Dreamhouse
Locked inside a cage staring outwards, the Barbie stares at the millions of little girls who walk past her every day. They stare in at her, praising her, idolizing her. The older girls filled with jealousy at the so-called perfection she holds, the younger girls hoping that one they can be exactly like her. Despite this, the Barbie remains trapped until one of these many girls reaches up and grabs her off that shelf, opens the box, and lets her free.
Walking a bit further past the wall lined with plastic dolls, are the boxes of plastic houses. Accessorized to the max, these houses are decorated pink with a purple slide, blue elevator, three rooms, and a ready-to-use kitchen. Looking a little closer, the words "Barbie Dreamhouse" line the top of each box.
Interesting choice of words. Dreamhouse. To me, a dream house would be a penthouse of a New York City skyscraper. But to the girls who grew up with these plastic dolls and plastic houses, they will constantly work towards this ideal. A bit sad, don't you think? But to little girls everywhere, Barbie is their source of happiness. Living out the life of their "dreams", the conflicting idea of the long-term dissatisfaction versus the short-term happiness remains within these girls. Even nowadays, barbie remains the icon of American dolls, with its influence everywhere. The irony of her plastic body waiting on the shelf as every day passes, this "liberated woman" who in fact, is not liberated from herself.
The girls will continue to look up at the boxes on the shelf, but at some point in the last ten years, they stopped reaching to release her from her cage.
Walking a bit further past the wall lined with plastic dolls, are the boxes of plastic houses. Accessorized to the max, these houses are decorated pink with a purple slide, blue elevator, three rooms, and a ready-to-use kitchen. Looking a little closer, the words "Barbie Dreamhouse" line the top of each box.
Interesting choice of words. Dreamhouse. To me, a dream house would be a penthouse of a New York City skyscraper. But to the girls who grew up with these plastic dolls and plastic houses, they will constantly work towards this ideal. A bit sad, don't you think? But to little girls everywhere, Barbie is their source of happiness. Living out the life of their "dreams", the conflicting idea of the long-term dissatisfaction versus the short-term happiness remains within these girls. Even nowadays, barbie remains the icon of American dolls, with its influence everywhere. The irony of her plastic body waiting on the shelf as every day passes, this "liberated woman" who in fact, is not liberated from herself.
The girls will continue to look up at the boxes on the shelf, but at some point in the last ten years, they stopped reaching to release her from her cage.
I like how you emphasized that society is somewhat trapped in an ideology where they admire Barbie and strive to look like her.
ReplyDeleteI really love how you compare the difference between the "liberated" ideals Barbie is supposed to represent with the opposite concepts that it actually stands for! Never really thought about it that way, but it really does seem ironic.
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