that many of us had or wanted with our soul.
It is that this doll carries directly to childhood; to open those Christmas gifts with the Barbie that Tata bought us from all the cousins, that we later gathered pretending that they were lost cousins, whole afternoons planning the story and the staging of the game that we would develop... I guess most of us, the ones who grew up with Barbie, have the best memories of her. That must be why those Instagram stores that bring the ones that were fashionable in the '90s are so successful as well. And Barbie is still the most sold doll.
There were questions also in Barbie's story, but I think Mattel's reaction to all these reviews are the ones that make us love Barbie; what did the company do when they questioned Barbie's physicist? He designed it to look more like a woman, with wide hips and small breasts. The same thing happened with skin color, with the inclusion of different bodies and cultures; Barbie is still blonde, but she has Latin, African American and Asian friends, she has different bodies (there is one that is "Curvy", more voluptuous and curviline than the others), even includes people with disabilities or, my favorite, people with vitiligo.
All this evolution of including human differences in such a beloved doll makes sense when we read where Barbie came from. I Don't know if you all know your story, but I'll tell it anyway because I thought it was wonderful:
Ruth handler, the creator, realized that her daughter Barbara was not having such a good time playing with dolls in baby shapes. On a trip to Europe, she discovered a miniature mannequin called Bill Lilli, an adult who could be dressed in fashion. With that doll in her hands, she knew it: many girls liked to play adulthood with different occupations than being a mom and housekeeper, and, with that idea in her head, she presented her idea to Mattel, the company she ran with her husband. Obviously, his revolutionary idea seemed very scandalous to the other managers; the girls dreamed of being moms and that was the safe market. But, not for nothing, she was practically the only woman at the head of a great company and got her idea forward, until she got the first Barbie, the one who looked to the side and wore a black swimsuit with white stripes, which turned out to be a success, because, indeed, there were a lot of girls who didn't want to play moms (what impact it must have been for society).
From the moment of her conception, Barbie has had feminist ideas, because she never wanted to marry (Ken's girlfriend was a million years old, but she never married), she had houses, mansions, cars and helicopters, she had no daughters, if not sisters (Skipper the teenager, Stacy the pre-puber, Kelly or Chelsea the little girl and Krissy the baby), a lot of friends with many shapes and colors, plus the most important of all: her professions. Barbie, as her motto says, is to be what she wants to be. Lawyer, astronaut, gymnast, dancer, princess, plane pilot, doctor, vet, teacher and all, all the professions they can think of are in the Barbie, suitable for all the interests of the girls of the world. We Don't all dream of being doctors, for us there's Barbie singer, ballet dancer, painter, stylist... Even pets! We have an immense universe of possibilities to choose from in life and Barbie shows us that we can be all we want.
It's nice to think about Barbie's evolution. In real life, Lisa Simpson would have made her doll with feminist phrases come on the market and be a real success (if someone doesn't understand the reference: "Lisa versus Baby Malibu", episode 14, season 5, a true work of art). There are several cases of girls who have contacted the company because they consider that they have been wrong about something, like when Becky showed up, Barbie's wheelchair friend and a 17-year-old girl with cerebral palsy pointed out that Barbie's house elevator didn't have enough space for the wheelchair... What did Mattel do? He adapted the house for Becky.
The best thing about this story is that I have the excuse to keep playing and remain a child, when I play.
The truth is, I think Barbie made us dream about what we would be when we grew up. Yes, it does "I know what you want to be."
Supermother Team
