Barbie

Barbie is most definitely a popular culture icon. For this reason we need to pay attention to the messages that Barbie and Barbie accouterments send to us and especially our children. Barbie and Barbie accouterments have played, throughout the years, an important role in reinforcing the values and beliefs of American dominant culture. The “regular” Barbie is white and blond. She is the standard for all the other dolls, which are the ethnic dolls. The “regular” Barbie is thematic while the others are given professions and descriptions of diet, personality, language, and culture. Because the “regular” Barbie is white, it reinforces the idea of white supremacy in American society and establishes her look as the standard of beauty and privilege.

Another characteristic of Barbie that I found interesting is the fact that she is moral. This makes me think of the movie “Toy Story 3”, in which Barbie changes her initial futile behavior and becomes the character full of morality. When the toys first arrive at the school, Barbie is over the moon with Ken’s house and countless outfits. This actually depicts the materialist and consumerist side of Barbie that I will talk about a little later. However, Barbie has a change of heart and decides that she needs to help her friends, which is very moral of her.

Going back to the consumerist and materialist side of Barbie, this is an issue that affects children and teenagers directly. Barbie has everything. Children want to have all the versions of Barbie and all the accessories that come along with them. This influences children to become active in consumerism and materialism at an early age. Children and teenagers then conform to American dominant culture which highlights consumerism and materialism as the main social and economic order.