While we are waiting from the results of the Iowa Caucus to roll in, I just want have a minor rant-lette about 2nd wave feminists. I do not know why, but my views on women's issues come down to two misunderstood icons - Scarlett O'Hara and Barbie. Let's leave Scarlett for another day and focus on Barbie.
And as we all know, Barbie has been a sore spot for 2nd wave feminists for years because of her measurements. They all obsess endlessly about how Barbie is the root of all anti-feminist evil making little girls feel bad about themselves because if she were a real human woman, her measurement would be something like 41/14/32. Who could ever compete right?
But let's go to the wayback machine. [Cue: sound effects] I was born 3 months before Barbie was introduced to the world, so it is safe to say, I have grown up in the shadow of Barbie as an icon. Yes, in the beginning, Barbie was a fashion model with out-of-proportion measurement and plenty of clothes and accessories with which little girls could spend hours and hours playing. Yes, she was a "high fashion" model who travelled our imaginary world being pretty. She was also the first adult woman doll made for little girls to play with. Don't hold me to that historical fact though.
We all played with Barbie and had a little Barbie clothes cartel in my neighborhood where my little girl friends and I would meet and share our Barbie fashions. Sometime in the '60's Mattel introduced "career" Barbie dolls. First she was a high fashion model with a stewardess uniform, then came a nurse, pilot, doctor, and astronaut. We did not see Barbie as a sex object with a wildly proportioned body and frankly, no one liked Ken. We saw her as a woman who could be an astronaut!
This all leads me to what happened last week. Maybe you missed the big announcement from Mattel, but Barbie got a makeover. I'm not talking about a new dream house or career. I am talking about Barbie going into extensive therapy and coming out all P.C.'ed up -
New improved P.C./Feminist Barbie.
Not Barbie the astronaut, pilot, or doctor, but Barbie the "curvy", "tall", and "original" mean-girl fashion model again. 2nd wave feminists have focused on the wrong problem. So it's not her proportions they should be upset about. It's that she's back to the '50's version of a woman who can only derive her self-esteem from the way she looks and not what she can achieve.
Now on to the Iowa causus results...
9:45pm EST - Cruz (27k+) to Trump(22+) with Rubio (20+) not far behind with full votes. Clinton delegates counted (433) leads Sanders (416) barely. 1% reporting...
And as we all know, Barbie has been a sore spot for 2nd wave feminists for years because of her measurements. They all obsess endlessly about how Barbie is the root of all anti-feminist evil making little girls feel bad about themselves because if she were a real human woman, her measurement would be something like 41/14/32. Who could ever compete right?
But let's go to the wayback machine. [Cue: sound effects] I was born 3 months before Barbie was introduced to the world, so it is safe to say, I have grown up in the shadow of Barbie as an icon. Yes, in the beginning, Barbie was a fashion model with out-of-proportion measurement and plenty of clothes and accessories with which little girls could spend hours and hours playing. Yes, she was a "high fashion" model who travelled our imaginary world being pretty. She was also the first adult woman doll made for little girls to play with. Don't hold me to that historical fact though.
We all played with Barbie and had a little Barbie clothes cartel in my neighborhood where my little girl friends and I would meet and share our Barbie fashions. Sometime in the '60's Mattel introduced "career" Barbie dolls. First she was a high fashion model with a stewardess uniform, then came a nurse, pilot, doctor, and astronaut. We did not see Barbie as a sex object with a wildly proportioned body and frankly, no one liked Ken. We saw her as a woman who could be an astronaut!
This all leads me to what happened last week. Maybe you missed the big announcement from Mattel, but Barbie got a makeover. I'm not talking about a new dream house or career. I am talking about Barbie going into extensive therapy and coming out all P.C.'ed up -
New improved P.C./Feminist Barbie.
Not Barbie the astronaut, pilot, or doctor, but Barbie the "curvy", "tall", and "original" mean-girl fashion model again. 2nd wave feminists have focused on the wrong problem. So it's not her proportions they should be upset about. It's that she's back to the '50's version of a woman who can only derive her self-esteem from the way she looks and not what she can achieve.
Now on to the Iowa causus results...
9:45pm EST - Cruz (27k+) to Trump(22+) with Rubio (20+) not far behind with full votes. Clinton delegates counted (433) leads Sanders (416) barely. 1% reporting...
My daughters were never big Barbie fans (their longest lasting obsession was American Girls though the current obsession of my 11 year old is Shopkins) but it always seemed to me there were roughly a billion versions of Barbie floating around :) .
