Barbie Movies and the Conceptualization of an Alternate Public Sphere

Abstract

Abstract

It is been more than fifty years since Mattel Toy Company introduced their first Barbie doll which has gone on to become an adult cultural icon for children all over the world, giving them their first glimpse on the roles they can enact in the futures they dream of. Irrespective of the criticisms aimed against her unnatural body shape, Barbie still retains her position as the single most successful fashion doll ever produced, and continues to mesmerize little girls not only through her doll figurines but also through the animation movies produced featuring her as the central character. This paper examines how Barbie animation films successfully portray an alternate public sphere for women echoing the ideas of an Outsiders Society as envisioned by Virginia Woolf in her work Three Guineas. By visualizing a world furnished with music, magic and other wonders and adventures, they ask each girl to look within and uncover the magic they hold inside.