Barbie dolls in a critical analysis

Have you ever seen a Barbie girl? Is she beautiful? Is she charming? Oh, it sounds so obvious. A pretty and smart girl always stays in shape and looks fashionable, what could be more perfect? Barbie is really a successful case study in doing marketing. To capture the bigger market, Mattel- the producer has come up with a variety of designs and changes for their dolls. Today I wanna uncover some secret about one of the latest version of the collection “Barbie Dolls of the world 2013”.

With the intention of creating “the significance of introducing new cultures to girls in a relatable way”, the collection helps “exploring the world and learning about different cultures through play”. However, while it might be clear that the producer concentrated on “celebrating the cultures and diversity represented within each country”, it’s not a good idea to me when only featuring the native fashions in the collection. There are many different types of dolls in “Barbie Dolls of the world 2013”: Mexico Barbie is “dressed for a fabulous fiesta” in a pink dress with ruffles, ribbon and lace; China doll wearing a red sink embroidered gowns, India Barbie with a sari…Let me be frank, how many times have you seen this image of a India or Mexico girl on daily magazine wearing the same outfit as the dolls? Have you met any Chinese girl recently? Oh God, I could not remember what is the last time I see a “normal” people wearing such kind of clothes daily, maybe just on some films or old pictures. Foreign women is now fashionable and much more different.

Barbie is considered as a life inspiration of smart feminist who could do everything she wants: an astronaut, an army ranger, a presidential candidate, etc as long as she is assumed to be an American. But when she takes on the cultural appearance of others, she is very restricted. The question is why Barbie dolls from other countries have to wear the native clothing (especially in comparison with US where there is no traditional costume)? That is exactly when these dolls plays into stereotype.

Stereotype is known as an unintentional activation of the fixed image or response shaped from the past coming up in your mind when understanding a type of people or things. By using the image of those “foreign Barbies”, buyers might believe in the image of people in other countries as the same as what dolls represent while it might not be the case. If I were a kid who knows nothing about the world but what is described by these dolls, I could not realize is not the cultures but the differences in lifestyle and people among countries. It’s not progressive to implicitly suggest that others could not keep up with the changes in our modern world through those outdated image, right?

Could you imagine “To what extend did the producer unHave you ever seen a Barbie girl? Is she beautiful? Is she charming? Oh, it sounds so obvious. A pretty and smart girl always stays in shape and looks fashionable, what could be more perfect? Over 50 years of development, Barbie has come out with a variety of designs and changes. Today I wanna take an in-depth look at one of the latest version of the collection “Barbie Dolls of the world 2013”.

With the intention of creating “the significance of introducing new cultures to girls in a relatable way”, the collection helps “exploring the world and learning about different cultures through play”. However, while it might be clear that the producer concentrated on “celebrating the cultures and diversity represented within each country”, it’s not a good idea to me when only featuring the native fashions in the collection. There are many different types of dolls in “Barbie Dolls of the world 2013”: Mexico Barbie is “dressed for a fabulous fiesta” in a pink dress with ruffles, ribbon and lace; China doll wearing a red sink embroidered gowns, India Barbie with a sari, etc. Let me be frank, how many times have you seen this image of a India or Mexico girl on daily magazine wearing the same outfit as the dolls? Have you met any Chinese girl recently? Oh God, I could not remember what is the last time I see a “normal” people wearing such kind of clothes daily, maybe just on some films or old pictures. Foreign women is now fashionable and much more different.

Barbie is considered as a life inspiration of smart feminist who could do everything she wants: an astronaut, an army ranger, a presidential candidate, etc as long as she is assumed to be an American. But when she takes on the cultural appearance of others, she is very restricted. The question is "Why Barbie dolls from other countries have to wear the native clothing?" (especially in comparison with US where there is no traditional costume). That is exactly when they plays into stereotype.

Stereotype is known as an unintentional activation of the fixed image or response shaped from the past coming up in your mind when understanding a type of people or things. The image Mattel created for dolls are some kind of "outside of history", "something that is placid and still and eternal"- "which is simply contradicted by the fact of history." (Edward Said) . By using the image of those “foreign Barbies”, buyers might believe in the image of people in other countries as the same as what dolls represent while it might not be the case. If I were a kid who knows nothing about the world but what is described by these dolls, I could not realize is not the cultures but the differences in lifestyle and people among countries. It’s not really "friendly" to implicitly suggest that others could not keep up with the changes in modern world like us through those outdated image , right? 

Could you imagine “To what extend did the producer unintentionally affect our products and company?” Let’s put ourselves in the position of a foreign buyer who finds that the doll does not express his"real" and up-to-date image in the society. If I were him, I will seriously consider not to buy the product or even deny using it as a gift for my kids or especially international friends. Moreover, overseas purchasers could feel that the way people making and designing Barbie is not respectful enough to their culture when using such old- fashioned images, which could lead to the rejection of buying any Barbie doll. Nowadays, when the producer tries to reach the overseas market as much as possible, that product itself limits the accessibility to foreign consumes is not good at all. And maybe, the feedback or complains about the product available on webs could also negatively impact the decisions of American consumers to buy the collection. Moreover, using the outdated image of others in a big series of products revealed the poor understanding of the producer in cultures, which discourage purchasers to buy the product when they are willing to learning about the "real culture".

Is it fair to foreign countries when creating such kind of staying- the-same images like being stuck in the history and force other culture to stop developing in our mind while Barbie is well-known as a dare-to-do model? Is it really progressive to implicitly emphasizing the differences by comparing between modern and traditional images of nations? It’s time for differences to be truly respected and fully comprehend by offering more “real” products. I might just have come up with some constructive ideas about dolls with the more modern clothing such as vest and skirt suit with the national symbol on it or cultural gesture that both offer the “real-world” view and the cultural characteristic.

P.S : “Dear Mattel,

Please, never underestimates the importance of researching and understanding what you are representing in products!”

intentionally alienate their potential customers?” Let’s put ourselves in the position of a foreign buyer who finds that the doll does not express their "real" and up-to-date images in the society, I will seriously consider not to buy the product or even deny using it as a gift for my kids or especially international friends. Moreover, overseas purchasers could feel that the way people making and designing Barbie is not respectful enough to their culture when using such out-of- image, which could lead to the rejection of buying any Barbie doll. Nowadays, when the producer tries to reach the overseas market as much as possible, that product itself limits the accessibility to foreign consumes is not good at all. And maybe, the feedbacks or complains about the product available on webs could also negatively impact the decisions of American consumers to buy the collection. Moreover, using the outdated image of others in a big series of products revealed the poor understanding of the producer in cultures, which discourage purchasers to buy the product when they are willing to learning about it.

Is it fair to foreign countries when creating such kind of staying- the-same images like being stuck in the history and force other culture to stop developing in our mind while Barbie is well-known as a dare-to-do model? Is it really progressive to implicitly emphasizing the differences by comparing between modern and traditional images of nations? It’s time for differences to be truly respected and fully comprehend by offering more “real” products. I might just have come up with some constructive ideas about dolls with the more modern clothing such as vest and skirt suit with the national symbol on it or cultural gesture that both offer the “real-world” view and the cultural characteristic.

“Dear Mattel,

 Please, never underestimate the importance of researching and understanding what you are representing in products!”