barbie

A toy is a toy, right? Well yes, but don’t you think there is something different between Barbie and, say, a toy train or a spider man action figure? I think so. Barbie is one example of how art (she is art, someone had to design her) can send a subliminal message. Throughout the course of history societies have had different ideas of what the ideal female figure is. All you have to do is look at one of Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) paintings to understand. But what confuses me about Barbie is that nobody (and I really mean nobody) could ever have the type of body that she does. It is physically impossible. The first Barbie was released in 1959, along with some fashion accessories. To see the first Barbie commercial follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hhjjhYGQtY&feature=related
Only two years later, in 1961, Barbie’s boyfriend Ken was released (as if she couldn’t survive without a man in her life). To see the first commercial with him in it go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5pcyHT838g&feature=related
Barbie’s figure is not the only thing that confuses me – my main problem is that for so long she didn’t really do anything. Nowadays she can be a snowboarder or a vet, but back in the 1960’s she existed solely for the purpose of buying clothes. She summed up perfectly the idea of “don’t think, just consume.” I believe her first job was as a flight attendant, and then later she advanced up to a secretary. What kind of role model was that for young girls? In 1968 Barbie was given a voice that could say six things, three of which were "I have a date tonight", "I love being a fashion model", and "Let's have a costume party." (Source: http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/barbie/timeline.html). Just think about the power art has to culturally hegemonize America! Studying art is not only about looking at ancient Greco-Roman sculptures but being able to analyze our world today.