Aging Gracefully

philosophy and inclusive representation is an awesome promotion for the Barbie movie coming out on July 26. The movie is giving the doll a renewed spotlight, and using representation as marketing is a great angle to get the love of the public.

Barbie has the chance right now to redefine her brand. Disconnecting Barbie from the dumb blonde stereotype could permanently establish her as a feminist icon who can achieve anything. Barbie is a successful woman who can have any career, and is represented by dolls with diverse races and body types.

Last month, Mattel expanded Barbie’s inclusivity by releasing the first Barbie doll with Down syndrome in collaboration with the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS). In a post on Barbie’s official instagram account, president and CEO of NDSS Kandi Pickard affirmed that “this means so much for our community.” The power of inclusion should never be underestimated.

But has Barbie always been such a feminist toy?

In 1997, Aqua released the song “Barbie Doll,” which, while not officially associated with Barbie, captures the way that many millennials and older Gen Z children viewed Barbie. The song describes a completely different idea of what Barbie stands for today.

Memorable lyrics from the song are “I’m a Barbie girl in a Barbie world, life in plastic, it’s fantastic” and “I'm a blonde bimbo girl.” These illustrate a superficial girl that does not care about increasing her knowledge, only about her appearance.

Moreover, the lines “make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please” erase all agency, personality and competence from Barbie’s image. She is portrayed as a character who needs a man to make decisions for her, whose only desire is to please her boyfriend.

The upcoming movie Barbie characterizes the doll as a woman capable of everything. She is no longer a ‘blonde bimbo girl’ that can be played with by a man. Margot Robbie, the actress who plays Barbie in the movie, shared her view on the character in a video interview with Vogue.

“She owned her own car, she owned her own house, she had a cute boyfriend but he was kind of like an accessory.” Robbie said. “She can do all these things and she was doing it back in the time when women couldn’t even have their own bank accounts.”

In addition, her co-star, Ryan Gosling, who plays Ken in the film, in an interview on The Tonight Show shared that he sees his character as merely another one of Barbie’s accessories.

What is interesting about his comment is that even such powerful women as Barbie are often linked to a man's image. But Gosling’s commentary suggests a subversion of gender roles in the film. Barbie is an outstanding woman that does not rely on a guy to save her and she accomplished her goals independently and made her own path. She represents the idea that any woman can reach any goal they establish for themselves. Women are enough, and it is about time for Hollywood's productions to illustrate that.