These Models Are Just So Plastic: Exploring Implications and Innovations of Barbie Art

Like many kids, I had a large assortment of toys to play with, growing up. More legos than I could count (even today), multiple building sets, dolls, stuffed animals, my own paper dolls (which I diligently crafted out of my Dad’s white printer paper) but I also had the infamous Barbie Dolls. I loved my Barbies. They had cars and horses, a pool, nice things and nice clothes. I could take them almost anywhere with me, and often did. I was not completely aware, at the time, of the nagging feeling that Barbie, Kelly and Ken did not look like me, or really like anyone I knew.

Later on I learned that a woman with Barbie’s proportions would be very unhealthy

“One of the most common criticisms of Barbie is that she promotes an unrealistic idea of body image for a young woman, leading to a risk that girls who attempt to emulate her will become anorexic. A standard Barbie doll is 11.5 inches tall, giving a height of 5 feet 9 inches at 1/6 scale. Barbie’s vital statistics have been estimated at 36 inches (chest), 18 inches (waist) and 33 inches (hips). At 5’9” tall and weighing 110 lbs, Barbie would have a BMI of 16.24 and fit the weight criteria for anorexia. According to research by the University Central Hospital in Helsinki, Finland, she would lack the 17 to 22 percent body fat required for a woman to menstruate. In 1963, the outfit “Barbie Baby-Sits” came with a book entitled How to Lose Weight which advised: “Don’t eat!.”The same book was included in another ensemble called “Slumber Party” in 1965 along with a pink bathroom scale permanently set at 110 lbs.,which would be around 35 lbs. underweight for a woman 5 feet 9 inches tall. Mattel has said that the waist of the Barbie doll was made small because the waistbands of her clothes, along with their seams, snaps, and zippers, added bulk to her figure.”

And there are more issues than promoting unhealthy body image in young girls in the Mattel Barbie line history.

“Colored Francie” made her debut in 1967, and she is sometimes described as the first African American Barbie doll. However, she was produced using the existing head molds for the white Francie doll and lacked African characteristics other than a dark skin. The first African American doll in the Barbie range is usually regarded as Christie, who made her debut in 1968. Black Barbie was launched in 1980 but still had white features. In September 2009, Mattel introduced the So In Style range, which was intended to create a more realistic depiction of black people than previous dolls. (To this day, whenever I happen to be in Walmart or a similar store I peruse their toy section and grumble angrily at the lack of diversity in the Barbie line-up. Also, Colored Francie?!)

Add this little gem…

In 1997, Mattel joined forces with Nabisco to launch a cross-promotion of Barbie with Oreo cookies. Oreo Fun Barbie was marketed as someone with whom little girls could play after class and share “America’s favorite cookie.” As had become the custom, Mattel manufactured both a white and a black version. Critics argued that in the African American community, Oreo is a derogatory term meaning that the person is “black on the outside and white on the inside,” like the chocolate sandwich cookie itself. The doll was unsuccessful and Mattel recalled the unsold stock, making it sought after by collectors.

Anyways… what does all this have to do with art? Good question. Well, it turns out that plenty of artists have used the dolls as models and subjects for their art.

The series ‘Food Chain Barbie’ stirred up a lot of buzz more than a few moons ago. I am pretty damn disgusted by the fruits of this man’s labor…

Sarah Haney has produced rather different work focused on the Barbie issue: “On the surface, Barbie appears perfect. She’s beautiful, has great clothes, several good careers, and a perpetual smile on her face. As a child, I was always bothered by that smile- I put her through any number of tragedies, but no matter what befell her, she kept that fixed little smirk. As an adult, thinking about that fixed expression of pleasure made me start to think about what she might be hiding behind the façade of perfection- after all, how great could life really be for a woman who clearly has an eating disorder, an addiction to plastic surgery, and nothing between her ears? My photographs portray the dark side of life in the Dream House: Barbie’s obsession with her body, Ken’s quest for sexual gratification, all the dirty little secrets they attempt to hide as they present themselves as icons of the American Dream.”