shopping barbie
by Virginia Watts
I always stroll down the Barbie Aisle in any store that has one, because Barbie is a good memory for me. I had a lot of fun with Skipper and the Malibu period, Twiggy my favorite Christmas surprise. The whole experience entranced me. The clothes, the shoes, the accessories, the fact that everything actually worked; snaps snapped, zippers zippered, and buttons buttoned. I spent years dressing and undressing my dolls, making up stories, giving them life.
Today, at the start of 2020, I am on my way to Target to experience a brave new world in toy making, intrigued by Mattel’s gender-neutral dolls: “Creatable World.” I have examined the offerings for sale on line, but I’m not satisfied. I want to meet these new dolls in person.
I applaud the idea in theory. The children of today deserve better options than I had. No more torpedo breasts, cinched waists, and permanently high-heeled feet. The faces of this new doll line are neither male nor female; their bodies reminiscent of my Skipper of old, Barbie’s little sister. It is true that you would not assign a biological sex to them by what they look like. They can have short hair or wear a wig for long, and are sold with sets of mostly sporty, unisex clothing, though one grouping includes a blue (at least it’s not pink) tutu.
To me, though, The Creatable World dolls look more like humanoids produced and cloned by a non-human species. I understand that children can make the dolls look like they feel on the inside, and, for that reason, I want to believe they are a good idea all the way through, but I am not convinced, because these dolls don’t look like real people. We come in all shapes and sizes. We should show children a celebration of diversity as they are learning to dwell in their own unique skin and bodies. I don’t know where these dolls come from, but you might as well give every child a plastic version of C-3PO from Star Wars with a box of clothes and wigs.
The fact that Mattel developed this new line of dolls does signal societal acceptance of different sexual genders and that is huge. It’s taken way too long, but wait. Mattel, like any company, exists to make money. It’s difficult to believe a corporation can be motivated by morality and the greater good of mankind. I want to believe the people who developed these toys really thought this one through, asked all the right questions of all the right experts, but there is something downright unsettling about dolls who look like a robot collective.
Maybe I am over reacting. Maybe when I see the dolls myself, I will be able to embrace them fully, because I want every child to have a doll that brings them happiness.
Target doesn’t have the androgynous Barbie line on the shelf yet. The clerk never heard of them. Thinks they might be an online exclusive. Target does have The Barbie You Can Be Anything line.
I scan the offerings of boxed dolls; feel a familiar twinge of excitement. Thank you, Mattel, for giving us: Barbie as an astronaut, a pediatric dentist, a professional basketball player, a teacher, a rock star. No longer simply a fashion model, Ken’s girl, and Francie’s friend. Barbie, you have travelled far. I’m proud of you.
In the aisle, a young girl stands gripping the 2019 Holiday Barbie, her grandmother, about my age, hovering nearby. The grandmother and I begin reading all the careers Barbie has launched to each other, admiring our old playmate, giving her high fives with our hearts.
“I want this one, Grammy. Please!”
The child can’t take her eyes from the Holiday Barbie and her formal outfit: a ball gown striped like a giant candy cane with a bow on one shoulder six times larger than her head. This Barbie has the classic wide-eyed, false eyelash look, frosty pink lipstick smile, the ever so cute Barbie nose. The grandmother takes the doll, examines her, and I agree with her thoughts. She should try to talk her granddaughter out of this over the top Carrie Underwood look alike with the massive, diamond studded chandelier earrings and snowy white teeth, but we are drawn to this Barbie more than all of the others too. If we’re honest, we want her. She’s glamorous. I wonder what kind of shoes she is wearing underneath that cranberry red bell of a ball gown, and do the chandelier earrings come in and out. On the box: “Bejeweled Handbag Included.” Damn.
“Well,” the grandmother says to me. “She’s only half price.”
About the Author: Virginia Watts is the author of poetry and stories found or upcoming in Illuminations, The Florida Review, The Moon City Review, Palooka Magazine, Streetlight Magazine, Burningwood Literary Journal, Ginosko Literary Journal and others. Nominee for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net 2019 in nonfiction, Virginia resides near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.