She came into my life when I was 6. She was like no one I had ever seen. She wore a zebra stripe swimsuit, a blonde ponytail with curly bangs, had red lips, open toe black shoes and gold hoop earrings. My previous dolls were baby dolls with child-like faces and lacy dresses not unlike those my mother dressed me in to go to church on Sunday.
But this doll was different.
This doll was Barbie.
She looked grown up and her outfits came with grown up names like “Busy Morning”, “Evening Splendor”, “Resort Set”. “Roman Holiday”, “Suburban Shopper” “Busy Gal” , and “Wedding Day”. They were names that conjured up scenarios in my mind, well beyond my Rochester, NY backyard. So when I “played Barbies” I envisioned my Barbie to be a Fashion Designer working in NY city , having lunch with her best friend Midge, and planning trips to Paris or other exotic places . She was a doer of things I could only dream of and that my baby dolls could not inspire.
I of course did not know it at the time, but Ruth Handler. the creator of Barbie wanted exactly that : to fuel girls’ imaginations. She’s quoted as saying that it was a toy “that would allow girls to imagine being whatever they wanted to be”
The first Barbie was released in 1959 and although an immediate success it was not without controversy. Some designers were squeamish about the doll having breasts, but Ruth Handler stood her ground. Her feeling was that every girl needed a doll to project her own thoughts and dreams. So therefore, it should be a doll that was more grown-up and life-like.
Barbie has continued to stir up controversy over the years. There are those that say her very dimensions have given girls a false image. I have to say at six years old I had no illusions that I would have a 3 inch waist! Her dimensions, breasts or otherwise, never occurred to me. Barbie was simply Barbie. Like a good friend, she was fun; she was positive; she did things that I wanted to do. And she did them confidently and did them well.
I loved “playing Barbies” and cherished both my blonde ponytail Barbie and one I received a few years later, the Fashion Queen Barbie, which came with three wigs. I spent many happy hours changing their outfits and imagining their adventures and my own. I think Barbie always has been an extension of the girl putting on those outfits and conjuring up those ideas.
Years later, long after I had put away my Barbies, my mother asked if I would give my Barbies to my cousin who was 12 years younger than me. I suppose, rather selfishly, I bristled at the idea, but only because I had seen the way she took care of her things and envisioned that my pristine Barbies would not fare well in her care. I conceded to give her the original blonde ponytail Barbie . I never contemplated that I would come to regret giving the original away.
My assumption that Barbie would not fare well in her care was correct. The next time I saw my Barbie doll her hair had been cut, her face was marked up, and she was tossed on a heap of other toys. Of course one would argue, dolls are meant to be played with and every little child plays with them differently. But I have to admit there was a sense of sadness when I saw my Barbie in that condition. It is a testimony to Ruth Handler’s creation that it was like looking at an old friend who I had let down.
I hadn’t thought about Barbie all that much in the years after that, except in conversations with other friends about favorite toys we had growing up. Barbie was almost unanimously mentioned.
Then in the late 90s, my friend Joanne had gone to a garage sale and happily shared with myself and my friend Gaylene that she had bought a Barbie. It immediately brought a smile to our faces. We both looked at each other and knew what we were going to do. We too were going to get a Barbie. Never mind that we were well into our 40s; it didn’t matter. Barbie continued to fascinate us even as adults. So we ended up getting our Barbie at Target : an equestrian Barbie all decked out as you would imagine Barbie would be in the perfect clothes for riding. One Barbie led to another. Some were play Barbies, and some were Barbies that were more collectible in beautifully crafted fashions. No matter what , they still fueled the imagination.
To this day, I still use my Barbies to create scenes at different holidays. At Christmas they’re decorating the tree with their “Ken’s”. Some are in a little sled, I imagine coming back from a day skiing the slopes in Colorado and heading back to the lodge. There always seems to be a story in my head to go along with the scene because the very nature of Barbie’s life-like qualities demands it.
Barbie has always been larger than life and so it didn’t t seem a huge surprise to me that there would be a Barbie movie released this past year. It seemed fitting that she would have her own movie. When I first heard about it though, I worried that it would just be a kid’s movie or fluff, but I needn’t have worried. The movie is clever, thought-provoking, funny and fun… and definitely not a kid’s movie. It explores some heavy life questions and it focuses on what Barbie has always represented : endless possibilities.
Critics talk about male bashing in the movie. But really Ken has always been an accessory to Barbie, not the main attraction. And in the movie Ken is forced to explore his self worth and who he wants to be in life , which is not a bad thing.
Yet even after the movie was released naysayers still focused on her measurements when talking Barbie. They spend so much time talking about it in fact that that they miss what truly Barbie has been teaching us all along and why she has mattered and endured all these years. Literally there are hundreds of Barbies on screen exchanging “Hi Barbies!” and they are all different shapes, sizes and colors, in all different jobs and careers, with different personalities . They all encourage, support each other and celebrate their uniqueness. And aren’t those the best lessons we can learn from Barbie Land?
I try to include with most of my blog entries a recipe and of course this one will be pink in honor of Barbie.
Actually the movie is a celebration of PINK and all its joyfulness. And it rightfully revives the color to its deserving place in the rainbow.
Pink Champagne Cupcakes
24 cupcakes
- 1 box white cake mix
- 1 cup pink champagne
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
- pink or red food coloring
Frosting
1/2 c to 1 c Butter softened
3 c powdered sugar
1/4 c pink champagne
1 tsp vanilla
2 -3 drops of pink or red food coloring
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- Combine cake mix and champagne. Add remaining ingredients until combined.
- Pour batter directly into muffin tins with muffin cup liners,just over half full.
- Bake 10 minutes. Cool.
- Combine frosting ingredients. Spread or pipe onto your cupcakes.
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