Barbie Assignment I remember having trunks full of Barbies and playing with them when I was a little girl. My Barbies had all different careers and were of different races. My mom even convinced my older cousin to give me her MC Hammer doll. Being of mixed race, my mother wanted me to understand diversity through my dolls. The different skin tones that Barbie had, reflected the diversity I saw in my friends growing up. So for that I think Barbie had a pretty good influence on me. When I five years old, I was rewarded for being good at the doctor’s with a new Barbie. I was so excited because all of my friends had one already. I loved playing with my new found friend, but soon wanted more. After two more successful visits to the doctor’s, Ken and several others helped me to start quite a collection. These dolls were not only toys to me, but an extended family. I spent countless hours with them every day for years. They had a permanent home against my bedroom wall that stretched 5ft long. The monstrous house consisted of four beds, complete with linens and pillows that my mother had made. The kitchen was furnished of dishes, pots, pans, and an array of “food”. The living room had a TV that I made from an old cardboard jewelry box that I drew on and mini magazines. When I was seven, for Christmas my grandma bought me a baby blue Barbie Corvette and it still sits up on a shelf in my parent’s garage. One reason why I want them to keep it is because I think it has some monetary value, but more importantly I’d love to see my daughter play with it one day. My dad has tried to give it away many times, but my mom can’t bear to part with it either, as it reminds her of my childhood, which was a carefree, fun time in my life. My mom and I spent a lot of time playing with my Barbies. It was actually how she introduced me to sewing. Bored with the outfits that my Barbie came in, my mom and I created our own Barbie Fashion Line. Our project started with making little tops, then skirts and eventually these beautiful gowns. My mom is a brilliant seamstress and could free hand anything, but to show me the correct way, we would go to fabric stores to pick out Simplicity Barbie patterns. From these I made Barbie custom gowns with fur stoles, Halloween and Christmas costumes. We also made exercise attire that included basketball shorts and swimsuits. I have no sisters, so I remember many times gathering all of my Barbies and begging my brother to play with me. I told him that all cool boys played with Ken, but the idea of him playing with dolls didn’t appeal to him; or so I thought. While he had no interest in playing with my Barbies he never went through a phase where he ripped off their heads or tried to feed them to our dog. He respected them, or respected my feelings at least. The funny thing is, although he would never admit it, there were days when I would come home to a G.I. Joe doll sleeping upstairs in my Barbie house. I guess he just couldn’t resist. What I feel now while reflecting on these memories is not really a fondness for Barbie, but the enjoyable quality time I spent with my mom. Barbie did inspire conversations with my mom about different careers, but was sometimes just a mannequin to me. Growing up, I never had deep thoughts or emotions about Barbie pertaining to my self-image. All I was worried about was whether or not Barbie had all her accessories and looked pretty once I clothed her. I never once thought that I should strive to look like Barbie or that she was the epitome of feminine beauty. Barbie was just a doll; that was it. I enjoyed playing with her and she made me happy, so I think my experiences were very positive. After my week of Barbie hunting I am extremely shocked at how my perceptions of Barbie have changed and I think the way she is portrayed in today’s world is freighting. I attended a bachelorette party in Vegas and as soon as I arrived, I passed at least ten “Barbies” and that was just during the cab ride. I saw many women with blonde hair, huge breasts, tiny waists and full caked on make-up. To my surprise, my friends weren’t drastically different from what I had just seen. As they all greeted me in the hotel room I couldn’t help but feel like I was seeing them for the first time. When I walked in I noticed the intense primping that was happening. We were just going to lie out at the pool, but these girls were curling their hair, and putting on make-up and stilettos. What shocked me even more was my friend Rebecca doing abs exercises on the floor. I was so disgusted with myself for realizing that this is my new perception of Barbie. It was as if they were on this quest of acceptance. As we were lying out by the pool, I the conversation was all about guys, looks and losing weight. This was a typical girl conversation, but when the Bachelorette mentioned that she was disappointed that the Barbie suite at the Palms was already booked for this weekend our conversation soon turned to the Barbie phenomena. Why didn’t I think of Barbie when I saw the flight attendant on the plane? I know my collection included a Flight Attendant and a Pilot Barbie. I was fascinated by them and dreamed of being a flight attendant one day to satisfy my love of travel. Also the woman sitting next to me was an architect and we spoke about her illustrious career and recent projects, but not once did I think Barbie, even though I had an antique architect Barbie that I adored. This week I also noticed celebrity images of Barbie, in numerous gossip magazines. Artists like Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, and Gwen Stefani all, in their own unique way, represented Barbie to me. I thought that “The Situation” from the Jersey Shore represented an, albeit more rugged, representation of Ken. I’ve read some blogs and heard many discussions regarding Barbie’s bad influence on young girls and their body image. Her super thin figure, elongated legs, and big bust do reflect an unrealistic body shape for anyone. Perhaps some young girls have looked at Barbie and imagined looking like her. Perhaps in some of these cases, this desire has grown into unhealthy obsessions and girls have turned to extreme measures to transform their bodies to look like Barbie. But for me, this was never the case. For me, it was more about what Barbie had and what she had achieved that had more of an influence on me, but after this project my perceptions of Barbie have changed. Barbie had it all, so who wouldn’t want to live the Barbie life? She had the perfect body, all the nice sports cars, she lived in luxurious homes, she had lots of friends, and she was accomplished in several professional careers. And her wardrobe is a shopaholic’s dream! This is the image of Barbie I see women striving to be now. My perception of Barbie is more about, looks, status, and popularity more than a successful career woman. I believe that Barbie is a great figure to have in our society, but it should be understood that she isn’t real. She’s fun to play with and she encourages little girls (and boys) to use their imagination and dream big. I think, like me, many young girls who played with Barbie realized that she is just a doll and they were more influenced by her independence, career aspirations, and the joy she brought to us as we were growing up. But after doing this project I feel it is important to recognize that most likely those perceptions will change and we should spend time discovering why that is.