barbielore
Barbie Lore
Send me asks about Barbie! If I don't know I will have a lot of fun finding out.
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as promised here she is !! she's actually porcelain I did not know that when I bought it!! The guy who sold it to me originally bought it for $600 but I got her for $45 babeyyy
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In the United States, May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, commonly abbreviated to AAPI Month.
I know that in the past I have done a brief history of Asian representation in the Barbie line but I can't find the post in my history anymore and to be honest, it probably wasn't a very good or detailed wrap-up as I did it quite early in the blog's history - in fact, the reason I'm so sure I did a post like that even though I can't find it now is because I remember getting some feedback that the post left out a lot of stuff that I really should have talked about.
This year as a celebration of AAPI Month, Mattel have released a new doll in the Inspiring Women line: Kristi Yamaguchi.
Celebrating Yamaguchi as the first Asian-American woman to win Olympic gold in figure-skating, this doll is depicted wearing a replica of Yamaguchi's Olympic skating outfit. Notably she is not depicted with her gold medal.
But more than being a figure skater, Yamaguchi is also a children's book author. Did you know that? Because I didn't.
Mattel have not always been at the forefront of diversity especially when it comes to representations of AAPI women. There have been some improvements - Mattel have gone from the only Asian doll in the line being an unfortunately named Dolls of the World doll, to including some Asian-American or Pacific Islander friends of Barbie such as Kira and Miko, to having Barbies depicted as AAPI in the regular Fashionistas and careers line.
However, there have still been problems, such as the Tokyo Olympics Barbie series that contained no Barbies of Asian appearance.
And the last AAPI doll that I am aware of that was released in the Inspiring Women line was Anna May Wong - for AAPI month last year.
I do wonder if Mattel could be showing more dedication towards diversity by showcasing Inspiring Women of AAPI backgrounds at times of the year other than the leadup to May, as well as emphasizing more inclusion in the doll line year round.
#barbie#barbie collectibles#inspiring women#anna may wong#kristi yamaguchi#aapi#aapi representation#aapi month
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2005 THE WAITRESS BARBIE DOLL SILKSTONE FASHION MODEL COLLECTION NRFB GOLD LABEL
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Kinda strange how a doll from 20 years ago is cheaper than a doll made last year i like them both but come on Mattel for 55?
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Since 1965, International Nurses Day has been celebrated on the 12th of May - to commemorate the birthday of Florence Nightingale, and to celebrate the role and contribution of nurses in society. The theme for 2024 is "Our Nurses, Our Future" - or, less pithily, the role of nurses in driving a healthy economy.
With all due respect to the theme being about future, I can't help myself but to talk about Barbies of the past.
In 1961, Barbie became a nurse in a fashion set (i.e. a release which was new clothes to put on your Barbie, not a new doll). This was rereleased in the My Favorite Careers throwback collectors series as Nurse Barbie. And... not the most respectful rendition of a nurse, if I'm honest.
Nurse was one of Barbie's first careers - following fashion model at debut, then fashion designer and singer in 1960, and matched with flight attendant and ballerina in 1961. I think it's great that nurse was one of the earliest careers Barbie had. But what the hell is "Get new shoes and call me in the morning"? How was this not just as controversial as "math class is tough"?! Way to devalue nursing and make Barbie look like a bimbo roleplaying careers instead of actually being a career woman!
But -- that rant over -- Barbie has been a nurse around 10 times in her history, give or take, putting it approximately on par with astronaut but well below doctor in terms of numbers.
Including another representation of the original white dress and navy cape, but this time in the Fashion Model collection (aka the Silkstone collection).
And of course, it can't go unsaid that as part of the Inspiring Women series, Barbie has represented Florence Nightingale herself.
A woman who is not referred to as the mother of modern nursing for no reason.
#barbie#nurse barbie#nursing#international nurses day#florence nightingale#inspiring women#barbie collectibles#my favorite career#silkstone barbies
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Barbie and Friends at the next 50Forward! This Friday, April 19, 2024 at 7 PM ET. Everything Starts at $50 in a timed auction format. Highlighted by hundreds of dolls, costumes, accessories, and related Barbiana.
https://www.theriaults.com/events/event/219/50-forward-vintage-barbie-april-19-2024-everything-starts-at-50
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Between 2009 and 2015, a Mattel designer named Stacey McBride-Irby was the lead on a line of dolls canonically in the Barbie line, but not including Barbie herself.
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So In Style was a line that featured Grace, Trichelle and Kara as peers of Barbie, as well as their younger sisters Courtney, Janessa and Kianna.
Grace was the centre of the line, but was a new creation for it - though she has subsequently appeared in other Barbie projects, such as Life in the Dreamhouse and Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale.
Courtney was also a new creation for the So In Style line, though she does share a name with Skipper's friend Courtney, a briefly recurring character in the doll line from the 90s.
Though both were cheerleaders.
The purpose - or at least, one of the stated purposes - of the So In Style line was to provide more representation for Black girls who wanted to see themselves in the world of Barbie. McBride-Irby described this as wanting to use this opportunity to create "an authentic representation of my community and culture".
As a result, one of the design features was that the face sculpts were not previously used Barbie sculpts, but sculpts designed to represent facial features more common among Black women.
Of course, this was not universally well-received. For example, blogger Tami Winfrey Harris wrote in 2009, "Let’s face it, these dolls don’t represent any sort of break-through in representation of black faces. The skin tones and facial features fall within a narrow range that is acceptable within Eurocentric beauty standards."
I've seen a few people talking about how "some people" found the move too "politically correct", but few sources directly from people doing this. Which is good, because I don't want to platform the kind of people who would say that, and I have no trouble believing that those people existed - I just can't find any direct quotes.
On another note, Stacey McBride-Irby was the creator behind a number of other Barbies as well, including the AKA Barbie.
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