Thursday, April 5, 2012
Barbie & Mattel
I noticed a few of you mentioned that although Barbie is white and has unrealistic body proportions, that the corporation is improving by including different races and occupations for Barbie to have. I insist that you still be highly skeptical of the reasons and motivations for "broadening the horizons" for Barbie, so to speak. The reality is that while Barbie may have earned herself some "ethnic" friends, they remain on the sidelines production-wise and still do not achieve the same kind of level of mass production or advertising that Barbie gets. Demoted to being sidekick gal pals to Barbie, her ethnic friends have ridiculous names like Jazzy and do not garner their own advertising spots, mini-movies, or anything solo without Barbie at the forefront. For Barbie to have non-white friends is a step in the right direction, but it feels more like Mattel filling a socially-conscious quota in order to seem politically correct, rather than serving as an ethical role model system for young girls.
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I completely agree with what your saying and I think it can also be added that Barbie’s “ethnic” friends are also created as a way to expand to more consumers. It is not so much about making Barbie more diverse it is about making Barbie more relatable to more girls to increase profit. Because, like the video Killing Us Softly said, the ads of women, which is what Barbie is, are unrealistic. Barbie becomes even more unrealistic to young girls when she is not the same skin color as the little girl that is trying to relate to this doll. However, even after the “ethnic” doll is introduced it still has the same physical features as Barbie. By leaving the same physical features on the “ethnic” doll and only changing her skin color, is just another way to continue reinforcing false ideals in order to increase consumerism and to fit a socially-conscious quota.
ReplyDelete-melissa L.