New arrivals!

So although this post might seem a tad pointless, as an avid Barbie lover I was pretty excited to hear the news of two new Barbie coming out this year. And many of you wouldn’t know this but along with my love of Barbie, I am also a huge fan of Pirates of the Caribbean movies. So to find that Mattel has created ‘The Pirate’ doll, my day was truly brightened (as pathetic as that may be). The doll, as BarbieCollector.com says, “captures the adventurous essence [of the famous swashbuckler of the sea] in both an edgy and glamorous way.” Sharon Zuckerman designed the outfit which consists of a long brocade coat, blue velvet breeches, lacy vest, and a white ruffled blouse. She also has a matching hat, boots, bandanna, and sword to bring the entire look together. “With pirates being so popular right now, we wanted to create a pirate look for Barbie that was a little daring while still being glamorous,” Sharon told BarbieCollector.com in a recent interview. Pirate themed Barbies will not be the only addition to Mattel’s line this year, but they will also be adding the ‘Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders’ Barbies as well. With the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders becoming more than ever popular it was only necessary for Mattel to recognize them by creating a Barbie in their honor. “And because both entities embrace and celebrate multiculturalism, Barbie Collector has created not one, not two, but three fabulous dolls –a stunning blonde Caucasian, a gorgeous brunette Latina, and a breathtaking African America.” The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Barbies mark the Barbie of the month for December and have just arrived in time for the holidays, and everyone seems to be as excited for the release as Mattel and the Texas cheerleaders are. And as for me, I guess I might be a little old to say…but I might just be expanding my Christmas list after seeing these new arrivals…for a collection of course. : )

Through the eyes of a child

Have you ever caught yourself thinking about something through a different person’s eyes. Watching my little sister play with her friends and her Barbies is what made me post this next blog. When I watch my little sister play with her dolls, I can see how her imagination takes over. For her its not about what the doll looks like, because in all they are all going to have bad hairstyles once she plays hairdresser or poor makeup when she uses markers for an unintended purpose, but its where she is going to go with that doll. Where her Barbie can take her. I really think that Barbie looks differently in her eyes, than in the eyes of all the critical adults in the world. For her, Barbie is a way for her to travel the world and accomplish anything, without ever leaving our basement. I thought it was interesting that I was not the only one who thought about this theory. As I browsed the different areas of Barbies website, I cam across the blog, “Barbie, one dad’s view” by Mattel’s Chuck Scothon who is the General Manager and Senior Vice president for the Girls Mattel Brands. He was also seeing that Barbie represents something totally different for his 5-year daughter than what an older adult may think. I thought it was interesting as well that he is encouraging anyone to visit webelieeveingirls.com and comment on the overall affects that Barbie might have on anyone. He wants to hear about all of the comments or concerns that mothers, daughters, or even fathers might have toward the brand Barbie. I also thought it was inspiring to see that he was able to capture a little bit of what his daughter and my sister see in the beloved doll. That Barbie is not trying to represent a false image of women in any way, but that she is there to empower all girls to embrace their imagination and reach for their goals.

A display that sparked some memories...

This week’s blog was inspired by a photo that I found this weekend. While looking for pictures to include in a scrapbook for my grandma I came across this picture of my Mom from the summer. I spent the summer in Washington, D.C. for an internship that I had with the congresswoman of my district. My family came down at the end of the summer and stayed with me and spent a few days traveling the city. Of course we went to all of the Smithsonian Museums, and since the American History museum was closed for renovations. Luckily the National Air and Space Museum featured ‘Treasures of American History.’ And as shown in the picture, there was a display featuring an old Barbie and a carrying case. My Mom immediately recognized the case and Barbie on display were the exact set that she had as a little girl. As soon as we went home, my Mom pulled out her old case and some of her Barbies. To see how she still had everything neatly packed away, made me really see how much she cherished her Barbies. Reminiscing, she showed my some of the different styles of clothing that were her favorites and even some that she had sewn herself. And although, kids today have boxes of accessories and different styled dolls, I thought it was so interesting to compare the old Barbie to my own Barbies that I had saved at home. All in all it just made me really think how much Mattel’s Barbie has influenced girls from my Mom’s childhood years to my own, and I was glad to see that it was recognized by the Smithsonian organization. I will be curious to see if the display changes once the renovations to the American History Museum are complete.

