A group of students from the  Culture Journalism programme here at Umeå University will film an interview with me today about the impact of Barbie on popular culture. And since I tend to say yes to everything, I said I would do it. When discussing Barbie, I think you can get quite a long way by relating the phenomenon to general theories of gendered and sexual subjectivities, and of social change, and of the relation between popular culture and the identities, dreams and aspirations of its users.

Still, to be a little more prepared than that, I decided to research the field a bit. Unsurprisingly, the subject is often discussed in terms of the potentially negative effects of Barbie on young girls: “Skinny Barbie blamed over eating disorders” (TimesOnline), “Barbie’s body may be perfect, but critics remind us it’s plastic” (Knight-Ridder), “Distorting reality for children: Body size proportions of Barbie and Ken dolls” (International Journal of Eating Disorders). But I also stumbled over this comprehensive article which both summarizes previous research on Barbie, and presents new empirical studies. Things that I will bring with me to the interview [most of these are direct quotes from here]:

- Barbie is one of the most successful toys of the 20th century and, arguably, the icon of female beauty and the American dream. Children’s toys are influential in the development of self-concept [messages about gender, adult roles, and values].

- There is disagreement over the messages the Barbie sends and the toy’s place in the lives of young girls.

- It has been argued that Barbie reflects a highly sexualized image and circumscribe girls’ play by emphasizing prescribed roles and patterns of interaction [promoting stereotypical feminine roles].

- Most interviewed girls (in a study of early-adolescent boys and girls)  reported owning at least two Barbie dolls. They reported no longer playing with Barbie dolls; however, when the group facilitator produced several Barbie dolls for use in their focus group session, many of the girls exclaimed, “Barbie!” and all expressed the desire to hold one of the dolls.

- A surprisingly common form of Barbie-related play reported by the participants was torture play. All reported damaging their dolls by cutting off the hair, painting them, or even removing appendages.

- The majority of participants argued that Barbie presents an unrealistic image of perfection that may harm girls’ developing self-concept and body image. Some reported that Barbie dolls offer positive role models because they allow girls to imagine a variety of careers and practice female adult roles.

- The disfigured Barbie doll may represent girls’ ambivalent views about their developing feminine self.

Also, a note about the continued popularity of Barbie from Elisabeth Eaves (forbes.com). She asks: “why, in this era of digital games, educational toys and over-involved parents, does our collective fascination with Barbie linger on?”. She continues:

Ninety percent of American girls ages three to 10 own at least one Barbie, according to the doll’s maker, Mattel  (nyse: MAT -  news  -  people ), and that’s just the primary market. Barbie has inspired impassioned legions of adult collectors who dote on her various iterations and costumes. She is imitated–in December, Mattel won a copyright infringement case against MGA Entertainment, maker of the Bratz dolls, who are a poutier-lipped, trashier variation. And for decades, Barbie had the distinction of being a feminist whipping girl, blamed for inspiring little girls to want to grow up to be sex objects with unrealistic physical proportions. Barbie marches on undaunted.

Referring to this book about Barbie inventor Ruth Handler, she gives some clues to the love-hate relationship [direct quotes from Eaves' article]:

- “Barbie is fascinating in part because she discomforts, which she does by shining a light where we don’t want to look, specifically on children’s sexuality.”

- “The inspiration behind Handler’s invention, she repeatedly said, was her observation that ‘little girls just wanted to be bigger girls.’”

- “Girls who play with Barbie are, among other things, playing at being desired.“

Finally, from Wikipedia, about Barbie collectors:

- There are well over 100,000 avid Barbie collectors. Ninety percent are women, at an average age of 40.

- Vintage Barbie dolls from the early years are the most valuable. On September 26, 2006, a Barbie doll set a world record at auction of £9,000 sterling (US $17,000) at Christie’s in London.

- In recent years Mattel has sold a wide range of Barbie dolls aimed specifically at collectors, including porcelain versions, vintage reproductions, and depictions of Barbie as a range of characters from television series.

- There are also collector’s edition dolls depicting Barbie dolls with a range of different ethnic identities.

In 2004 Mattel introduced the Color Tier system for its collector’s edition Barbie dolls, ranging through pink, silver, gold and platinum depending on how many of the dolls are produced.