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Erica Rand, "Older Heads on Younger Bodies"
Stephanie K. Dalquist
-Rand mentions that "Barbie consumers of color ...think only about [her]
race' and not about Barbie's sexuality. Has this changed at all since
the introduction of dark skinned Barbies? Is this trend noticed in races
not represented by Mattel?
-How does Mattel explicitly not encourage a sexual fascination with Barbie?
Her build, as well as her Mattel-designed clothing, are nothing less than
an invitation to sexual fascination, as the girl on p389 has discovered.
Anindita Basu
-What is it about Barbie in particular that inspires such strong feelings
of love/hate towards her? How is she different from other dolls or action
figures?
-What about the new Generation Girl series? Rand claims that children
have a sense of Barbie's identity and meanings, but the gen. girl series
started because children have lost some interest in Barbie as a role model,
partially because she doesn't have a real back story. How has Barbie's
place in society changed? Is it just that so many toys are coming out
now which have a stronger back story?
Brandy Evans
-I would've liked it if she had included male stories as well as female
stories. I know many male collectors, both gay and straight, some of whom
played with Barbies as children and some of whom just got into it as adults;
it would be really interesting to see how boys who grew up to be gay or
straight played with Barbie in comparison with the gay or straight girls.
Joseph Kaye
-Surely the most interesting aspect of Barbie analysis (as, indeed, much
of the analysis in this class) is that it exists. It's not a phenomena
I feel I fully understand. But having spent time reading the articles,
reading Brandy's site and links from there, it seems that overwhelmingly
the most used word to describe Barbie is 'beautiful'. The cultural critism
focuses on aspects of Barbie & her relationshp to society. If you were
to create a Barbie, one you were satisfied with, what would it be - or
is that impossible?
Adrienne DeWolfe
-Does Rand use the word hegemonic to refer to dominant society/culture
in general or does she mean heterosexuality specifically? I found her
statement about everyone having an answer to "Did you have a Barbie doll
when you were a child?" other than "I don't know," resonating in my own
small poll also. Is there a male counterpart toy or any cross gender toy
with such powerful cultural ethos attached to it?
Max Bajracharya
-Why are children obsessed with having authentic clothing and peripherals
for Barbie (and other such toys)? Has this changed (gotten worse) over
time with new forms of marketing and technology? Advertising has obviously
taken advantage of this, but is there an explanation for the children's
behavior (a status symbol among others? is that all it is though?)?
Hilarie Claire Tomasiewicz
-Kids are inquisitive, kids like to explore. DOes the act of poking or
burning Barbie's breasts by young girls really ever truly signify anything
other than childish curiousity? I can't help being conscious of the fact
that it is adults, familiar with their sexuality who are retelling their
Barbie experiences who are assigning these gender related aspects to Barbie
and not the six year olds who play with them.
Jeannie R. Ben-Hain
-Can you please explain her arguements about Barbie being hegemonic? I
didnt really understand what she was getting at. I also found her statement
that "Many other dykes told me stories that indicated...a sequential progression
from gender outlaw at the Barbie age to sexual outlaw sometime later"
interesting in relation to some of the discussions we were having last
week.
-Also- Whats a Tammy doll?
David Spitz
-Martin depicts Mattel as marketing to a particular demographic, while
Rand sees the company engaged in a hegemonic discourse that edges out
consumers on the fringe. How can we reconcile the two?
Jennifer Chung
-Rand discusses the sexualisation of Barbie with respect to little girls...
but what about little boys (who either played with Barbies or had sisters
who did)? Also, random rememberances: Did you ever see the episode of
The Simpsons where Lisa was trying to create a new Barbie-esque toy line
to compete with Malibu Stacey? I hadn't realised until Rand pointed it
out how easy it is to overlook other issues (race, etc.) because fighting
Barbie always seems to be associated with fighting sexism.
David A. Mellis
-I was struck by Rand's use of the word dyke. I don't have any problems
with the word, and I think lots of people self-identify as dykes. However,
I don't think I've ever seen anyone use it in an essay instead of the
word lesbian. Is there anything in Rand's background that would explain
this? Does it have any particular significance, or does she just like
the word dyke?
Mike Ananny
-At what point does Barbie's appearance (e.g. Barbie in 1950s "pre-diversity
days" versus modern day "diversity days") stop being relevant to the issue
of cultural/psychological interpretation and at what point does the myth
and media surrounding Barbie become the real issue? For example, Mattel
may still have exclusive control over the Barbie doll image but it seems
to have a life of its own in adult's and children's culture. Has Barbie
ceased to be a product having, instead, assumed a meaning independent
of its actual form? At this point, it seems appropriate to separate the
current product's influence on children from the cultural icon's influence
on parents as perhaps two separate objects of analysis.
