Fifty is the New… Barbie!
February 13, 2009, by Christie Healey
Yes, that impossibly long-legged perky gal turns 50 in March. Love her or hate her she has, like us, changed with the times and stood the test of time too. I know everyone has a Barbie opinion so let’s have ‘em. Oh, and don’t forget Ken.
February 13th, 2009 at 9:00 am
I remember that iconic original Barbie. My neighbor sewed a whole wardrobe of outfits for her and my sister and I would play “dress up” all day long. So my Barbie memories are fond. I did read an article later that said if you blew Barbie up into life size–her arms would be dragging on the ground and her waist wouldn’t support her bust size. Hilarious. I loved my Barbie dolls.
February 13th, 2009 at 9:22 am
I think that as a feminist I’m probably supposed to hate her and her impossible proportions, her Dream House and Ken, but I think I love Barbie. The memories of playing and using imagination to create hours upon hours of entertainment, are good ones. My mother sewed my Barbie a gorgeous white silk evening gown, trimmed in mink (ok it was the sixties, ya’ll) and even back then I was obsessed with her outfits and accessories. And that Ken well, his anatomically incorrect body was another source of amusement.
Barbie is 50 and has had many reinventions over the years. There are Cher Barbies with Bob Mackie outfits, there’s sporty and professional versions, even an African American Barbie and a Tippi Hendron (star of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”) version with birds flying all about her head. Then there are all the friends (Midge) and family (Skipper). She’s a Mattel marketing bonanza and many artists and thinkers have deconstructed her. So, she gets people to think and to play. Not so bad. Yes, I’m lovin’ Barbie.
February 13th, 2009 at 9:30 am
I noticed that the caption under the first Barbie above says, “original teenage fashion model” — I didn’t realize that she was created as a such. That explains a lot.
February 13th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
For some reason Barbie doesn’t piss me off, although I’m sure her “perfect” body has inspired many to strive for the impossible–just like all the fashion magazines today with their airbrushed models. Moms, teach your girls what’s what! And girls, critical analysis is critical!
February 13th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Am I the only girl whose mother refused to buy her a Barbie? I would spend hours in Broadway’s toy department looking at Barbies, turning over and over in my hands her elaborate costumes in their pink & white striped boxes with see-through plastic windows. How I longed for a Barbie! How I longed to dress her up in her “After Five” outfit with its neat double-breasted rows of white buttons on a crisp black background. How I wished to put that big white hat on her blonde pony-tailed head!
Instead, my mother bought me a Betsy McCall–a flat-chested,ten-inch-tall, brown-haired girl doll whose blue eyes opened and closed–except that one got stuck, giving her a slightly drunken look. How I hated to play dolls with my friends when they all had their Barbies and their outfits–and I had the pre-pubescent Betsy, her plaid, knee-length skirt and her hideous peter pan-collared blouse, her sensible shoes and her stuck eye.
February 13th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
When I first saw Barbie I was living in London and it was the Sixties. Yeah baby, Austin Powers lived. Barbie was my vision of young American Amazon-woman. She was just unbelievable and although we made fun of her, we were all just gobsmacked by her. Crikey, just like Doris Day, we couldnt believe she came from the same species as us.
February 13th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
I also had Betsy McCall, Tiny Tears, who cried real tears, Besty Wetsy, who peed, and my favorite was Patty Playpal, who was three feet tall and I could wear her pink taffeta dress. She’d stand in a corner in my room and one time my mom actually tried to give her a piece of toast. But of all those dolls, only Barbie got a college education.
February 13th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Barbie? Your question reminds me of a silly spoof I thought of when viewing Australian tourism ads, years ago. The character in the ad (it may have been the Crocodile Dundee actor) had a grill going, and invited the viewer to visit Australia, saying, “We’ll throw another shrimp on the barbie for you.”
My spoof, and please consider my cleverness over my crudeness, was to have an ad for an Australian version of Barbie and her boyfriend, with the invitation to visit, offering, “We’ll throw another Ken on the Barbie for you.”
Sorry, sorry, sorry….
February 13th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
I enjoyed Barbie … She could be anything she wanted — a nurse, an astronaut, a dentist, an actress, or a housewife — you name it. Sure, her figure was totally unrealistic, but so were most of the stuffed animals I owned. I never understood why some mothers got so worked up about Barbie, when there are so many real-life anti-feminist fish to fry out in the real world.
February 13th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
O.K. her goes, I loved Barbie, she represented the love and affection my mom poured into sewing by hand all of the clothes for Barbie that she could never afford to buy me as a single mom. I was the luckiest of girls as my mom thought I was every bit as beautiful as Barbie and helped me to believe I was too. In reality the people who called me a lolipop were probably more accurate in their description of me. I still have Barbies teeny tiny incredibly tortorous high heels, pointy sunglasses and all the little books with her outfits in them we could never afford. I even had 4 or 5 of her “real” outfits but I tell you nothing beats the beautiful prom dress my mom made out of her own best dress. I will never be Barbie and don’t even want to but I still loved the places she went with me in my imagination.
February 14th, 2009 at 9:41 am
My sisters and I used to have regular Barbie beheadings. Yes, it is a little barbaric for a group of four petite sisters but we hated Barbie. We would execute her Marie Antoinette style. It is amazing that I turned out ok as an adult! LOL
February 16th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
I loved her. Had the very one in the picture above. Cut her hair, dressed her endlessly. Had Ken and Skipper too. Was just wishing I’d kept her. Had her well into adulthood. But my house was equal image opportunity. I had Poor Pitiful Pearl, Raggedy Ann and tons of Troll dolls. No over identification with any of them. But I also loved my brother’s Matchbox car collection so there you go.
February 17th, 2009 at 12:03 am
i have great memories of playing with all kinds of barbies. i had 3 older sisters, so by the time i came along to “barbie playing age”, there were a ton of them and all their clothes, cars, kens, skippers, etc. i thought she was beautiful but i never once longed to be her. luckily, my self-image never stemmed from my dolls. the magazines, however are a whole ‘nother evil! lordy – those things can warp the mind. happy birthday barbie – strike a pose girl!
February 17th, 2009 at 6:50 am
As a father, I hated Barbie…….I was up until 5am one Christmas Eve trying to put together that stupid Dream House. 3 floors, and elevator! Sheesh!!! I have never had a worse nightmare. So many parts….so few instructions! Hopefully she lives in a Condo now, so Dads of this generation will have it a little easier.
February 24th, 2009 at 9:33 am
Does she still have high-heeled-shaped feet?
October 20th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Barbie never made me gay, gender confused, or less masculine. Barbie was girlfriend and wife for my GI Joe. i always new that it was a toy of fantasy and not reality. It was not as beautiful as a real female. My wife looked nothing like her but was more beautiful. Barbie is aq beautiful toy and a great thing to collect.