Doll Web Sites Drive Girls to Stay Home and Play

Once again, this week I found myself browsing the web looking for another interesting look into the Barbie phenomenon. Interestingly, I found an article that describes a new way of playing with dolls. I am sure we have all heard of the digital utopia of Second Life, however this is not what I am referring too. This child friendly version is known as Cartoon Doll Emporium. The site lets children dress up their virtual dolls and chat with their friends. And 9 year old Presleigh Montemayor believes the site might begin to beat playing with regular dolls. “With Barbie, if you want clothes, it costs money. You can do it on the Internet for free,” she explains. This new fad has attracted millions of children, especially girls, to take a higher step away from the traditional ways of playing with dolls. Cartoon Doll Emporium is “like Facebook or MySpace with training wheels, aimed at an audience that may be getting its first exposure to the Web.” Other sites like these include: Club Penguin, Webkinz, and Stardoll. However, Barbie has found that they must take this new attraction, and put forth with their own competitive forces. Mattel is introducing BarbieGirls.com, which with be another dress-up site with chat features. Although, the allure of these sites do seem to be attracting lots of newcomers, parents are still encouraging their children to stick with old-fashioned alternatives. “If you’re lucky enough to have a kid next door,” Sherry Turkle, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies the social aspects of technology, exclaims, “I’d have a play date instead of letting your kid sit at the computer.” So although I would note that the interactive websites will continue to be a fun alternative to traditional children’s games, I still believe that the demand for the actual tangible doll or toy will continue to thrive. I mean what kid do you know is asking Santa for a subscription to a website…instead of an actual toy…?

Quotes taken from: "Doll Web Sites Drive Girls to Stay Home and Play" from The New York Times, published June 6th, 2007

Go Red For Women

I found myself looking through the Barbie Collector website and came across a very interesting news release. Mattel has recently given The American Heart Association $100,000 in support for the Go Red for Women movement. The movement is focused on raising awareness on heart disease. Sadly, heart disease is the number one killer of women and men today. Currently the philanthropy for my sorority Alpha Phi is focused on riainsg money for the research to prevent and raise awareness of heart disease. Knowing that others, such as Mattel, is also supporting the cause is a wonderful thing to hear about because I know that with a group effort, we can make a difference. Mattel’s Go Red For Women Barbie Doll is dressed in a beautiful and glamorous red dress to remind women that they have the power to make the right choices towards having a healthy heart. The campaign is also asking women to ‘Go Red in Your Own Fashion’ so that all women can join in to fight against heart disease. I truly found this to be a wonderful cause that Mattel is supporting, and I know all women would feel the same way. So this week I am encouraging myself and all the women in my life to support the cause by visiting the website GoRedForWomen.org to learn more for women. Awareness is the first step toward preventing heart disease. “Through education, using the right tools, and with passionate action, you CAN reduce your chances of developing heart disease!” (Barbie Collector Website)

Barbie travels to the internet....

This past weekend, I traveled home to babysit and found myself visiting the Barbie world in a different way other than the tangible doll. And what I mean is the aspect of how Barbie has become part of the internet world. In 1996 Mattel launched http://www.barbie.com/ as their official Barbie website. I visited this website with the children I babysat with and it really was a great addition to my Barbie experience. Travelers to website can customize their Barbie based on different hair, eye, make-up, and fashion combinations. There are also interactive games, storybooks about Barbie and her friends, and lots of other fun activities. The website is continually updated and allows all the fans of Barbie to be continually connected to one of their favorite dolls. And even though I am in college, I found the website to be a fun place to visit…in other words a great procrastination tool for those nights when I really don’t want to crack open any books.

Barbie is not Bad

For this week’s blog, I decided to look into some of the aspects of why many people find Barbie to have negative impact on children. So to start I think I will look at what researchers claim to be the fault of Barbie. Vicki Zaitz a child therapist and licensed clinical social worker stated claims that “Barbie reinforces the idea that all bodies look the same, that there is one perfect way to look. And if you don’t look that way, there is something wrong with you.” This image that young girls look up leaves room for debate that girls are pressured to strive for unrealistic body types. Some claim that girls today as young as 8 years old are already dieting and trying to achieve the body types that the media has recognized as acceptable. However, although I agree that the media has forced some negative implications on body image among girls at a young age, I do not think that you can consider Barbie a leading factor in this debate. I will admit Barbie used to be portrayed solely as America’s blonde-haired, blue-eyed sweetheart standing only 11 ½ inches tall, I do not agree with the fact that Barbie can force girls into wanting to change their own body image. Looking at other dolls, they too in fact have a general body type that is consistent, while their looks change through their clothes and make-up as well as Barbie. I think Mattel is taking great steps in trying to portray Barbie as a better image for young girls. They are now changing the appearance to accommodate the different aspects of different cultures and races. This I believe will allow debates to be lessened in regards to Barbie as being bad for young girls. I think the most important think that Barbie still consistently portrays is the idea of the girl population in general to be able to accomplish anything they put their mind to. In the past women were not able to hold certain jobs, but it is clear that we are just as capable as men are within the workforce. And I think Barbie continually allows little girls to, at a young age, formulate different dreams and wishes inside their head as to what they want to become in the future. I don’t think we are looking at what Barbie looks like anymore, but what she can do, and in the end what we can do!

