I'm a Barbie Girl in a Barbie World

Well, it is time to reflect on my experience being a Barbie Girls girl and maintaining this blog. I was intrigued by the notion of participating in a virtual world, but the idea of creating a blog was a bit intimidating. It was easy to create an avatar and set up my Barbie Girls account. I was glad that we had laptop Tuesday. I had a few technical difficulties, but I got the hang of it. It took a long time to create the first couple posts because I could not get my pictures to look like I wanted. I have to give a shout out to Rebecca "Lemon Panda" Lehman for showing me that Blogspot works best on Internet Explorer. I know I have a clip art "problem." I frequently have to include a picture at the top of an agenda or document. I coveted the pictures on Krysten's blog and knew I had to include them in mine, too. I think the pictures help break up the text and encourage people to read.

Writing my posts was awesome. As I mentioned previously, I have a special fondness for Barbie culture and history even though I have mixed feelings about them. I'm also passionate about gender, race, class, socio-economic class and other social justice issues so I really enjoyed writing about them in the context of pop culture texts.

It was fun to talk about our experiences on Barbie Girls and the other virtual worlds in class. I found that it helped us relate to each other better because we had this common experience. We had some good laughs, too. There is some crazy stuff online and yes, I like exposing myself to it. I learned about some of the nuances of the different

types of virtual worlds. And once my curiosity was piqued, I wanted to continue exploring. I set up a Habbo account because I was fascinated. I went back a couple times to check out the different rooms in the hotel and got more comfortable approaching other characters. As for Barbie Girls, I was very tempted to try out a VIP membership and dive into its virual depths. I decided not to do it, but I still coveted some of the things I could not obtain. That green handbag was cool--I would have bought something like that in real life.

I spent the most time playing games on Barbie Girls. Jammin' Hamsters is very similar to Rocket Mania, my Popcap.com favorite. I liked designing fashions, too, although that game had nothing on the Fashion Plates I had when I was a kid.

Spending time on my blog helped boost my confidence. I have thought about setting up a blog for a long time and now I have the basic skills needed. Of course, reading Julie and Julia at the same time also gave me some ideas. Being enrolled in another class has been a helpful reminder that I love being a student and I might pursue further education. I will miss being a student.

Toy Story 3: Homophobia with Ken?

http://gayrights.change.org/blog/view/emtoy_story_3em_toys_with_homophobia


I found this very timely blog article that discusses how Ken was portrayed in Toy Story 3. I have posted it for my readers who participated in yesterday's class about whether or not Disney is truly gay friendly. I have not seen TS3 so I can't give my opinion on this matter, but I find the comments section of this blog entry very interesting. Some folks get very defensive when Disney is criticized regarding the messages in their movies. This time the people defending Disney are saying that such a LGBTQ company is incapable of sending out homophobic or misogynist messages. I don't think Disney's reputation (or any company's for that matter) means that they are above scrutiny. And really, I have mixed feelings about whether they truly deserve such a reputation. What do you think?

Barbie Has Class

Good news, everyone. I discovered that I do indeed have access to the Barbie Girls B-Chat after all. I learned that I could not engage in B-Chat when I previously tried because there was no one around with whom I could chat. Yesterday I pressed the button for the heck of it and I was able to choose from a select group of prewritten messages. There were two other Barbie girls hanging out and I said hello. All I got back was the proverbial sound of crickets chirping, but at least I can put messages out there. The only place I can chat is the sidewalk area where things are advertised (e.g. games, upcoming games, benefits for VIPs). After I enter another part of the Barbie Girls world, chatting is not available to me. I'm not sure if VIPs can chat anywhere and everywhere. I decided to forgo the VIP membership so I could keep my $6.


I visited the Barbie Girls world for a couple hours today (07/11/10). First, I went in and said hello to the two other girls there. I got no response. Oh well. I like to think they were distracted because they were on their way to do something else so I did not take it too personally.

Next I played some games. The first one, Tiara Trivia, was kind of a snoozer. It was a trivia game based on other games and VIP privileges. I was grateful that I was able to make $8 in Barbie Bucks. I played Jammin' Hamsters again and I think I've finally gotten the hang of it. I started to play another game, but was told I needed to log on again. This is kind of a hassle because the site is slow at peak times.

