#UNAPOLOGETIC?
On my trip to New York last year, I spotted this on a digital sign and had to take a picture.
Barbie has always been a favorite of mine. She was there through the good and bad times, never questioning, always listening. I wasn’t one of those kids who played with baby dolls, they bored me, right along with playing house and other realistic pantomimes of adult life.
The fashion and beauty worlds fascinated me and Barbie helped nurture that fascination. She truly did inspire me, so the tag “Designed To Inspire” is correct. My problem is with #UNAPOLOGETIC. Mattel is hardly unapologetic when it comes to Barbie. They’ve been apologizing for Barbie for years now.
I don’t deny there have been some stupid design choices and marketing campaigns, but as a whole I blame society for many of the interpretations. In this age of political correctness, we blow many things out of proportion, or twist them to suit our personal ideology. We then push this agenda on others. Isn’t this a form of prejudice and lack of tolerance?
Barbie has been forced to undergo some major changes through out the years. Yes, she needed to follow the makeup and hair trends to reflect the times, we all do that. What I’m referring to is all the “plastic surgery” she’s endured. She’s had breast reduction, her hips and waist resized, and many other “small” adjustments to her physique. All decreed by society and how they thought she should look.
By forcing her to change are we not sending the wrong message? Are we not saying, because we don’t like how you look, you need to change? Are we body shaming Barbie?
May 29, 2015 @ 2:29 PM
I have to tend to agree with you 2,000%, AR!! I NEVER played with Barbies or played house, but now that I am older, it’s the misfit dolls that have my interest. I ADORE Living Dead Dolls, and Bleeding Edge Goth dolls are they are the collector dolls I gravitate towards. I guess because I felt society kept pushing all us girls to look like Barbie or we were failures and unattractive. I do admit I have several Barbie’s representing the great Marilyn Monroe. All my dolls stay boxed, and I relate to them much better than Barbie’s ever changing looks. I think the greatest insult Mattel did with Barbie was make her “Plus Sized” She looked grotesque and so unrealistic. Talk about fat-shaming when we have so many young girls and women with body dysmorphia.