Abu Barbie

Posted on March 25, 2006 in Consuming Reading

[Excerpted from Harper’s Magazine, which quoted a study being conducted at the University of Bath School of Management, Bath, England]

The most striking thing about the discourse that surrounded Barbie was the rejection, hatred, and violence that the doll provoked. Barbie evoked practically no positive sentiments — even among seven-year-old girls

One interpretation of this perplexing finding may be that although Barbie masquerades as a person, she actually exists in multiple selves. The children never talked of one single, special Barbie. She was always referred to in the plural. Moreover, accounts of Barbie ownership always implied excess — too many Barbies. Most children had not only more than one Barbie but a box of Barbies; and not just a box but a very large box.

Barbie is hated because she is babyish; she is hated because she is unfashionable; she is hated because she is plastic; she is hated because she is a feminine icon.

But reactions to Barbie went beyond an expressed antipathy. Actual physical violence toward the doll was repeatedly reported (gleefully) across age, school, and gender. Girls see Barbie-torture as a legitimate play activity and see the torture as cool, in contrast to other forms of play with the doll. The types of mutilation are varied and creative, and range from removing the hair to decapitation, burning, and microwaving.

One might expect a doll to fulfill the function of a friend or playmate. One might expect a little girl to consider her Barbie a person, a human to whom she might talk. One might expect her to love her Barbie and to expect imaginary love in return. Instead, girls feel little besides hatred toward their Barbies.