I landed in my bedroom when I re-entered Barbie Girls. I figured out how to make some minimal changes to my room and now my comforter is more like my taste than the default issued one. There is a tag at the top of the page to remind me that my room is LOCKED because I am not a VIP member. Still holding tightly to my $6.

I pressed a button that said map and saw that there were a bunch of fantasy land places to be visited--Extreme Dream Park (an amusement park), Total Girlhood, Shop-a-Mallics (isn't that cute?!?) and Paw Pawlooza (I hope Mattel does not get sued for using -looza). I wanted to see what the Extreme Dream Park was like and waited a couple minutes only to learn that I was not allowed because I was not a VIP.

What exactly does a VIP member get? I clicked on a button to learn that I could get a virtual pet, choose from exciting hairstyles, share my profile and faves (Orange is totally my favorite color!), throw parties in my room with my BFFs, play VIP games and a whole lot more. I was (and still am) tempted to fork out the money so I could get this really cool purse for my avatar--it looked just like something I would carry in real life.

Finally, I decided to play a game called Fashion Frenzy. I worked at my own department store where I had to help customers find what they wanted (shoes, skirts, purses, jewelry, snacks) and eventually help them get to the cashier. I had the opportunity to buy upgrades to my merchandise as well as to invest in ways to lure in customers such as coupons or print ads. On the surface, this looks like an enjoyable game where players have to learn money and time management as well as prompt customer service. It is similar to the

Dazzling Designs game in that it teaches girls how to be entrepreneurs. However, playing this game made me angry. As I tried to help customers as quickly as I could, there were many voices coming at me that said things like, " Hello, I'm waiting" and "Let me talk to the manager" and "Finally!" in extremely condescending tones. I don't want the little girls in my life to learn that it is appropriate to talk to people like that when they are being helped by a service professional.

Here is some of the things I've reflected upon related to money and socio-economic status from visiting Barbie.com and Barbie Girls:

• Barbie.com and Barbie Girls are both complex advertising campaigns to entice girls to consume a whole range of Barbie and Mattel products. Parents play an important role in managing what their daughters can experience while visiting Barbie Girls. Of course, it is no accident that they will be exposed to a whole range of Barbie dolls; clothing, accessories and shoes (for Barbie and girls); electronics; and even an ad for Toy Story 3 in case they have been living under a rock for the last couple months and need a reminder.
• Being a VIP is important for a number of reasons. Non-VIPs don't have much access to other people so their Barbie Girls lives can be a bit lonely because they can't bring other girls into their rooms. Non-VIPs can't even spend the money they earned through creating an avatar and playing games. Non-VIPs have fewer choices when it comes to fashion, skin tone and room decoration. Non-VIPs don't have access to fun places that VIPs get to visit. Non-VIPs have scripted things they can say. Only VIPs can speak "freely" to others. Being a non-VIP creates a culture of desire to entice girls into the VIP realm.
• Barbie Girls participants learn to equate being a girl with being an avid consumer. Many of the games and experiences on Barbie Girls are rooted in shopping for the latest . Girls are entitled to get what they want when they want it as demonstrated by the messages spewed in the Fashion Frenzy game.
• Barbie Girls is geared towards girls that are able to access a computer and the internet in their homes. It is not impossible to visit Barbie Girls at the library or at school. Since parents must be involved in creating the Barbie Girls settings for their daughters, it would involve visiting the public computer together or making multiple visits for a girl to get up and running. It seems like it would be a big hassle to do this unless you had one really dedicated Barbie Girls girl.

Here is my question for the class:

Did you find yourself pining for something you could not have when you accessed your online virtual world for this class? What was it? What did you do about it? What kinds of things do you think Barbie Girls leaves its participants wanting?