Walter Dan Stiehl
-Do gay men have a great fascination with Barbie? Why is this true? Is
it in anyway related to the fact that the young lesbian women did not
seem to herald Barbie because it "didn't roll around in the mud" a very
typical male sentiment, i.e. gay men would like Barbie because it was
more feminine, etc.
Girim Sung
-Is there a doll that represents ideal manhood like Barbie represents
ideal womanhood?
-How well does Barbie sell globally? Since Barbie represents the American
definition of beauty, I can't imagine that it would sell well anywhere
else.
-Was the first Barbie geared toward adults? I guess I ask because I wonder
how children, if believed to be innocent and pure, were even allowed to
play with this very sexually suggestive Barbie in the first place?
Alexandra Andersson
-I find that Rand is linking gender non-conformity and Barbie rejection
in childhood to closely to later homosexuality.
Char DeCroos
-Does Barbie reinforce overfeminized gender roles (women as trendy shoppers,
appearence obsessed, etc) or does it reconcile the abilility for women
to both maintain a glamour role and be successful achievers (i.e. palentologist
Barbie)? After the Rand reading it seemed that there were almost as many
interpretations for Barbie's function as there are types of Barbie (women's
lib too, women's feminization tool, dyke coming of age tool, women's motherhood
trainer etc.)
Carlos Cantu
-How important is it, then, that children can view Barbie's message critically?
Or rather, how much validity can a statement like that have when most
of the evidence is taken from adult testimony? We must ask ourselves why
the little girl, who can recognize Barbie's message, still feel bad for
not living up to the Barbie expectation? There's a larger cultural dynamic
at work here one that I believe Mattel capitalized on in the 50's, and
one that Mattel continues to perpetuate.
Raffi Krikorian
-How much does mattel actually influence woman's movements with barbie?
according to the article, there are entire groups of women who have defined
their lives around the pivotal moment of their barbie. There are people
who see barbie as emphasizing the woman stereotype, or the stereotype
of white-person's definition of beauty -- but the most recent one is the
equality betwen women and men.
Adam Smith
-One of the reasons that Barbie has reached such enduring status is she
saturation in the market. 99% of girls have at least one Barbie! Could
Barbie have reached this status without having an image of the ideal teenage
girl?
Daniel Huecker
-Rand's examples seems to move between Barbie as a symbol of the self
and Barbie as symbol of someone else. Does the Barbie doll continue the
psychological differentiation between "me" and "not me" we've read about
in Freud/ Erikson (or even a linguistic separation as in Bruner) to a
more sophisticated level?
Melanie Wong
-What should a parent presume, then, when their child says, "I love Barbie
because she is so beautiful." ?
-What is meant by counterhegemonic?
Nancie Martin interview
Stephanie K. Dalquist
-Does Martin really believe (p137) that if *Barbie* doesn't introduce
girls to the computer that they will never use computers "as a tool?"
If they want to go to any school or have any job in the near future they'll
have to have that experience!
-Play pattern: Is the pattern there because the tools are (ie why every
Barbie comes with a brush) or are the tools there because the patterns
are, as Martin insists?
-So "Barbie Storymaker" revolves around Barbie's and Midge's adventures
at the mall?? This really reflects Barbie's independent you-too-can-have-a-job
personality, doesn't it?
-Is it a valid statement to say that Barbie is not a character? Even if
she began as a 3D entity, she has surely been created with a certain image
and character in mind, even if she didn't come with a voiceover and other
digital accoutrements. Further, even if she was not assigned one originally,
she has one now through all of her accessories, the stop-action commercials
in which Barbie move, and even from the CDs. All this feminist talk about
a doll whose talking version was recalled after telling many girls that
math was too difficult. Augh!
Anindita Basu
-Does Barbie software actually attempt/accomplish getting girls into computers?
Isn't it a bit "dumbed down?" The games don't seem to be formed such that
they encourage girls to move to a higher level, and the applications are
extremely simple considering how familiar most girls are with computers
now. Is the simplicity ever a turn-off?
-How does the sales of a career barbie doll compare to other kinds of
barbies? Do the career dolls come with any back story, information about
the job, the type of life Barbie may lead, or is a career simply represented
by a different outfit?
-How much freedom do Barbie games allow in creating narratives? Do the
interactions have more depth than merely changing dress colors and patterns?
-Martin states that there's nothing wrong with being a feminist and a
glamour girl-- that many traditional female roles, such as a ballerina,
have been devalued and that Barbie allows girls to see value in those
roles. Shouldn't Barbie also be opening the door for other roles, so they
can choose the house wife and the scientist, instead of making a dichotomy
between traditional and nontraditional?
