On July 21, 2023, the most anticipated movie of the year was released. Barbie has taken the world by storm, collaborating with just about any brand that you can think of — from Cold Stone Creamery to Progressive, it’s difficult to ignore. “Barbiecore” has become a cultural phenomenon, basically owning the color pink in regards to clothing. However, there has been quite a bit of backlash on the doll herself.
Before the Kardashians and Victoria’s Secret models, Barbie was the original toxic inspiration for body image. Her perfect smile and hourglass-shaped figure molded young girls’ minds on what beauty should look like. Pregnant Barbie dolls also existed for a period of time, and let’s not forget about the Growing up Glam doll. Still, the creators of Mattel and writer Gretta Gerwig have worked hard to give Barbie a new image.
The movie Barbie sheds light on what girls ought to look up to, such as powerful female leaders and caring less about what others think about them, rather than just looking perfect and doing what men expect women to do.
“I knew that she was going to take a more serious view of the Barbie movie,” teacher Lisa Dykes said. “I knew it was going to have a more feminist overtone.”
Gretta Gerwig has worked on other feminist pieces as well, such as Little Women.
“I think she’s a director who always takes on social commentary pieces, both humorously and dramatically,” teacher Carinn Mariani said. “It had to be satirical or else it wouldn’t have worked.”
Despite Barbie criticisms in the past, Mattel has made some recent improvements on the doll to make her more realistic and relatable.
“Barbie has been heavily criticized historically for presenting an unattainable body image for girls,” teacher Sarah Brown said. “I think that they’ve made some advancements recently, especially with their little kid TV shows that my daughters watch. They have full figured Barbies and diverse Barbies.”
Even in past years, it has been taught that Barbie should not be a symbol of the ideal woman.
“I had Barbies, but you know, this was the 1970s when I was a little kid, and my mother would tell me that she couldn’t even have a checking account without her husband signing as the cosigner,” Mariani said. “She was also at a very high position for the company that she worked for and she was very sensitive to gender stereotypes. While I was not prohibited from playing with Barbies, I learned from a very young age of the kind of stereotypes that they represent.”
Although the movie was a huge hit and most audiences left feeling some sort of way, it’s a bit difficult to pinpoint the exact message behind the film.
“I think the message was somewhat convoluted,” Mariani said. “I’m not sure there was a message. It thought it had a message, but I don’t think the line of reasoning stayed coherent enough to be able to walk out feeling better educated [or having] a different idea about something. I kind of walked away from it like ‘and?’.
However, other Barbie fans saw the movie in a different light.
“I think it says a lot about feminism in general, that it’s not just for women,” Dykes said. “Feminism is not just a women’s issue, it’s a human issue. Coming from someone who teaches global studies, I think it’s an important issue for everyone to understand.”
At the end of the day, Barbie has shaped the childhood of girls and women for decades and has been passed down for generations. Everyone loves her for a different reason.
“For me, it was always about Barbie’s pursuit of her actual passion and fashion,” said Dykes. “I’ve always been about the fashion. I wasn’t someone who grew up with a lot of access to fashion, and I was always taking it apart and sewing it back together to make something new.”
For some, Barbies even brought family members together.
“I always had Barbies and my grandmother would hand stitch clothing for my Barbies,” Brown said.
