dirtylibrarian

Mattel Introduces Barbie-Inspired Clothing Line
November 14, 2007
By Vanessa L. Facenda

Patricia Field, famous for the colorful and talked-about fashions she created for the Sex and the City stars, has a new muse: Barbie.

I confess, I was a Barbie-loving little girl. My parents were too much of hippies to buy me one, so it was the first thing I actually saved up money to purchase. She was Pink and Pretty. She had pink spandex pants, pink high heels, and a pink faux fur stole. With this sort of early fashion influence, it is easy to see why Burning Man wasn't a big leap for me.

My Barbie drove shoe boxes, and wore dresses I styled for her out of tube socks. She was the only one I owned, other than an ancient Midge doll missing her bangs I had inherited from an aunt. The only male in her life was a Michael Jackson doll my brother got for Christmas, long after I was done playing with dolls. I really liked my Barbie (and I confess, I think she is somewhere in this house, right now).

But...I do think there is something seriously wrong with the cultish fetishizing of this toy amongst grown women. I place it right up there with the huge wave of Disney Princess products that can now be purchased for adults (including of all things entire weddings and gowns), which I find loathsome for children, but horrifying for adults. Kids pretending to be princesses don't bother me so much...it is hard to escape society's idea of a princess...someone well cared for, adored, comfortable, well dressed, and special...who wouldn't want these things? But it is the extensive branding on top of this that gets to be too much for me. The idea that you may not be a Barbie or a princess, but if you purchase enough things, maybe you can pretend really hard. In a society that holds Paris Hilton up as a model of young womanhood, I would much rather see resources being put into giving girls the sort of intelligent imaginations that enable them to dream of better worlds based in science, peace, hope, and communication, rather than escapist fantasies revolving around material wealth.

I've been just lousy about keeping up with news lately. I found this Salon article to be very useful for understanding the Blackwater situation: The Dark Truth About Blackwater.

What is it with Americans? Why are scandals more interesting if they have the word water in them? I wouldn't be surprised if that is what it takes to get people's attention anymore. Can't get publicity for your cause? Find something related ending with -water.

Seriously though, the issue of outsource government has been something that has troubled me deeply for a long time. Libraries have begun doing this, too, with the idea on the surface that you are saving money for the community, but I believe there are always hidden costs that the public can't imagine, and by the time people figure it out, it is often too late to fix.

I'm sick of the attitude that "big government" needs to be ended, but that it is ok to turn around and give the money "saved" to companies that screw over the environment, treat their employees like shit, and make huge profits doing it.

Why does no one ever talk about the benefits of good government jobs on a community? That well run libraries, police forces, fire departments, etc, not only are a good investment for any community, but also create hundreds of jobs that pay a living wage, have medical benefits, and create invested participants in neighborhoods.

Not that I think this really applies to Iraq. Though the article does imply the military personnel are doing a better job of community building. But I think the whole mess has been profit motivated from the start, and has nothing to do with creating peace, freedom, or much anything good at all.

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Entries tagged with rants

Barbie fashions for adults - ewww.

Blackwater, outsoucing and greed

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