Still, Barbie has also been seen by some groups as a progressive icon for women.
Her initial “Barbie Home,” a cardboard cottage released in 1962, was “strikingly masculine,” according to The New York Times. According to the household, Barbie was a single woman attending college with no children and no kitchen. Barbie only got the first kitchen of hers in 1972’s Bohemian Townhouse.
And while its origins were criticized for being predominantly white, both social pressure and marketing sensibilities led to more diversity in the Barbie lineup.
The first diversity in the world of Barbie came in 1968 with the launch of christie, a black doll from the Barbie collection. An official African-American Barbie and a Latina Barbie were released in 1980. That same year, more than 40 international Barbie dolls were released.
In recent years, Barbie has introduced collections honoring iconic women like Amelia Earhart the aviator, Frida Kahlo the Mexican painter, and Katherine Johnson the black mathematician and NASA employee, as well as dolls, branded Barbie Fashionistas, with four body types, seven skin tones, 22 eye colors and 24 hairstyles.
Still, “Barbie remains an uptight icon,” Hannah McCann, a senior lecturer in cultural studies at the University of Melbourne, said in an email.
“On the one hand, she is seen as representing unrealistic patriarchal beauty expectations,” McCann said. “On the other hand, Barbie is celebrated as the ultimate ‘boss girl’ who has done every job imaginable.”
While Barbie is an aspirational figure, she has also been a vessel for children to project their own desires and goals. Andi Davids, global director of strategy at brand agency Bulletproof Brands, said Barbie’s relevance has persisted over the years because the brand is rooted in the fundamental human experience of imagining what people will be like when they grow up.
“Barbie has always been a reflection of the culture that surrounds her, and specifically the role of femininity and womanhood around her,” she said.
The rise of ‘bimbo feminism’ has created an opening for Barbie
Different ideas for a “Barbie” movie have long percolated in Hollywood. “Juno” screenwriter Diablo Cody, who was previously hired to write the film’s script, told GQ that she was unable to find a draft because “the culture had not yet embraced the female or the silly as valid feminist archetypes.”
“If you search for ‘Barbie’ on TikTok, you’ll find this wonderful subculture that celebrates the feminine, but in 2014, taking this skinny, blonde, white doll and turning her into a hero was a tall order.” Cody told GQ.
