Barbie Hall of Fame

Perky, pert… perfect. The pocket-size princess Barbie (“Babs” to those in the know) has been giving little girls wholesome playtime and unrealistic body expectations for close to 50 years now! And like any lasting fashion icon, among the triumphs have been the controversies, too. With that in mind, we present Citysearch's Barbie Hall of Fame...

Editorial Review

Teen Talk Barbie
When playing Barbie, all the way up until July 1992, children were using their imagination by being Barbie's voice when they played dolls. Observing this behaviour, Mattel decided to apply a little imagination themselves by releasing 'Teen Talk Barbie', who made pronouncements such as “I love shopping!” or asked probing questions like, “Wanna have a pizza party?” among a set of 270 options peppered with a heavy American accent. This moulding of young girls' concerns would have flown under the radar, had they not included an exacerbated, “Math is hard!” which got the American Association of University Women's panties all twisted. They removed the phrase in October of that year after criticism. Manufacturing misogyny is hard too!

“Coloured Francie”
1959 was a very different time, so naturally Barbie was debuted in the only caste that would come to the mind of a '59 toy designer: white. The radical '60s clearly rocked the foundations of this singular society, because in 1967 a new friend for Barbie was introduced: “Coloured Francie”, as she was known. Her tag line was, “Barbie's MODern cousin” (in reference to her “mod” contemporary clothes). She wasn't African-American per se, just the regular Barbie in a different colour. At least the thought was there, despite the awkward title.

Oreo Fun Barbie
Luckily, Mattel learns from past mistakes. In 1997, they entered into a cross promotion deal with Nabisco and brought the world “Oreo Fun Barbie”. The theory was that little girls could come home from school and play with their favourite doll while eating their favourite cookie, Oreo. Because of their past mistakes, Mattel now had a policy of releasing any new edition Barbie in both white and black. They didn't have a sensitivity policy in place though, because 'Oreo' is slang in the African-American lingo. Derogatory slang, at that - it refers to somebody being black on the outside, but white on the inside (like the cookies). The dolls were recalled. Once again, it's the thought that counts!

Share a Smile Becky
1997 will be remembered as a challenging year for Mattel. You'd think that releasing a wheelchair-bound Barbie doll called “Share a Smile Becky” would be an example to the public of the Mattel's sensitivity. The good intent was illustrated by Becky's pink wheelchair, however the company made a dramatic mistake in their designs as pointed out by a 17-year-old high school student with cerebral palsy who made headlines by taking Mattel to task for creating a wheelchair-bound doll that could not fit into the elevator of Barbie's dream house.

Totally Tattoo Barbie
Sure a lot has changed - even since the nineties - but one thing that hasn't changed is Mattel's ability to court controversy from an attempt to be progressive and modern. In April 2009, Mattel took things to a new and unprecedented level by unleashing 'Totally Tattoo Barbie” onto the world. The selling point was that you could customise your doll - or even yourself - with a range of tattoos included with the doll. One of the tattoos included is intended for the lower back just above the buttocks, although Totally Tattoo Barbie does not come with appropriate sounds to accompany the process of actually getting a tattoo applied to her lower back just above the buttocks.

Pregnant Midge
Mattel responded to the message that girls need dolls that reflect the real people in their lives, and dolls that would let them act out events that may actually happen in their life. Wedding Barbie is a good example here, and a great excuse to dress up to boot! Following on from this reality-based theme, in 2003 Mattel introduced “Pregnant Midge”, the doll for girls who dream of being pregnant as part of their 'Happy Family' line. But wait! Midge was of an indistinguishable age, possibly encouraging teen pregnancy! And with no wedding ring, is Midge going to be a single mother too? And that was just the tip of the customer complaint iceberg that was enough to make Wal-Mart hastily pull the line off their shelves. But as we say with Mattel, at least the thought was there!

Josh Dare, Citysearch  

Celebrate Barbie's 50th birthday at the Forever Barbie exhibition in Melbourne from 26 June, 2009.

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