{"id":27506,"date":"2023-09-06T15:47:36","date_gmt":"2023-09-06T19:47:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=27506"},"modified":"2023-09-11T09:31:18","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T13:31:18","slug":"barbie-clp-examines-summer-phenomenon-from-diverse-perspectives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/barbie-clp-examines-summer-phenomenon-from-diverse-perspectives\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Barbie\u2019 CLP explores diverse perspectives on cultural phenomenon"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is \u201cBarbie?\u201d<\/p>\n

Is the summer 2023 blockbuster film a feminist manifesto? A ploy to sell more toys? A critique of patriarchy and male fragility? An existentialist meditation? A triumph of marketing and commercialism, or a subversive satire of corporate capitalism?<\/p>\n

The answer is: Yes \u2013 depending on whom you ask.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Scott Henderson, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Education (right), speaks on a panel with fellow faculty members Kaniqua Robinson and Kathleen Casey at the \u201cUnpacking Barbie\u201d CLP event in September 2023.<\/p><\/div>\n

A Cultural Life Program (CLP) event gave more than 200 students and faculty a chance to share their own opinions on the movie that has earned more than $1 billion worldwide. About 50 people had to be turned away from \u201cUnpacking Barbie,\u201d led by Kathleen Casey<\/a>, a professor of history and director of the Women\u2019s, Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGSS<\/a>) program; Scott Henderson<\/a>, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Education; and Kaniqua Robinson<\/a>, an assistant professor of anthropology.<\/p>\n

Many in the Trone Student Center audience were proud \u201cBarbie\u201d fans \u2013 one student reported seeing the movie seven times, while another had dyed their hair pink for the occasion \u2013 and were encouraged to discuss their own takeaways after the three faculty members presented their scholarly perspectives.<\/p>\n

\u2018A sense of community\u2019<\/h3>\n

As a historian, Casey looked back at the invention of the doll by Mattel cofounder Ruth Handler in 1959. While the official Mattel history<\/a>\u00a0relates that Handler was inspired by watching her daughter play with paper dolls, it omits the fact that Barbie\u2019s design was copied from Bild Lilli<\/a>, a racy German novelty doll popular with bachelors, said Casey.<\/p>\n

The toy has since inspired several decades\u2019 worth of spirited debate. Admiration of Barbie\u2019s 200-plus<\/a> entrepreneurial careers is balanced against accusations of promoting unrealistic beauty standards. The recent movie has provoked a similar range of conversations, Casey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are taking away these disparate meanings from the same film,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are each pulling on the threads of the film that make the most sense to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The best part of the movie, said Casey, is the continuing debate it inspires.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese conversations are completely important and meaningful,\u201d she said. \u201cThey help us create a sense of community and feel a little bit less alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is \u2018Barbie\u2019 inclusive?<\/h3>\n

Henderson recalled the culture-jamming campaigns of the Barbie Liberation Organization (BLO<\/a>), an underground group who performed \u201csurgery\u201d on hundreds of Teen Talk Barbie dolls in 1993, switching their voice boxes with G.I. Joe dolls. The laughter provoked by hearing a Barbie growl \u201cVengeance is mine!\u201d or a Joe chirp \u201cI love shopping!\u201d shows the power of ingrained stereotypes, he said.<\/p>\n

Robinson praised \u201cBarbie\u201d for the joy it brought to its audiences \u2013 \u201cdifferent people from different backgrounds coming in, celebrating Barbie,\u201d she said. \u201cYou saw representation in the audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the film was diverse but not inclusive, disregarding issues such as racism and ableism in favor of a white feminist perspective, she argued. In particular, Robinson critiqued one character\u2019s description of Ken\u2019s patriarchal takeover of \u201cBarbie Land\u201d after his visit to the real world as \u201cjust like … Indigenous people and smallpox.\u201d The line \u201ctrivialized the genocide of Indigenous people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI appreciate the film for starting conversations, and I don\u2019t expect it to be a documentary,\u201d said Robinson. \u201cBut I think in 2023, we shouldn\u2019t have to say, \u2018What about inclusivity and intersectionality when criticizing the patriarchy?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Continuing conversations<\/h3>\n

The \u201cBarbie\u201d conversation continued as the floor opened for comments. While many students agreed that the movie was a fun, nostalgic romp, several also cringed at its problematic aspects, adding to the critiques made by the speakers. One student reacted to Robinson\u2019s response to the line referencing the genocide of Indigenous people. He related an Indigenous friend\u2019s objection to the \u201csmallpox\u201d remark and his own mixed feelings about seeing a movie that many have found offensive.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can do both,\u201d replied Robinson. \u201cYou can enjoy something and still critique it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnpacking Barbie\u201d kicked off a series of events planned throughout the year by the WGSS program based on the theme \u201cThe Body.\u201d\u00a0Ultimately conceived as a three-year series, the events reflect the current expansion of the WGSS program, said Casey.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to become a flagship program in the Southeast,\u201d she said, \u201cand I think Furman is uniquely positioned to make this happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Was the blockbuster movie of summer 2023 a subversive takedown of the patriarchy or a marketing ploy to sell dolls? More than 200 students and faculty gathered for the conversation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":27508,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,28,42,30,93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diversity-equity-and-inclusion","category-education","category-history","category-top-stories","category-womens-gender-and-sexuality-studies"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}