Blog #3
The cultural artifact that I chose for this blog is Barbie. The first doll that I got was Barbie, a light skinned, tall, blonde doll. I was about seven years old when my parents bought me this doll and it definitely had a major influence on my childhood. I am naturally a dark-skinned girl and definitely shorter than the average girl. As a child, I was a lot darker than I am now so possessing this doll that was made for the entertainment of a child, subconsciously made me have the wrong ideology of what a woman is supposed to look like. Obviously, from the description that I described myself, my physical appearance had nothing in common with Barbie’s. As I got older, it was more and more clear that no girl, even with lighter skin and blonde hair, would ever look like Barbie due to the simple fact that it was unrealistic. At the time, I was not aware of this, being only in elementary school. At some point in my childhood, I did believe that being a light-skinned, blue-eyed and blonde girl was the representation of beauty. The consumption of this artifact definitely made me feel like my own physical features were not pretty. The root of this reasoning came from owning a Barbie doll that closest represented the physical features of one type of girl which was a caucasian. Everybody has their personal insecurities, of course, but when society is the one triggering those insecurities, it makes it worse because then it’s not just you telling yourself that something about you is wrong, society is as well. As an older, more mature version of myself, I am 100% proud to be Latina, a woman of color. I still view the message that this artifact portrays the same, but the influence that it has on me now, in comparison to when I was a little girl, is completely different. I know that beauty comes in many different shapes, sizes, and colors.
Hi Mayrene,
ReplyDeleteI agree that back then, Barbie did not have very much representation and bred girls to believe that the standards of beauty were light skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair. I am glad you grew older to become proud of the differences you have with Barbie. Thankfully, Barbie now has a ton more representation and makes it safer for a child growing up in this generation.
Hey Mayrene! I love that you picked Barbie to write about. As I was growing up, all I would ask for for Christmas and my birthday were Barbies and barbie houses/ clothing. I have very light skin but am a brunette and have brown eyes but growing up I always wanted to look like a barbie because they are portrayed of being so beautiful. Obviously there are plenty of beautiful women that aren't blonde or having blue eyes and now in the past years they have been making more diverse dolls which is super cool for the little girls growing up, sadly we didn't have that and had to look up to the classic barbie that totally is not a good representation to young girls. I love that you love being yourself and I think that all girls should be proud of who they are and realize that they are all beautiful in so many different ways.
ReplyDeleteHello, I like that you wrote about barbies. They were very popular for this blog. It's crazy how many of us played with barbies as kids, and how many girls' confidence issues stemmed from the non versatile barbie. I am glad that you were able to overcome these ideologies with age.
ReplyDeleteHello Mayrene
ReplyDeleteGreat pick for your cultural artifact. Having lots of girls in my family I would often see them play with barbies just like you explained. I can definitely see how admiring this barbie leads to girls thinking that the barbie is the only form of beauty. I agree with you that the barbie look is so unrealistic. No one can ever look like she does but she's fake. Obviously as a young girl you do not see how unrealistic her looks are. Correct me if i'm wrong but I believe now the barbie brand is making other barbies to look more realistic and of different shapes and colors to show girls that there are more than one forms of beauty. Awesome analysis!
Hi Mayrene!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed what you wrote about Barbies and how they do promote the idea that whiteness is the only standard of beauty within our society. I think several of us played with Barbies as children and never even realized that this was the case or that we were being "brainwashed" into thinking this way. Something that I think is super exciting though is that Barbie is also changing with the times. Now instead of just seeing Barbie as a fashion model or homemaker, we now see her as an astronaut and scientist, which hopefully encourages girls to have careers instead of just being a stay at home mom. Barbie is also releasing dolls with different skin colors and in different shapes and sizes, so that they no longer promote the idea that to be pretty, that you must be white and skinny. While there's definitely more work to be done, I appreciate the progress that has been made.
Sarah Cohn
Hi Mayrene,
ReplyDeleteAs a young girl, Barbie dolls were my go to favorite dolls, I can think of a moment where I came to a realization and begun to question why there weren't different looking dolls. I believe now different kinds of Barbie dolls are being produced, some that reflect all types of body shapes and skin colors. My hope is that children that still play with Barbie dolls can own a doll that they can identify themselves with, this way they grow up knowing that everyone no matter height, weight, gender, or skin color should be represented.
I agree with you on the ways barbies can have a negative influence on younger girls by reinforcing the way society views the "beautiful girl/women." However, I also feel like it can also have a negative impact on young boys because when I was younger I remember knowing a boy who liked playing with dolls. This boy would get fun of and teased by other kids for playing with the dolls because they were "made for girls only" as one boy put it. Another way they could influence a young boy is because they also make a few boy dolls with six packs and muscles reinforcing how society views attractive guys as well.
ReplyDeleteHi Mayrene,
ReplyDeleteGreat choice in picking this cultural artifact. I too grew up playing with barbies and it's crazy thinking that we all wanted to be just the way barbie was represented by skinny, tall, and blue-eyed (well in my case). Since barbie is still a big thing now, I am glad that they are adding more Barbies that reflect other races other than caucasian.