S-E-X

Did you know that the inspiration for Barbie was a German doll named Bild-Lilli that was intended for adult men? The Lilli doll was based on a bawdy German comic strip character that came out in the early '50s. They were sold at smoke shops and a few toy stores and their target consumer was men. People would purchase them to give as gag gifts for men (probably given at stag parties and the like).
Ruth Handler came across the doll while she was in Europe in 1956. (http://www.dollreference.com/) Ruth, her husband Elliot and friend Matt created the Mattel [Matt+El(iiot)] Company in 1945. Ruth brought the doll back to the United States and Mattel bought the rights to Lilli. Barbie and Ken are named after Ruth and Elliot's children. (http://www.encyclopedia.jrank.org/) Not surprisingly, Lilli's role in the development of Barbie is not mentioned on the Mattel website. Rather,the website claims that Barbie Handler's fascination with paper dolls inspired the creation of a three dimensional doll. (http://www.mattel.com/)

I have a bit of a fascination with the history of the Barbie doll. But I feel ambivalence about them, too. Barbie products are marketed to girls as young as three years old. Barbie dolls have been around since before I was born yet I still am a little skeeved by her very sexualized figure with the large breasts, curvy hips, perma-heel feet and small waist. It is my theory that Mattel shares this ambivalence and hence, feels the need to sanitize Barbie's history.

I visited Barbie Girls as well as the other websites listed for a couple hours on July 3rd at about 11:20pm. I must admit that I was a little sad that I had sold the three books I used to have on Barbie culture at Half Price Books a couple years ago. But I'm still happy that I did a major book and possessions purge in 2008 so it is ok. I really enjoyed researching the origins of Barbie and her connections to Bild Lilly because I'm intrigued that Barbie's history is so salacious. I played three Barbie Girl games--Tricky Triplets, Dazzling Designs and Jammin' Hampsters. I had fun playing Tricky Triplets and Jammin' Hampsters because flash games are *awesome*. Dazzling Designs is an interesting game because it allows players to design clothing and accessories, play the role of a buyer for their own stores, sell the items and use the profits to continue to whole process. Basic entreprenurial skills are good for girls to learn. I got a message on my phone and was excited because I thought one of my "friends" was trying to get in touch with me. Alas, it was just a reminder that the Scavenger Hunt was now available. I tried to engage in B Chat to see if I could interact with someone else, but I was not able to press either the B Chat or Super B Chat buttons. So I decided to talk with my mom since she had control over my settings. I have to admit that it was pretty hilarious to have this conversation with her since I have been an adult for a long time. :0) The website would not accept her email or password so I'll work with what I have.

Barbie Girls has a set of controls to prevent pervs from trying to pick up little girls. As mentioned previously, parents are the ones who set up what their daughters can or can't experience on the website. Of course, a child could circumvent this process by providing another email, but this would be a violation of the terms and services. I perused the Parents' Place to find more about how Barbie Girls works to make the website a safe place and found this posted:

The BarbieGirls.com experience is intended to be anonymous. Girls are not allowed to share or exchange personal information with any third parties online.

Chatting is regulated. There are three different ways to chat:

B Chat™ is our standard, default chat feature. Anyone can engage in a B Chat™, which may occur in a girl’s room, stores at the mall, and other public hangouts. B Chat™ is the most common type of chat at BarbieGirls.com – and the most restricted. Girls can communicate only by selecting special greetings, questions, and phrases we’ve created and listed by category. They cannot create their own messages using B Chat™.

Secret B Chat™ is a private chat that occurs only in a girl’s room and is available only to “best friends” (real-life friends who own a Barbie Girl™ device and have physically connected it to each other’s computer). With Secret B Chat™, best friends can chat using a dictionary of words we’ve approved and compiled in our database. This sophisticated word-filtering system is designed to block all other words and prevent inappropriate combinations of otherwise acceptable words. Only girls with parental permission can participate in Secret B Chat™.

Super B Chat™ is similar to Secret B Chat™ in that users can type their own messages, but only using words that we’ve approved and compiled in our database. Girls do not need a Barbie Girl™ device to participate in Super B Chat™. Our word-filtering system is designed to block all other words and inappropriate combinations of otherwise acceptable words, prevent the exchange of personal information, and to help keep chat safe, friendly, and fun. Like Secret B Chat™, only girls with parental permission can participate in Super B Chat™.

