The Barbie Rebuttal

I have a tattoo on the back of my right ankle. When I first got it no one knew what it was, it's a more recognizable symbol now due to a newly rehashed ad campaign. More on that later. The idea for this tattoo first struck me in 2007 but it wasn't until the summer of 2009 that I had the nerve to follow through. Pause. My tattoo is simple in nature, it's just a girl with a ponytail. And it's the Barbie logo. I was content to just have my little tattoo because I was confident in what it symbolized but now that symbol has been vilified. And Barbie has been a lot of things, but never a bad girl. 2010 is Barbie's 50th anniversary and in celebration they've relaunched their vintage logo, the one I have so brazenly emblazoned on my ankle. Of course the Barbie movement has had some help with the rise of popular rapper, the "Harajuku Barbie" herself Nicki Minaj.

Let's start with the thought that Barbie skewed our idea of beauty with her blonde hair and blue eyes. As a black woman I can understand that frustration, but to a more forward thinking mind she only represents a type of beauty. I have had friends who fit that blonde/blue eyed model but then I have had friends with the natural fro'd out hair, brown eyes and chocolate skin. And they are equally beautiful. Now, with the understanding that beauty comes in all forms let's proceed from here. Mattel has of course evolved from the standard prototype Barbie and has gone on to include dolls of all ethnicities being added to the Barbie family. True enough, they still have a ways to go with accomodating every race but it is comforting to know that they are aware of the need.

Recently, lifestyle guru and Twitter aficionado E. Bereola published an article lambasting the Barbie monument - hailing Nicki Minaj for marketing strategy and at the same time chastening her followers for being vapid enough to fall for it. As a fan of Mr. Bereola's New School Dandyism and advocacy for modern chivalry I could not have been more hurt. The article chastised women for thinking that this Barbie mold was what men wanted, instead telling us what men do prefer. Is this not as arrogant and as pretentious as the company who first presented us with a blonde haired blue eyed doll and told us this was the standard of beauty? Mr. Bereola goes on to say that if one were to cut Barbie open we would find that she has no heart or no soul. But. I can't in good faith repeat this advice.

Oh, if I were a boy. How could you say that to a little girl with dreams of being a doctor who receives Doctor Barbie for her seventh birthday? Or Ballerina Barbie? Or Astronaut Barbie? Or Businesswoman Barbie?
The doll has become so vilified for being vacuous that everyone has forgotten every time a new Barbie is released, she's usually released with a career. You see, for a girl, for years Barbie hasn't represented what we aren't, but what we can be. Don't look at her aesthetic, dig a little deeper.

Barbie is universal, a symbol from a time where "housewife" and "secretary" were the only occupational options for women, that told little girls could grow up to be whatever they wanted to be - that their achievement was not limited to the kitchen. Barbie is the ultimate Miss Independent so for men to try and take that definition of her away from us is tantamount to trying to revoke our rights to vote, work, and own land. That's harsh, but the meaning is so heavy.

True enough, Nicki Minaj is a gimmick, an entertainer and I can understand you gentlemen's frustration with Nicki imitators: the high pitched voices, vacant stares, and over embellished outfits but to overlook the more internal purpose of Barbie in lieu of caricatures of her simply is not a fair assessment. Don't limit us so! Women of all colors grew up on Barbie. I owned a ton of black Barbies - delighted to have a plaything that actually resembled myself, which further adds to the universal appeal of Barbie.

As a fashion major I feel compelled to defend Barbie, largely in part because my livelihood depends on a knowledge and understanding of pop culture and ability to move with the times. Technically, Barbie is a "fashion doll." When I thought about my tattoo I wanted something that represented how supremely feminine I am, a woman's woman. I revel in anything that is super girly, something about Barbie resonated with me and yes I wanted something that represented my love and livelihood of fashion. And no, I don't look like the blonde haired blue eyed Barbie by any means but as I stated before, my reasoning goes deeper than aesthetics.

Ladies, Barbie belongs to all of us. A solid part of American and even World History, she is bigger than Nicki Minaj and even bigger than Mattel. She represents how far we've come as a s3ex and at the same time how far we have to go. Barbie is a friend, not a foe. I have the Barbie logo stamped on my right ankle, I wear it proudly. The girly, fashion and makeup obsessed, educated, intelligent, articulate and yes even a little ditzy me is a Barbie Girl. And that's not a bad thing.