Barbie Anthropology

By Xah Lee. Date:
barbie girl Kayla
Time Magazine, .

Glorious Toy Mosaic

Fortunately, residents of the Barbie town house do not have to fill out census forms. If they did, Kayla, the newest member of the extended family, would have a tough time identifying her background. The doll, who had her coming out at the recent New York City Toy Fair, is described as multiethnic, though the exact ethnicities that contribute to her olive complexion and straight, waist-length hair are not specified. “It's whatever a girl wants to see in it,” said a Barbie spokesperson, who explained the doll's introduction as the company's attempt to offer dolls that reflect the racial mixture girls now see at school or the park. Barbie also has African-American, Asian-American and Latina friends. The name Kayla was chosen from a list of the country's most popular girls' names. Though Kayla, who should be on toy shelves this month, would not seem to share any DNA with the blond-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian Barbie, both boast the exact same height and measurements, which suggests that either their gene pools mingled sometime in the past or they share the same personal trainer.

“Aqua - Barbie girl”, 1997.

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Aqua - Barbie girl, Lyrics:

  Hi Barbie!
  Hi Ken!
  You wanna go for a ride?
  Sure, Ken!
  Jump in!

  I'm a Barbie girl in the Barbie world
  Life in plastic, it's fantastic
  You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere
  Imagination, life is your creation

  I'm a blonde single girl in the fantasy world
  Dress me up, make me tight, I'm your dollie

  You're my doll, rock and roll,
  feel the glamour and pain
  Kiss me here, touch me there,
  hanky-panky

  You can touch, you can play
  If you say, I'm always yours

  Make me walk, make me talk,
  do whatever you please.
  I can act like a star, I can beg on my knees

  Come jump in, be my friend,
  let us do it again
  Hit the town, fool around,
  let's go party

  Come on, Barbie, let's go party
  ah ah ahh, yeah

  Come on, Barbie, let's go party
  oooh, oooh

  Oh, I'm having so much fun!
  Well, Barbie, we're just getting started!
  Oh, I love you Ken!

The literally heartless commercial entity Mattel Inc (maker of Barbie dolls) sued another literally heartless entity MCA Records Inc, in 1997 over music group Aqua's summer hit Barbie Girl, over the imageries depicted in the song about Barbie. Mattel lost. (hooray).

Barbie is a epitome of the American culture. Lovely sweet toy things, a model of the female success. Good sized breasts, slender waist, and mature hips, pretty face, pretty dresses. And, complete with fingernail adornments and high-heels. (they help the sexual advertisement and gestures of the female sex, and are extremely effective.)

barbie.com screenshot 2003-09
Mattel (incorporated)'s website, .

From this screenshot, we discern what is on pubescent females's minds in middle class America as of the 21st century. A average (blonde) youngling, probably want themselves to look something like the one shown here, and a room of their own thus. We see “Fashion” and “Star” on the mirror, and the director's chair and the spot lights on the ceiling. We see TV and cellphone. And in their minds, we see Studio, Arts, Magic Dreams, Care n Share, and Party.

Lauren Oxley as Barbie
This girl is a example of real life Barbie. Such is the object of competition for the male sex throughout history. The men competes among themselves for such princess, the women beautify themselves vying for powerful man.

With the advancement of technology in society from primitive to industrial, power is less and less dependent on brawn, in particular the info-tech era of 21th century. Consequently, the frail sex has climbed the power ladder in society as a whole, especially in the pragmatistic American society, with movements such as feminism and “equality of sexes” laws. Sexual traits such as the nurturing tits and inseminating penis are made functionally unnecessary by technology. Pregnancy, the defining functionality of the female and the root of all sexual traits biological and social, is however still necessarily carried out by a female body. Impinging technologies such as nano-tech and genetics may eliminate this final biological basis of the relations between the sexes with artificial womb. However, fucking by itself is still loved and performed routinely more frequently than ever by both sexes without the engenderment of procreation. It is likely that technology will be able to totally eliminate the human element of human reproduction in the next 50 years (e.g. artificial womb, societies of artificial germination, clone farm…), but it is not likely to change human's sexual values and behaviors that has been imbued in the genes of humanity for the past thousands of years. Women will continue to exhibit themselves to attract male with their tits and ass, and men will grapple for power to win chicks, despite the obviated biological imperative of self preservation and propagation.

One interesting observation is the pre-coitus ritual performed by human animals in dance clubs of modern society. It is also interesting to note that in advanced societies such as our internet era, the fecundity of sexual innuendoes sticks to our eyes and ears from the media every minute of it. Such value system is instilled in the younglings beginning with Barbie or GI Joe. Even with these manifestations, the human society on the whole do not readily accept their sexual behavior and thinking and aggression. Pornography, prostitution, power struggles are looked down despite the rampant, ubiquitous demand and supply. These suppressions may be the fruits of a power structure, where primitive behaviors and thoughts are controlled by the abstract artifact “morality” of elite in power.

Though i'm optimistic and hopeful for the changing facilitated by the massive improvement of efficiency in communication thru the onset of internet. This massive channel of communication, in particular revolutionary in its opening flood of unclassifiable information that are hard to come by or suppressed, has brought about liberation of societies in a unprecedented order. Around 1860 we have the slave revolution in America, where some people can feel the word freedom. Around 1970 we have the Sexual Revolution, where people can see and touch sex openly. And today the internet gives us a multi-faceted massive global revolution. Things hitherto difficult to see now come out teemingly from some unknown locked closet and grab people sans their consent. (among which is dog-fucking folks or unwholesome truths like this page). The effect is a massive social political change in a historical scale. Undoubtfully the internet revolution is bringing us knowledge, and if we lead it carefully, hopefully understanding and love will come by too.

mark ryden barbie
Art by Mark Ryden.

Did you know that Barbie was originally a Harlot? See: The Littlest Harlot (Origin of Barbie).

barbie