At the age of 8, I was invited to my first BYOB party -- Bring Your Own Barbie.
My girlfriends, armed with their favorite Barbie dolls and clothes, would spend the night trading outfits and creating stories about the beloved dolls. There was one stipulation: If you don't have a Barbie, don't bother showing up.
My mother (far from a radical feminist) refused to let me go. Although I was unaware of the logic at the time, Mom knew that two of the girls in my class didn't have a Barbie doll. She wasn't going to let them be the only ones left out.
As the world's most famous doll turns 40 tomorrow, I can't help feeling left out again. I mean, what's with all the hype?
For Barbie's official birthday, Mattel is teaming up with Girls Incorporated (formerly the Girls Clubs of America) to hold a "power breakfast" for 23 girls aged 12-18 at the New York Stock Exchange. This would be the New York Stock Exchange. As part of this "power breakfast," a live Barbie model dressed as "Working Woman Barbie," a new doll Mattel plans to introduce in June, will ring the bell to start the trading day. This would be the New York Stock Exchange bell.
There's more: Mattel will carpet the street in front of the New York Stock Exchange in pink and decorate the famous balcony in Barbie regalia. Broad Street will become "Barbie Street" for the day, so the Exchange will be located at the corner of Barbie and Wall streets. And Mattel officials are trying to persuade the traders to wear pink.
All that is just tomorrow. We have a whole year of Barbie celebrations: In May, the Jackson and Perkins horticulturists group will announce a commemorative "Barbie" rose. In June, the U.S. Postal Service will roll out the Barbie stamp, and Mattel will unveil the 40th Anniversary Barbie doll, clad in a black-and-white sequined gown inspired by her original back-and-white bikini. And so on.
Hitting the big 4-0 has never been so much fun.
Especially for the people who hate her.
Just like any other full-blown cultural icon (real or plastic) -- think Madonna, Elvis, Princess Diana -- Barbie has been subjected to some harsh scrutiny through the years.
Feminists and others have long lamented Barbie's exaggerated proportions as setting unrealistic standards of beauty for young girls. According to a 1995 Yale University study by Dr. Kelly Brownell, if Barbie were blown up into life-size dimensions, she would stand at 7-foot-2 and sport a 40-22-36 figure.
Maria Evola, a junior psychology major at Loyola College, capitalized on this information to support National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (Feb. 21-27). Along with Loyola College senior Helen Ekeke and College of Notre Dame sophomores Michelle Campbell and Rebecca Schaffer, the team created a life-size replica of Barbie using a coat rack as her spine and dressing her in clothing stuffed with newspapers. The result was, well, disturbing.
"We're glad she turned out so ugly," says Evola. "That's the point -- Barbie is not attractive."
For the highest possible visibility, the life-size Barbie stood in Loyola's cafeteria. "She definitely caught people's attention," Evola says.
But, of course, criticisms of Barbie don't end there. Forty years is a long time to be an icon, and as Barbie has grown progressively more modern, so have her critics. A small but potent Barbie counterculture has evolved on the World Wide Web.
There are six "parody sites." That's out of 203 Web site matches for the keyword "Barbie"; Mattel wants you to know that Barbie.com is the only site endorsed by the company. Mattel says these satiric Web pages unlawfully infringe upon the company's copyrights, and it has asked the authors to remove their pages from the Web.
California Web designer Steven Smith, 43, is one such author whose Web page has been terminated in the wake of Mattel's threats. In the summer of 1997, Smith created a site that "was not necessarily anti-Barbie it just poked fun at some popular images," he says.
The premise was that Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), the female protagonist of TV's "The X-Files," took off on vacation and was replaced by Barbie. Smith even recorded his daughter's voice as the Scully/Barbie hybrid for the site.
Smith argued that his Web page was done in good taste, and he considered it "a pretty good joke." Mattel wasn't laughing.
On Oct. 10, 1997, William Dunnegan, an attorney for Mattel, sent a letter to Smith demanding that his page be removed from the Internet and that he "prevent the further publication of its contents" within five business days.
Smith contended that his site was "protected by free speech," and, as a parody, his Web page should be considered fair use of the Barbie copyright. However, Smith acceded to the company's wishes, saying "I am not a stupid person. I realize that Mattel has much deeper pockets than I do and I do not wish to be involved in a legal battle regardless of the outcome."
Smith replaced his X-Files Barbie site with his letters of correspondence with Dunnegan.
Another Web site, "The Gennie Chronicles," features Barbie and her friends as the subjects of famous works of art. For example, the updated version of Grant Wood's "American Gothic" depicts a smiling Barbie and a happy, pitchfork-wielding Ken, as opposed to their original stoic counterparts.
New York City resident Mark Napier's Web page, "Alternative Barbies," displays, well, nontraditional images of the doll such as "Possessed Barbie" and "Fat and Ugly Barbie." Napier offers these images as a "behind-the-scenes look at the seamy underbelly of Barbie's world."
He, too, was asked to remove his site. After distorting Barbie's image Napier thought the matter was over.
Mattel wasn't convinced, however, and the Internet issue remains unresolved.
In her unauthorized biography "Forever Barbie" (William Morrow, 1994), M.G. Lord pointed out that "Mattel wishes to impose its authorized version on the public, but the public has other plans. Barbie colonized people's imaginations in childhood, and they are impelled to bear witness."