There will be no talking about or viewing of weiners on this website!!! Rather, this is a place for homosocial activities among other"girls" (gender bending could happen since there is no way to prove participants are girls) like shopping and designing the latest fashions. I did not have a problem with keeping my clothes on like some of the Second Life participants have. And no one has ever asked me back to his room for a little Bobbo time.Yet the avatars on Barbie Girls do not look like the little girls they are supposed to represent. They are built like 18 year old women, not seven year old little girls. There are no options for prepubertal avatars.

Here is my question for the class:

One type of reality show that is currently popular is to show beauty pagents with little girls participating. They are "doodied-up" to look like they are full grown women with heavy makeup, really big hair and sexy clothes. The driving force behind these pagents is really the parents. And parents are the ones who make the decision to purchase Barbie dolls who look like the adult version of these pagent contestants for their children. Why do you think parents make the decision to expose their children to these activities and products? What impact do you think this trend has on the little girls who consume these images?

Talkin' About Gender

I had a song called "For My Next Trick I'll Need a Volunteer" stuck in my head while I worked on the first blog entry (in case you were wondering). I thought it would be cute to use a picture of Barbie as a magician to tie in with the theme. I have attached the closest picture I could find--Barbie as a magician's assistant. I was disappointed, but realized that this photo could be an interesting segue to discuss gender as it relates to Barbie and Barbie Girls, the virtual world I have joined.

People have been manipulating Barbie dolls since they were introduced to the world over 50 years ago. Barbie has been given haircuts and indelible crayon marks and has even lost her head at the hands of little girls who want to reinvent her image. These days it is easy to find images where Barbie has modified by adults as a reflection of modern society. I don't think it is a coincidence that Barbie has not yet broken into the male-dominated field of magic, but instead has to settle for being a passive assistant who looks like she could be asleep. It was easy for me to find images of her being a "bad girl." I found a Barbie "tramp stamp" and a Barbie making naughty copies while sitting on a copy machine. These images support the current hegemony related to gender in much the same way the Girls Gone Wild phenomenon does.










Earlier this evening (06/30/10) I had difficulty accessing Barbie Girls because the program was running very slowly. In fact, my session timed out and I had to log in again before I could play games. I think this was probably during a heavy usage period for the website. I tried again later and played around on the site for about an hour and a half. I went to my room and decided to decorate. I found that I could only add five pieces of furniture (a bed is standard) and they did not really match IMO. I went to add accessories to the room, but found that I could not do so because I am not a VIP member. I was frustrated and sad. I can't invite people to my room since I am not a VIP so I was a little lonely walking around the room. I tried inviting my classmates to be friends with me, but none of them were online at the same time. In fact, none of my Barbie friends were online so I was pretty lonely tonight. I decided to play some games. I played Jammin' Hamster, a game that is similar to Rocket Mania, one of my favorite online games. I remembered that I wanted to get some glasses so I went to change my look. And once again, that purse that I can't get due to my non-VIP status was calling my name. I thought I could expand my profile by clicking on the Fab Facts link and once again got shut out because I am not a VIP. Dang, this is frustrating and I am about ready to plunk down the $6 to see what this whole VIP thing is about. It must be difficult to be a little girl who can't afford to be a VIP or access the website if she has friends who think this is really cool.

Here are some of the messages that I have received about gender through my time on Barbie.com:

1. Being a Barbie girl means that you must like pink. A lot. Now, I must explain that my bathroom is painted Pepto Pink, but there is only so much blush and bashful (see Steel Magnolias) I can take.
2. A Barbie girl must be thin. I could not choose a body type that matches mine when I created my avatar.
3. Clothes, accessories, makeup and accessories are important to create my look. Clothing and shoes must be gender appropriate.
4. Barbie girls like to shop and decorate. I tried to go to the rec center as directed on the Barbie.com page, but was unable to find it.
5. I can be anything! There is a page on Barbie.com that lets me know I can be a pet vet, a rocker or a ballerina. But all the drawings of Barbie in her work clothes show her dressed in the most up-to-date stylish clothes that make it look like she is in a fashion show instead of going to a job.

Here is my question for the class:

Are there other messages that girls and boys learn about gender through their exposure to Barbie dolls and the Barbie Girl virtual world? Do these messages attempt to support or deconstruct the current hegemonic gender structure? What kinds of messages would you want to discuss with your child or nieces/nephews about gender when they play with Barbie dolls?