Barbie: Beyond the dreamhouse

By: Emily Doherty

How does 2001 Barbie differ from 2023 Barbie? After creating the first Barbie dolls, Mattel wanted to expand its product by releasing films based on various Barbie roles. The first Barbie movie was released in 2001, and now, stretching to 2023, Mattel announced its new, revamped version of Barbie. In Barbie (2023), the character of Barbie both challenges and supports the history of Mattel by revising traditional gender roles and feminism, offering a more modern and empowering version of a "perfect woman."

Released on July 21, 2023, Greta Gerwig and her co-writer Noah Baumbach worked to bring the contemporary Barbie character to life, which emerged through their film Barbie (2023). Historically, the iconic Barbie doll is seen with blonde hair, blue eyes, a curly woman-like figure, and fair skin, leading to her nickname of "picture-perfect." Barbie dolls promote unrealistic body goals that permit young girls to have issues of self-worth and confidence. However, looking past the beauty standards of Barbie dolls, the Barbie character in Barbie (2023), stomped on the common stereotypes of girls that have longed for decades.

You may be wondering why Mattel randomly created a Barbie movie in the middle of 2023 after gaping years without them. Barbie came back to life due to the cultural shifts happening at the time; this includes events like the Women's Rights Movement, Me Too Movement, Body Positivity Movement, inclusion, diversity, LGBTQ+ Rights, and anti-patriarchy (Poe, 2023, np). These historical events have influenced the creation and reception of the 2023 Barbie character. She was set out to show society that not even Barbie is perfect when she enters the realities of the real world.

The modern Barbie character, played by Margot Robbie, allows girls to picture women as beautiful, attractive, and feminine. Her character was set to challenge and uphold Mattel's history through her presentation of gender roles and feminism. In the film, Barbie's character displayed body love and self-acceptance while fighting against society's unrealistic expectations of women's beauty. Her role was aimed at showing young girls the reality of being a woman in the 21st century, and for those who grew up with Barbie, it exhibited nostalgia and rekindled their interest in Barbie culture. Overall, the Barbie character reignited conversations about gender roles, societal expectations, and female empowerment.

Diving deeper into the hidden messages of Barbie and dolls as a cultural artifact, Girlhood Studies is a field that argues against the understanding that a single definition can define girls. According to Shauna Pomerantz, she states that "girl is a broad, contested, and diverse term that is intersected by gender, race, class, sexuality, age, and nationhood, girlhood studies scholars focus on contextualizing girlhoods across time periods, regions, and identity categories in order to move away from a universal, dehistoricized understanding of the girl" (Pomerantz, 2020, p. 846). Similarly to this idea, the 2023 Barbie character is represented by the brutal influences of reality, transitioning away from the traditional definition of "girl," allowing young girls in today's society to do the same.

When you think of girlhood, Barbie dolls tend to pop in one's head immediately. According to Jennifer Helgren, "girlhood examines the attitudes of adults toward girls and girlhood, the conditions that have shaped the development of girlhood as a unique concept, the subjective experiences of girls in the past, and how girls have influenced adults and shaped historical events" (Helgren, pg. 842, 2020). Barbie is one of the main contributors that influence the development of girls throughout girlhood. These specific discourses connected with dolls, specifically Barbie dolls, have permitted young girls to believe that they must fit the standard of the "ideal girl." However, now that the 2023 Barbie character has challenged these societal expectations after facing reality, girls can finally see how humorously unrealistic Barbie is because she is "a symbol of perfection no girl can match" (Zaslow, 2017, p. 46).

Throughout Barbie (2023), the Barbie character enhanced our understanding of girls, girlhood, and girl culture in the 21st century. Her character showed how being a girl isn't all about your physical features or conforming to traditional roles of girls. Modern Barbie analyzed different themes such as identity, independence, self-value, and the anxieties girls face daily as members of society. Additionally, the Barbie character exhibited how girls can take on any challenge, dream, experience, or personality they desire, moving away from the idea that there is only one definition of a girl. By revamping Barbie to be more relatable, her character helped girls understand that girlhood in today's age is about embracing your true identity in a world that tends to define you.

Looking past the general impact that the 2023 Barbie character had on girls' culture in today's society, let's focus directly on how she challenged traditional gender roles within the film. Within the utopia of Barbieland, the Barbies and other women live in peace and carry out their respective roles. However, when the main Barbie character experiences an identity crisis that makes her start thinking about death (which is something that isn't typically a worry in Barbieland), she decides she needs to explore the real world. When she enters the real world, she soon realizes that the gender roles are completely equal, shocking her immensely. (Dewayani, 2024, p.126).