It makes sense that Mattel would want to protect the trademark. Sales from the doll alone account for nearly $2 billion of Mattel's $4.8 billion in annual sales. Every second two Barbie dolls are sold somewhere in the world, and Mattel estimates that the typical American girl between the ages of 3 and 11 now owns 10 Barbie dolls.
Then there are all the Barbie clubs, Barbie magazines, Barbie conventions, Barbie software, Barbie everything. In fact, the six top-selling computer games for girls in 1998 were all Barbie games.
Says Lord: "We can call her the littlest capitalist."
Barbie biz
Barbie's full name is "Barbie Millicent Roberts." She is from Willows, Wis., and went to Willows High School.
More than 1 billion Barbie dolls (and friends) have been sold since 1959; placed head to toe, they would circle the Earth more than seven times.
Barbie has had more than 40 pets including 17 dogs, 12 horses, three ponies, five cats, a parrot, a chimpanzee, a panda, a lion cub, a giraffe and a zebra.
Close to 1 billion fashions have been produced for Barbie and her friends; about 120 new outfits are created each year.
Source: Mattel
The Barbie Bio
1945 -- In the beginning, there was Mattel, founded by Ruth and Elliot Handler.
1957 -- Ruth conceives of an adult-like doll for little girls to play with and emulate. Her design is based on Lilli, a sexy German doll marketed for men.
1958 -- The first dolls are made in Japan, with measurements as attractive as they are unrealistic, thus paving the way for generations of eating disorders.
1959 -- The doll debuts at a New York toy show. It is called Barbie, after Ruth's daughter, Barbara.
1960 -- Barbie is widely available in strapless black- and white-striped bathing suit, retailing for $3. Other outfits are Gay Parisienne, Roman Holiday, Suburban Shopper, Baby Doll nightie and Wedding Day dress, hitting upon every little girl's dream possible. Right?
1961 -- Ken is introduced. The good news: Barbie finally has a date. The bad news: His hair comes from a can of paint.
1963 -- Midge, Barbie's best friend, arrives. She's neither as tall nor as attractive -- probably why they get along so well.
1964 -- The family grows with Skipper, Barbie's little sister. Where was she for the past five years? An orphanage? Foster home? Inside the juvenile-justice system? No one is talking, certainly not Barbie.
1965 -- Barbie receives bendable legs, making basketball a lot easier to play. 1966: Francie, Barbie's mod cousin, pops in, as do Todd and Tutti, the tiny twins. Mattel swears Todd and Tutti are Barbie's sister and brother. Ken isn't talking.
1967: Barbie's face is made more youthful for the pop culture. Twist and Turn Barbie arrives and can swivel at the hips. Barbie is joined by the Twiggy doll, the only doll that can make Barbie look fat.
1968: Talking Barbie arrives. Ken stays silent. Good Ken. Say "Cheerio" to Barbie's British chum, Stacy. She is joined by Barbie's American chum, Christie, the line's first black doll.
1969: P.J. is introduced.
1970: Friend Jamie arrives. Barbie gives Mr. Blackwell nightmares with her granny dress, prairie look, California Girl tan and disco togs. Then, Stacy vanishes.
1971: Barbie gets a horse, Dancer. Wheee! Only a year later, Dancer winds up at the glue factory. Or the recycling bin for plastics.
1972: Friend Steffie arrives, but Jamie disappears. Foul play?
1974: Barbie's 16. Or so Mattel swears, saying she was born in 1958. Or was she lying about her age for the cool Sweet 16 parties?
1976: More plastic surgery. Barbie receives a wide smile and sun-streaked hair. She also is buried in a bicentennial time capsule to be opened in 2076, as long as someone remembers. Kelley disappears, and not into that time capsule.
1978: Cara vanishes, the fourth of Barbie's friends to disappear in eight years. And no one raises a plastic eyebrow.
1980: Beauty, an Afghan, strays into the Barbie world.
1981: Dallas (the horse, not the show) gallops onto the scene.
1982: Beauty has pups. No, you may not ask about the father. A year later, the pups vanish with Mom.
1983: Fluff the kitten and Honey the pony join the household. Barbie's new pal Tracy arrives.
1984: Barbie joins big biz with suit, briefcase, etc. It's not clear what she does. Like Ken.
1985: The poodle Prince arrives. If he doesn't sell, he will be the poodle formerly known as Prince.
1986: Barbie joins Diva, Dee Dee and Dana in an all-girl band, Barbie and the Rockers.
1988: Barbie joins Bopsy, Belinda and Becky in another all-girl band, Barbie and the Sensations. The Rockers sue for breach of contract. Meanwhile, say "Hello" to Teresa, Barbie's first Hispanic friend.
1990: Welcome Kira, Barbie's first Asian friend.
1991: Famous designers make clothes for Barbie, who's about the size of most supermodels.
1992: Barbie's running for president. No mention of a running mate. Ken? A plastic soda bottle?
1995: Kelly, Barbie's baby sister, joins the family, although Barbie's parents haven't been seen or heard from in 36 years.
1997: Share a Smile Becky is Barbie's first friend in a wheelchair. Barbie gets a silicon implant: Talk With Me Barbie has a computer chip so that she can chat intelligently about parties and dream dates.
March 9, 1999: Barbie turns 40, looking not a day over 16.
Arizona Republic
Pub Date: 3/08/99