The last week’s deluge of opinions on whether Barbie — the movie, the entity — is genius or mere marketing smut curiously coincided with the sad news of Sinead O’Connor’s death. And I found myself wondering: what are we really talking about when we consider whether Barbie is any good for us or not? Are we talking about the doll, the children’s toy industry, or something else entirely? Rightly so, we are exhausted and saddened by the reminder of being female in a world that has very specific (and ever-more challenging) qualifications for what we should be doing and what we ought to look like while achieving it (or not achieving it). But is our complaint with Barbie (her creators, her industry), or are we angry instead with all the flesh-and-blood figures in our lives who have much more influence on us and who daily tell us we are too much of this and not enough of that - no matter what we do?
Barbie, Can We Ever Forgive You?
Barbie, Can We Ever Forgive You?
Barbie, Can We Ever Forgive You?
The last week’s deluge of opinions on whether Barbie — the movie, the entity — is genius or mere marketing smut curiously coincided with the sad news of Sinead O’Connor’s death. And I found myself wondering: what are we really talking about when we consider whether Barbie is any good for us or not? Are we talking about the doll, the children’s toy industry, or something else entirely? Rightly so, we are exhausted and saddened by the reminder of being female in a world that has very specific (and ever-more challenging) qualifications for what we should be doing and what we ought to look like while achieving it (or not achieving it). But is our complaint with Barbie (her creators, her industry), or are we angry instead with all the flesh-and-blood figures in our lives who have much more influence on us and who daily tell us we are too much of this and not enough of that - no matter what we do?