Traditionally, women are "ignored, marginalized, or framed as lesser than boys and men" (Pomerantz, 2020, p. 846). Historically, women were unemployed and completed household chores such as cooking and cleaning while their husbands were at work making money to support their families. As years passed, women were allowed to work alongside men, however, their jobs were never as significant. These traditional roles have been broken in the 21st century, allowing women to even run for president.

In Barbie (2023), the Barbie character's realizations and confidence permitted her and all the other Barbies to take on dominant roles within Barbieland. For example, the president of Barbieland is a woman, in addition to the minister, press reporters, and judges. Even though the women are now in these proper positions they have "no difficulty holding both logic and feeling at the same time. And it does not diminish my powers, but expands them" (Gerwig, 2023). Unlike the men in Barbieland, the women can take on government roles while keeping their feminine nature at heart. Barbie's character challenges the stereotypical idea that the world of government is known to be a patriarchal society where it is difficult for women to get high positions. (Dewayani, 2024, p.129).

The 2023 Barbie character celebrates the joy and freedom of femininity while also criticizing unreasonable assumptions. Barbie is known to represent all things stereotypically feminine, whether that is fashion, makeup, hair, or even societal roles as a "natural" caretaker. Being within the pink utopia full of women, all the Barbies felt safe and celebrated; the Barbies wore anything that they desired without feeling the anxiety of impressing the Kens. Also, they got to take on any occupation they wished, allowing them to showcase their intelligence and skills as successful women.

Nevertheless, Barbie's seemingly wholesome role can be tangled in a web of societal expectations. Screenwriter Greta Gerwig aimed to "divorce the doll from the unachievable standard of a "perfect woman" and instead to use it as a tool for rethinking what constitutes femininity and what it means to be a woman in the contemporary world" (Temel, 2024). In Barbieland, the Barbies are very diverse, as they represent various races, ethnicities, body types, and even LQBTQ+ and disabled Barbies. (Temel, 2024, np). Additionally, after exploring the real world, Barbie was able to step up from her role as Ken's sidekick and take over Kendom, reinventing Barbieland, vacant of expectations. Barbie's femininity and realizations allowed her character to show young girls in today's world how femininity does not define your physical appearance or the things you can achieve.

Connecting Barbie's ability to challenge gender norms and stereotypical femininity, she was able to embody financial stability, autonomy, and self-confidence through the concept of women's empowerment. Barbie's financial independence shows girls the importance of being financially stable enough to be able to make their own decisions, allowing them to determine their fate in life. To assert your autonomy and personal rights within your community, Barbie believes that you must be able to channel your inner self through confidence. The entire journey of 2023 Barbie focuses on her self-discovery through money, occupations, relationships, and her identity. (Ramadhan, 2024).

When Barbie is exposed to the discrimination of the real world, she enters a vulnerable state, however, America Ferrera's character Gloria is there to reassure her of the impossibility of being a woman. Through Gloria's empowering words, "It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don't think you're good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we're always doing it wrong. You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin," she shows Barbie that she too is a woman with societal expectations, despite being seen as the "perfect woman" (Burack, 2023, np). Every woman experiences these tiring expectations to be seen as beautiful and successful. The Barbies in Barbie (2023) came together to empower women, stating that they do not need to be naturally beautiful and financially successful to be accepted within their community.

Barbie (2023) has become one of the most popular movies of the 21st century, focusing on the main character Barbie who is played by the beautiful Margot Robbie. My artifact, the 2023 Barbie character, belongs in a digital exhibit on girls' culture because she is all about challenging traditional beauty standards and stereotypes of girls, while also encouraging femininity, equality, and female empowerment. Society should know about the history of the 2001 Barbie in order to recognize how not one Barbie will be alike in 2023. The modern Barbie is a symbol of change and opportunity, allowing girls to take on any role they desire.

The 2023 Barbie represents a powerful version of the iconic doll created in 1959. Her character challenged the stereotypes of women that have longed for decades, on top of reintroducing femininity in the modern society. Differing from the 2001 Barbie which focused on perfecting beauty and gender norms, the 2023 Barbie represented independence, diversity, body positivity, and female empowerment supporting the goal of Girlhood Studies. As a symbol of change, the contemporary Barbie character exhibited the reality of modern society while also encouraging future generations of girls to be true to themselves so they can reach their full potential.

References

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