As I read through some of the history of Barbie, I came across this little paragraph on the Barbie Collector Website: “It all started when Ruth Handler noticed her daughter Barbara playing with paper dolls and imagining them in grown up roles. Ruth realized that dolls on the market at the time were all baby dolls, and that there was a need for a doll that would inspire little girls to think about what they wanted to be when they grew up. Thus the idea for Barbie doll, the teenage fashion model, was born. Ruth named the doll Barbie, after her daughter – and the rest is history.” This quote made me think about how little girls really do look at Barbie and the accomplishments she has occurred in her pretend world, could someday imitate what we expect of ourselves to accomplish. Two Barbies immediately came to mind that made all of this talk about future careers really make sense: Astronaut Barbie and the Anne Klein Barbie. One Christmas morning when I was about ten and my sister was eleven, we both received what would become of all-time favorite Barbie from Santa. Krissy unwrapped the special edition Astronaut Barbie, and I unwrapped the Anne Klein Barbie. Now it may seem that just because we were given a certain Barbie that does not mean that that would be our future career choice. But I can say that it does make sense that my sister is now studying Aerospace engineering and hoping some day to become an astronaut or at least design spacecrafts for NASA. And for me, I am studying business and entrepreneurship in hopes that someday I will become the founder of my own business. I can’t say that Barbie influenced where my sister and I would pursue our interests, but I can say that looking back, I do understand now why I may not picked my Teacher Barbie or Doctor Barbie to play with more than I did my business looking Barbie. It may be a far fetched theory, but I think that the Barbie that one considers as their favorite when they are a little girl, could showcase a certain career interest that could be part of that same girls future. On a lighter note, this assumption could hold to be very wrong, because in fact that would mean that my little sister will end up being a famous singer…and by the sound of her singing voice it looks as though this could never happen. However, maybe that just means that her future career is something that Barbie still needs to accomplish as well.

Kimora Barbie

Recently I have found myself caught in the reality T.V. trap. And as much as I used to claim I would never be part of the trend, I too am a fan of the shows such as The Hills, Rock of Love, and now just recently Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane. Life in the Fab Lane follows the life of Kimora Lee Simons and her journey as a mogul, model, and most of all a mom. However, on one of the more recent episodes, I found myself coming back to the idea of Barbie. Mattel has just recently made a Kimora Barbie. This is a huge milestone for Barbie because it is the first bi-racial Barbie, Japanese and African American. Kimora made sure that designs for the Barbie suited both her cultures with details such as Asian eyes and thick, African lips. The doll was initially supposed to be called the Kimora Lee Simons Doll, but with Kimora debated that one. “No, I want her to be the Kimora BARBIE, you keep wanting to take that away from me!..She’s not the side kick!” Mattel finally agreed on the name change and the doll will soon be sold in stores. I was so excited to see that once again, Barbie is exceeding all limits. She no longer is limited to the same color, ethnicity, or body shape as the original 1959 doll, but she is becoming an icon for all women. So as much as I wish I wasn’t wasting some of my precious time that should be spent studying or doing anything else useful, I really do enjoy my reality T.V. shows. And it makes me also realize how many other people as well as myself still have a love for Barbie. Whether you’re a huge fashion designer or even just a mom, one thing is for sure, who wouldn’t love to have a Barbie designed after them…?

To all those who wish they could still play with Barbies....

Never say Bye Bye to Barbie is really my own way of saying I wish I was 10 again and playing Barbies in my basement with my sister. Recently, my little sister turned 10 and I watched as her eyes light up as she unwrapped her presents. And to no surprise to me, her favorite gifts were Barbies. She immediately ran into our den, which she has morphed into a Cate and Friends Only play room, with her two other best friends and started their next Barbie adventure. Seeing this made me remember the times of my old birthdays and how I too could not wait to take my new Barbies into the world that my older sister and I had created. To some it might have looked like a simple cardboard box with dividers for rooms that dumb little dolls could play in, but for us it was a place to accomodate all of our dreams and desires. There were no limitations in our Barbie world and our guide was simply our imagination.

So this is a tribute to Barbie, who she was for my mom, who she was for my older sister and I, and who she is now for my younger sister.