Brandy Evans
-Let me first say that I really dislike Mattel, and this interview didn't
really improve my opinion of them (though she said a few things I liked).
There are dozens of questions I'd love to ask a Mattel rep if I actually
had one in front of me, and several questions about things said in this
interview, but for this assignment I'll just ask: She mentions that they
test the software with pairs of girls who are friends; is there a difference
in how girls play/what they like to play with when they are on the computer
alone as compared to sharing with a friend?
-Also, for Wednesday... After reading both of these, I'm still not exactly
sure what would be appropriate to bring in. I actually have the Paleontologist
Barbie mentioned in the Martin interview; I could bring in that and other
things relating to Barbie's careers etc, or relating to race/ethnicity,
or to changes made to her body (I have a growin' up skipper *grin*), or
pretty much whatever aspect you want to focus on in the class. Unfortunately,
I don't have any Barbie software (except for the Screen Styler CD, which
is in the display case anyhow and is geared toward adult collectors rather
than little girls), so I can't bring that in; people just have to go to
barbie.com to get lots of info on that anyhow. Just give me a direction
to go in. :)
Joseph Kaye
-How do you feel Mattel has functioned differently with Martin steering
Barbie's course than previously? What *should* Barbie say, anyway?
Adrienne DeWolfe
-There were a couple of statements of Martin that had me dashing the words,
"Oh, please, give me a break!" in the margins. I wondered if anyone else
had a similar response to the following: "And I have this sort of mission,
if you will, that I want all those girls who are now six and seven when
they're twenty-six and thirty-six and forty-six, to still be using computers
as a tool, and to remember that it's all because of Barbie."
-(Of girls using Designer to dress Barbie.) "You give a girl a tremendous
sense of pride at age six and seven and eight, and I want to believe that
she can hang onto that for the rest of her life."
-Isn't she making a little too much out of this? Sure girls are being
exposed to computers and flexing a creative muscle or two, but isn't it
really about entertainment and selling, selling, selling a product?
Max Bajracharya
-Are computer games for girls in the sense that they are being talked
about here a fad? Is it really for the girls at all? or the parents who
want their children to interact with a computer? How does the intangibility
of objects on the screen (say, the dress that is created through a program)
effect children? It seems like these games need to combat this problem,
unlike a violent shoot-em up, which is "realistic" (or something like
that) enough to be fulfilling.
Hilarie Claire Tomasiewicz
-Nancie Martin repeated describes much of the Barbie software as letting
girls "feel like they've accomplished something." So,does she think the
designing of dresses using this software IS legitimately accomplishing
something? It seemed to me that she is speaking down to girls, especially
when i see the word "feel" precede all her statements about said girls'
accomplishments. Does she feel they have accomplished anything or is she
saying that what is important is not the girls' actual accomplishments,
rather their perception of having accomplished something?
Jeannie R. Ben-Hain
-Does this woman realize how much she contradicts herself within the same
article? She uses the same topic and takes opposite views on it whenever
it suits her. If we're talking about Barbie as a role model, then obviously
for little girls, "Barbie is, for them, a representative of them, a representative
of who they might be when they grow up". Earlier, when talking about whether
or not Barbie was "a pretty woman with breasts", she says for little girls,
"those things aren't real for them ... [they say] 'Oh, it's just a toy'"
David Spitz
-Why do girls prefer pink to brown?
Jennifer Chung
-By having Barbie 'embrace' diversity and multiple career choices, is
this just another form of Barbie embracing the current status quo (it's
trendy to be PC), and can we use Barbie as a semi-accurate reflexion of
society's current thought, anthropologistically?
David A. Mellis
-Martin says that by putting Barbie products in a pink box, or in the
pink aisle, she's not compromising, merely reaching as many people as
possible. Do you believe this? I'm not sure I do. I think some of what
Barbie does, even those things that Martin says girls want, are enforcing
of stereotypes and shouldn't be part of toys.
Mike Ananny
-Martin says that Barbie is "not a character. She's a doll. She's
not Mickey Mouse." (p. 143) How is Barbie different from Mickey Mouse?
Although I agree that Mickey may be a much stronger, more defined character
(through Disney's theme parks, movies, etc.) I think Barbie is also a
character. She is perhaps more influenced and defined by her appearance
and the context in which she is marketed. I feel like girls (and, indeed
most people) have an intuitive sense about who Barbie is and what she
stands for and -- while there may be no set play pattern everyone consistently
uses with Barbie -- isn't this what defines a character? (Aside: perhaps
this distinction between character and doll is analogous, respectively,
to the distinction between Barbie as an icon [a culturally defined character]
and Barbie as a product [a marketed doll], described in the question on
Rand's article.)
