Barbie is Everything, But How?
Image Courtesy: People
From being royal princesses one day to vigilante spies who could miraculously fly the next, my Barbies could do everything and be everything. Their versatility not only came from how I thought of them but in their appearance. The ability to stylize their accessories and clothes allowed my stories to be immersive rather than silly, nonsensical tales. With the new teasers and posters from Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, the doll’s multifaceted abilities were perfectly captured by emphasizing her sense of impeccable fashion.
What made Barbie an iconic and monumental staple for younger girls was her ability to be both beautiful and talented, becoming anything in the eyes of the beholder. With the first teaser trailer being a parody of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Barbie’s marveled presence amongst a group of little girls holding baby dolls illustrates a drastic change in how girls once viewed themselves. Her coiled, curly bangs, white shades, zebra-print swimsuit, and matching heels are a direct reference to her first-ever appearance in stores in 1959. The significance of this outfit is how unconventional it was for the time, being that women were forced to dress modestly. Barbie breaks this societal norm by being classically flamboyant, teaching young girls that there is more to a woman than being a caregiver. Her costume not only acts as a stark contrast to the time period and its beliefs, but it juxtaposes the setting around her: a vast and empty desert. The environment represents the shallow pigeonhole women were placed in, isolated in thinking they could only appear a certain way. Barbie’s illustrious swimsuit contradicts this by embracing her femininity. Barbie’s fashion opened the door for feminine expression and having confidence in one’s womanhood, reversing the monolithic standards concocted by the patriarchy and taught to little girls.
Image Courtesy: Reddit
Barbie’s hyper-femininity and exuberance not only allowed women to be confident in themselves, but it challenged the male gaze. The shot in the most recent trailer where Barbie removed her heel to show her foot positioned in the classic Barbie stance not only stopped the Earth from spinning and revolutionized all of cinema (Oppenheimer take notes), but it demonstrates how unique Barbie truly is. With her tiptoe walk and various pink outfits, Barbie becomes the automatic focus in anything she does or is a part of, even if it doesn’t match the job description. For instance, the character posters display various Barbies and their professions, such as Nicola Coughlan’s Barbie being a diplomat while modeling large, pink puffy sleeves and Emma Mackey’s Barbie having a Nobel Prize in Physics while wearing a pastel green dress with matching pink accents. The outfits contrasting their character description cleverly pair femininity with traditionally male careers, showing that a woman can do anything while owning and being prideful of herself. Most importantly, Barbie’s world upholds matriarchal standards, with the Kens just being Kens, nothing more and nothing less. Their contribution to BarbieLand is insignificant and their purpose is to simply endorse the female gaze, or as I like to call it, the “Barbie-gaze”. Even the clothes the Kens wear are hyper-feminine, engulfing them in a society that places men in the position to uphold womanhood.
Being a pivotal figure of muliebrity, Barbie culturally and socially challenged how women were perceived and created a positive space for feminine expression and pride. Through her flawless style and ability to pull off any outfit, Barbie conquers what was once a man’s world and transforms it into something better. She is the moment and the movement; Barbie is everything.
Strike Out,
Writer: Sophia Ferraro
Editor: Addy Crosby
Tallahassee