Barbie still terrorises women

Greta Gerwig has broken the box office record for a female director, with her film Barbie grossing more than $370 million (about R6.5 billion) this past weekend. It triggered way more people than those who painted the town pink and went to watch the blockbuster.

For some, Barbie represents an unattainable standard of beauty, thanks to her body shape, flawless looks and perfect height.

A number of women will let you know that Ken’s girlfriend wreaked havoc on their youth, as they were measured against the bombshell doll, sporting blue eyes, blonde hair and a slim torso.

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The very same women attest that Barbie planted seeds of inadequacy in them, as she never had any flaws. She was immune to normal hardships such as a skin breakout, a bout of gaining weight and various insecurities.

The concept of being unpopular is a foreign one to the pink princess, as she has been the doll of choice for a number of decades. Her problematic proportions have contributed to unhealthy relationships some older women have with food, as they still try and attain her teeny-weeny waistline.

Her Corvette convertible and pimped out Dreamhouse peddle an idea that life is mostly about amassing material wealth.

Barbie has been mostly terrorising women since 1959 when Mattel released her to the world, ensuring that they would forever consider her as a benchmark of what a successful woman is. Until now.

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Although I would not ever watch the film, or even be associated with anything to do with the pink tyrant, I hear Gerwig understood the assignment, that representation matters. In the film, the Barbies are lawyers, presidents, doctors, inspiring a new generation that women can be whatever they choose to be.

If you think this is a lot to place on a doll, then you do not realise that Barbie has made the cover of Time magazine, twice! This is also the same character who has shaped how men view women.

Men like Ken have been brainwashed that a beautiful woman has to closely match Barbie’s appearance, and all the rest were not worthy of being courted. Thank goodness that we no longer live in an era when an early version of Barbie came out with a book that summarised how women could lose weight in just two words: “Don’t eat!”

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