March was Women’s History Month, but let’s continue to highlight some of the amazing women of our generation and generations before us. That being said, one woman who I think doesn’t get enough recognition as she deserves is Barbie.
The Barbie franchise has always been incredibly controversial and if I were to say Barbie was a feminist icon, most people would disagree.
A lot of people’s problems with Barbie is that they assume she’s some damsel in distress who’s being always saved by a prince, but after watching most of the Barbie movies recently, that occurrence is surprisingly rare.
In the 2002 film “Barbie as Rapunzel,” Barbie doesn’t exactly care about the prince in the movie, she cares a lot more about her freedom from her evil mother. Not only is Barbie indulged in the arts after she finds a magical paintbrush, but she also freed herself from the tower she was captured in. The prince had nothing to do with it.
In almost every Barbie movie, Barbie is the hero of the day, and it’s never really the man. The man almost acts as a side character just meant for comedic relief or a love interest.
A common misconception about Barbie is that she takes on more of a housewife position to her boyfriend, Ken, when in reality it’s the opposite. Barbie has over 100 careers, including doctor, engineer, and Olympian. Meanwhile, Ken plays the “housewife” role. All he really does is support Barbie.
Speaking of Barbie’s careers, Barbie dolls have been created to showcase her many different jobs. Take a look at this post below as an example.
As you can see, Barbie has been promoting women in space since 1965, which is really important because if you think about it, most people in 1965 were not okay with women going into space.
Similar to Barbie in space, Barbie earning a medical degree in 1973 matters. Little girls were playing with Barbie dolls that had medical degrees and went to space in a time when women’s rights weren’t moving at the same pace.
What I personally like about Barbie, is that she really challenges common stereotypes about women. For example, there is a stereotype that more feminine women can’t be taken seriously because all they care about is fashion and beauty. While Barbie is incredibly feminine and loves fashion and beauty, she is also a woman in STEM.
Nowadays, I think people use Barbie to stereotype girls, which is upsetting. When people use Barbie as a comparison to women, they don’t mean it in a good way. Instead, it’s seen as an insult, kind of like a dumb blonde who only cares about fashion.
In reality, Barbie and her whole franchise have really important messages for young girls that deserved to be appreciated.
As a little girl, I loved Barbie. I would play the Barbie video games and explore her different occupations, and it exposed me to the fact that women can succeed in predominately male occupations like engineering or business.
She’s a leader, in her TV show and the Barbie movies, and honestly, a lot of her personality traits are really inspirational. Barbie is motivated, strong, independent, smart and caring.
Instead of finding faults in the franchise, I think people should start appreciating some of the lessons Barbie has to offer.