Ahhh, Barbie. Source of so much nostalgia for women all over the world, and yet also a source of controversy amongst the feminist crowd. I loved Barbies when I was a little girl - LOVED them. My little sister Adria and I spent hours dressing them, styling their hair, making little Barbie "houses" all over our house and making up dramatic scenarios for our Barbies to act out.
My first Barbie ever was the Great Shape Barbie. Looking back, I find it hilariously appropriate that this was my first Barbie doll. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to work out (always have). I do still have the doll, but not much is left from her groovy workout clothes. I have one leg warmer left. Yes, I kept ONE leg warmer for nostlagia purpose. Pack rat, I know.
Watch the original commercial for a great laugh:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/buwwEYewQtU
My second Barbie was one of my very favorites - Peaches n' Cream Barbie. Loved that doll - but the best part was her fabulous dress and matching stoll. And you gotta love the color - how 80's is that? I think I still have the doll (but I might be thinking of one of my other ones), but neither the dress nor the stoll survived. I'm not exactly sure what happened to them... (fess up, Adria - you stole them! Just kidding.)
Here is the 1985 commerical:
Dream Glow Barbie was my third. the Stars on her dress glowed in the dark, as you can see on the box (that is, if you held her under a lamp for a few minutes first). I have the doll and dress left from this one, although the dress is a little worse for wear (I wonder if it still glows?)
Another fun commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdZc9cl9fMg&feature=related
And what daughter of the 80's could be without the Barbie and the Rockers doll? Rock stars were such a huge part of the 80's entertainment culture, they couldn't help but come out with a Barbie to reflect that. I'm not sure which I loved better - the Barbie with her awesomely 80's duds or the super cool cassette tape that came with the doll, with it's totally awesome Barbie rock songs that my sisters and I jammed out to on a regular basis. I still have the doll and all of her original clothing, but alas, the tape is long gone - how sad.
Okay, last commerical (hey, they are only like 30 seconds long):
http://www.youtube.com/embed/GbxPlKY_hmY
When Maria was a three year old, someone brought the subject up of giving her her first Barbie. And me, the lover of all things Barbie as a child, found myself suddenly unsure of how I felt about that. I mean, as a grown, well-educated adult, I knew all the controversy surrounding the dolls amongst the feminist crowd, all the arguments against it's play value. The doll was too sexual, it objectified women, encouraged vanity and frivolity, and focused on all the wrong attributes when it came to beauty (um 42DDs, anyone?). And as the mother of a brunette, I wondered, did I want to send the message via Barbie that blonde is beautiful? (I know there are brunette versions, but let's face it, most of them are blonde). Would I be a bad mother if I let her play with Barbies? Would I be scarring her for life? Or would I be an overreactive equally bad mother if I refused to let her own any? And what would I do if someone else gave her one, like a friend at a birthday party - take it away and tell her it was for her own good? Did I feel damaged from playing with them? Is that where some of my body issues came from? Or was I just overthinking the whole thing? Sigh. I just couldn't figure it out, and at the end of the day thought - "aw, just let her play with the dang things". And I have. I decided it was not a battle that I wanted to engage in (there would be plenty of others that were more important to me - like overuse of video games, and really offensive dolls like the Bratz series). And it's a good thing, because she was given about 3 of them over the next six months, and then 3-4 more over the next few years. I felt like it was okay for her to play with them, and she doesn't seemed obsessed at all with being blonde as a result. :)
Fast forward a couple of years. I was in Walmart with Maria at Christmastime this past December, when I saw this vintage doll sitting amongst all of the new Barbies on the shelves:
"Oh my gosh, Peaches and Cream Barbie!!!", I screamed out loud (okay, not really screamed, but more exclaimed in disbelief). For a moment, I was six years old again - staring at a doll with a huge smile across my face. I showed it to Maria, and told her about the one that I had when I was little. "She's so pretty", said Maria. "Yeah, I know", I said, and I felt for a moment like we were both two young girls, staring at the pretty Barbie. I happened to glance down at the price tag, just cuz I was curious... "50 DOLLARS?!!!", I yelled out. "Hmph - not that prettty." And we moved on.
Maria told Lou about the doll as soon as we got home, and I later heard her begging him to buy it for "me" (I'm sure that she wasn't thinking of herself at all - haha). When she told Lou the price he laughed out loud and said "yeah, right". I came into the living room and assured Maria that I did not need a Barbie for Christmas. I had received all the Barbies that I would ever need when I was a kid, had enjoyed them plenty, and that was enough. I mean, what would I do with a doll at 31 years old?
Well Lou, having the sense of humor (and nostalgia) that he does, gave me the ultimate shocker when I opened this on Christmas morning:
My jaw dropped, and I just sat there staring at it for a minute. For one second, I had that moment of childhood come back - "Peaches and Cream Barbie - she's mine, all mine!! Look how pretty she is...", and then suddenly my adult self kicked in and thought "he paid 50 bucks for a doll for his wife? Is this guy off his rocker? What the heck was he thinking?!!!". Lou knows me soooo well, and was quick to explain (before I could even say a word) that he had gotten this doll for a great bargain (about half the retail price) from a woman in California, and I suddenly breathed a little easier.
And then I just had to laugh and enjoy the fact that my husband wanted to bring a little bit of my childhood, one slice of a memory of when I was a little girl, back to me. And that, to me, was priceless. We both know I'm not going to take her out and do her hair and carry her around the house and fix her up for a date with Ken. But...there was something really neat about getting that doll for Christmas. It was Lou acknowledging the girly girl part of me (a VERY big part of me when I was little). It was my husband doing something crazy and silly and frivolous just for nostalgia's sake - just to give me a shocker and a cheap thrill on Christmas morning. And then him reassuring me that he got it for a steal? Well, that was just the icing on the cake. Wow, that man knows me...and loves me. :)
And because of that, this was my favorite gift of all.
And you have to admit, she really does look fabulous... ;)
4 comments:
Robyn!!! That is an awesome story. By the way, I love the way you write. You should write a book! Anyway, back to Barbie... I loved Barbie as a girl. I have 3 younger sisters and we had a HUGE doll house my dad made. It was awesome. I remember playing barbies all the time with my sisters. I am so glad that you were able to relive part of your childhood. What a great husband you have! So fun.
Great post! I share your ambivalence about Barbie, but Clara does have one too... My sister had Peaches n' Cream Barbie, and I remember the stoll being particularly glamorous. What a fun Christmas surprise. :)
See-I'm not the only one who thinks you should write a book!
Also, I totally remember each of those barbies. I had forgotten the one with the glow in the dark stars dress and got all excited remembering it on your page.
I can't believe you remember the order! Ps. Don't look at Christie's old barbies. I found them in teh attic and 1/2 of their heads are shaved. It's sad. I feel like Woody and Buzz should come mess with Christie like they did to Sid.
ohh Babrie! I still have a huge box of Barbie things at my parents house and I can't wait to let little girls I may have some day play with them. Dana used to come over and we'd play together for hours! Great story Robyn! :)
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