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it's nice that Trump got a little ride last night and hopefully a sign of things to come. We need somebody better than Trump or Clinton in the Oval Office.
Hmmm, not to make anyone at all mad, but I really believe that women are their own worst enemies sometimes...I had four sisters,,,believe me, they dressed to impress other women, not just men. Looking back at my own life, I never dated a super model type, I dated cowgirls, waitresses, women in the Air Force,,,none of them looked or acted like super models..they were all smart, pretty and built in a variety of ways...men aren't nearly as picky as women think we are. Most of us really do want someone that we want to be around.
ReplyDeleteCritch, agreed. I'm pretty sure that when the "ideal" woman was conceived, no actual men were consulted. Teenage boys, perhaps, but no men. Which is to say, the women who are worried about that stuff are still trying to impress teenagers. And that's creepy.
ReplyDeleteI'm sitting here listening to the Hillary supporters in my office,,you would think she had won a stunning victory...Bernie the Bolshevik almost beat her...
ReplyDeleteBack to Barbie...we used to joke in the space program that the perfect astronaut was a short, slightly overweight woman with high blood pressure...they tend to be able to handle extreme g-forces better than their physically fit counterparts. So much for the Barbie and Ken astronauts.
Bev, If they think Barbies are bad, they should check out the Monster High girls. They make Barbie look like a morbidly obese nun. Young girls are going over them too.
ReplyDeleteP.S. This issue always makes me realize that modern feminists are simply ugly women who are upset that other women look better and dress better. That's their entire ideology... except for the ones who wish they had been raped, which I'm guessing is some extreme form of a call for attention.
ReplyDeleteAs for the election, this pretty much kills Trump. He needed a big showing to back up the image he had generated of being this overwhelming choice. He didn't get it. Reality strikes... fantasy sinks.
ReplyDeleteI would also say that the big winner is Rubio, who showed amazing strength in enemy territory and was the only "moderate" to stand out. This will kill Christie and Bush and Kasich and the rest.
The other huge loser is Hillary, who showed she's super weak. The Dems will now freak out about her weakness and Hillary runs the risk of Sanders actually passing her. All of this opens the door for any other Democrat who wants to jump in now as a last chance candidate.
As for Cruz, forget it. Iowa is such an outlier that this means nothing for other states except for a couple theological states, though this may help him become the "anybody except a rational candidate" choice.
RE: Monster High, that is what my youngest daughter and all her little friends are in to. Andrew is right. They are a feminist's worst nightmare. Not only do they have baroque proportions, they are all about fashion, celebrity and being popular. And bad monster puns, but that's mainly in the Netflix movies. Speaking of Netflix and Barbie, check out Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse. It's an amazing parody of reality TV that's perfectly suited for kids but is also enjoyable for adults (at least on the first viewing).
ReplyDeleteOn the caucuses, I've heard it said and I tend to agree that Iowa is really a gauge of how much activist support a candidate has. In that light, Trump's 2nd place finish looks really bad, since his whole deal was to raise an activist army. It also has a tendency to inflate the results of candidates with built in activist support, like Cruz with evangelicals. Rubio's 3rd place finish really makes him look like a strong moderate contender, and that makes me happy. Now I just hope that everyone in the GOP field who got less than 2% will take the hint and end their campaigns.
ReplyDelete>>Now I just hope that everyone in the GOP field who got less than 2% will take the hint and end their campaigns. >>
ReplyDeleteHuckabee down, what, about 9-10 more to go? ;-)
tryanmax, The Monster High girls (who also come in doll form) are EVERYTHING feminists hate. They are obsessed with clothes, shoes, makeup and boys. They dress like a mix between club kids and hookers. They are all deeply dependent on being popular and having the right boyfriend. As far as I can tell, none of them have any real world ambition. And most of the story lines are thinly veiled cat fights.
ReplyDeleteThey look like they were drawn by a bitter 40 year old single male pedophile and the story lines seem like they were invented by NYC fashion editors.
Eric, I don't think it matters. These guys are all finished now.
ReplyDeleteTrust me. I know about the dolls. I think I just stepped on one. I found a dismembered arm under my slipper. Every time there's a new movie (90 min. ad) my youngest starts begging for the new characters and outfits.
ReplyDeleteBeen busy today, but I am impressed that you guys know so much about dolls. Andrew, I don't understand feminists' obsession with Barbie when these other dolls just perpetuate shallowness....brains not needed. At least Barbie had to have brains to be an astronaut. And it is perpetuated by the fashion industry. How do you think they set those kids to the malls. At least the American Girl dolls come with books and a history lesson.
ReplyDelete