Happy 50th Birthday Barbie!
Today is officially Barbie’s 50th birthday and I spent the morning reading about how the West, namely, the United States, is the culprit for branding skinny and the world has responded with eating disorders, anorexia, bulemia, diets, and body hatred. Barbie’s body and lack of anatomy have been the subject of much vehement discussion about just this topic, but I think she has been vilified for no reason. I played with Barbies endlessly when I was a little girl and didn’t think I wanted to look like her or be like her. My sister and I built elaborate houses for Barbie with the dining room table protectors that folded out and became the walled universe whereby everything was rife for a piece of furniture.
Last night we were watching the final episode of the L-Word and it was interesting how at the end when they showed a cameo of each girl, the girls who were watching it with me all oo’d and ah’d over Shane, over Bette, over Kit. From pencil thin to robust, there wasn’t a body type that wasn’t attractive or hot.
Barbie doesn’t have an eating disorder, she is just naturally thin because she doesn’t have time to eat – she’s on the go, driving her corvette, wearing her glamorous clothes, at the beach with Skipper, or entertaining with Ken. Happy birthday girl – you are marvelous!