-This is perhaps more of a comment than a question but . . . Martin states
that a girls' pink aisle in a toy store is a "convenience for the marketplace."
(p. 147) This comment seems to minimize the power the toy store's physical
layout and design has over the purchasing process. While Martin says that
Barbie products help girls explore who they are and what they could be,
it seems that the actual sale of Barbie products encourage girls to remain
in a Barbie-defined world and a pink aisle. I think this is actually representative
of a larger issue: does the Barbie design philosophy Martin describes
contradict Mattel's marketing tactics? Martin quite reasonably states
that she listens to what seven-year-olds say, follows their lead and tries
to ensure that good products reach the largest possible audience. The
probably rhetorical questions I'm struggling with are: is the job of toy
manufacturers to lead children and help them explore many different possible
futures or is it to cater to and respect their desires like any other
market segment and ensure that they generate maximum profits for shareholders?
Ideally, the answer is both but to what extent are children leading or
following the toy industry? Is enlightenment being lost in marketing?
Walter Dan Stiehl
-It seems almost a perpetual cycle, putting things in a "pink box to get
sold" because it is what the "child wants." Is the child really deciding
this on their own basis, or is it simply media absorption.
Girim Sung
-Martin says that girls are very influenced by other girls. So I would
be curious to know if the majority of girls are buying Barbie these days
because of parent and/or peer influence, or because they really admired
the toy itself. For example, if a girl, without hearing anything about
Barbie from anyone, went into a toy store, would she want a Barbie? If
the answer is no and if the majority of girls nowadays are buying Barbie
simply because of its tradition, Mattel then has tremendous power to redefine
this tradition.
-Martin likes Barbie because it tells girls, "Oh, so you can look really
pretty and you can have a great job, too. Cool!" Barbies are not pretty
and perpetuate a distorted vision of beauty. Every generation of women
are constantly fighting to break free of this confining stereotype...while
every new generation of girls are being taught to embrace Barbie as the
ideal woman. I really don't understand how Martin believes that Mattel
has a feminist approach. Martin says that in "Talk with Me Barbie," Barbie
says things that puncture stereotypes wherever they might exist. It seems
that Mattel uses Barbie, a doll blatantly representing the ideal of the
conventional female sphere, to say unconventional things. While I understand
her argument that this could be a smart way to influence young minds,
the problem is that we are living in a world that is becoming increasingly
more visual. What a girl sees is more powerful than the mere words of
euphemized politically correct advice Barbie tosses here and there. But
then, how could one create a successful doll that would teach a girl to
look within for beauty or to define beauty for herself?
Alexandra Andersson
-Martin emphasizes how Barbie can be a marine biologist or have other
types of occupations not associated with traditional womanhood. But doesn't
Barbie still remain a "person" whose primary feature is her physical apperance?
Char DeCroos
-Martin states that we've (with Barbie Fashion Designer) ,"successfully
translated how girls play in the physical world to the computer world,
and we've done it with a major brand name, and we've sold a lot of volume."
I'm wondering about this 'successful translation'. I've never used this
piece of software, but it seems to be more of a fashion accessory for
Barbie (like Ken). Is Barbie Fashion designer more of a stepping stone
into computer usage/comfortability?
Carlos Cantu
-I find it very interesting how she makes so many assumptions about girls
favorite colors(girls don't like brown), in how they play(girls don't
care how things work, they care about "what else is happening in the room"),
in what they like to play with(if they wanna brush a doll's hair, then
give them a brush). Aren't the people making those assumptions merely
feeding whatever stereotypes they learned as they grew up into the next
generations? What can be said about parents who feel "this[Barbie FD]
is doing something good for my little girl"? I think toy and software
manufacturers would have a lot harder time selling there products if they
wanted the little girl as the consumer and not their parents.
Adam Smith
-Martin describes her desire to design for most girls. She mentions the
importance in listening to girls to see what they want. But, which girls?
Should Mattel brand more violent games for girls? I find Mattel's philosophy
of listening to girls desires inspirational but their decision to only
produce games that fit the Barbie brand as shortsighted. Why not make
some new brands?
Daniel Huecker
-Does Martin see a pedagogical role to her toys?
-What theories does she personally draw from to support her claims of
an educational role in play? -- i.e. How does Martin use Winnicott to
sell Barbie?
Melanie Wong
-Do boys really (innately) play differently than girls? or are children
just socialized to play gender stereotypically?
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