Gender 2000 Journal Entry 7
Women’s Bodies: Gender Role Acculturation through Play and Culture
We’re going to have a show and tell next time. If you had a favorite Barbie® doll, you may bring it in to show it off. If you had some other, equally portable, toy that you enjoyed, you may bring it in also.
1). What different gender messages do children learn from their toys? What kind of toys and games did you take part in as a child? How many people usually played with you? Did you spend more time with a best friend (or two) or with a group of other children? What were the climates (in terms of attitudes, values, and social interactions–not weather) like where you played? What gender roles did you learn or emulate while playing?
2) Did you ever play Barbies®? If so, which dolls were your favorites, and how did you play with them? (Be specific). What did you like about playing with them? Did you ever play with war toys, like G.I. Joe®? If so, how did you play with those toys? What values and gender roles did you learn from that play? Who played with you with those toys?
3) How important are toys in educating children? How responsible is the toy industry in producing toys that would teach children egalitarian values? Has what you’ve learned in this class changed your assumptions about toys? How would you incorporate what you’ve learned into your life if you had children, in terms of the toys they play with or the ways they play with them?
4) Respond to the following readings or websites, keeping in mind the writing you've already done on this topic. Some of these readings are on reserve in the library.
A. Barbie® History: |
| Kristin Riddick's "Barbie:
The Image of Us All" Lisa Bannon's "Top Heavy Barbie Is Getting Body Work At Hands of Mattel" CNN's U.S. News story on Barbie's friend Becky CNN's Style story on Barbie in middle age |
B. Barbie® Literature: |
| Anna Quindlen's "Barbie at 35" Marge Piercy's "Barbie Doll" Sandra Cisneros's "Barbi-Q" Allison Joseph's "Barbie's Little Sister" |
C. Barbie® Product Information |
| Mattel's Barbie webpage and their "My Design", a design-your-own-doll site |
D. Barbie® Fans, Critics, and/or Satirists |
| Dean Brown's Homepage and Doll
Photographs, especially the "Doll Emancipation March" and the "Hooters Doll" or The People's Plastic Princess information Salon's "Mothers Who Think" Barbie Page Janelle Brown's critiques of John Dvorak's iBook review and Mattel's computers Trace Cromwell's Black "Noire" Barbie page Napier's "Distorted Barbie" page Lisa Jervis on Barbie's new body |
5) (In progress) Think back to the unit on women and body ideals. Use the following table to calculate your "Barbie" measurements, if you were proportioned like Barbie®.
Barbie® is a registered trademark of Mattel, Inc.
This site is in no way affiliated with Mattel.