cultural icon

Doll makers came to realize the enormous cultural force embodied in Barbie. She was instrumental in illustrating the complex indentification process through which children become involved with and attached to a toy and demonstrated the power of a doll as an idol. Marketers were quick to see how critical personality was in promoting loyalty. However, Barbie was not just another personality in the age of mass marketing. She still persists today as a cultural icon - offering a shared point of reference for members of American society while adapting to the cultural differences of each individual. Barbie's identity is ambiguous, or maybe rather open-ended. Various interpreations of this doll evoke racism and misogyny among some and outrage and protest among others. Still others seem to have no conscious thoughts about how Barbie is defined in terms of race, sexuality, and femininity. She is a "fictive icon," contributing "to a culture by letting members act as if something is real or true even while they 'know' it is not" (Rogers, 1999: 3). She is also a "fantastic icon," in that her presence in American culture extends and embellishes what is actual, possible, or concievable. Along with Superman, Barbie has the capacity to free people's imaginations from the constraints of culture's definitions and requirements (Rogers,1999: 3). Her very essence is magical, romantic, and enchanting.

Cultural icons are not only widely recognized. They inspire keen interest and dedication, if not obsesson and addiction, on the part of fance, collectors, designers, and consumers. For some instances of fanatical devotion to Barbie, one must only type her name into a worldwide web search. For some, Barbie - buying, selling, collecting, examining - is a hobby and pasttime. They are willing to spend great amounts of their income and to travel across the nation to learn more about Barbie at the next annual convention. Rogers defines a cultural icon as "a peice of culture - a cultural object that exemplifies some set of values, beliefs, and norms in society - gets a strong grip on a sizable part of the population" (1999, 6). Barbie supercedes this definition. Barbie has her own cosmology - in her universe women are first. Her genesis subverts the Biblical story of creation. Ken is one of Barbie's accessories. Barbie was made perfect - her body is relatively the same as it was 40 years ago, while Ken's was a blunder. M.G. Lord goes as far to assert that an ancient archetype of something matriarchal and profound surrounded by a remarkable amoun of pagan symbolism. In his eyes, "Totally Hair" Barbie's meteoric success is due to its association as the "modern reenactment of an ancient goddeess-cult ritual" (Lord, 1994: 77). Another Barbie scholar, Robin Swicord, would agree with Lord's depiction of Barbie as a myhtic object: "Barbie is bgger than all those executives. She has lasted through many regimes. She's lasted through neglect. She's survived the feminist backlash. In countries where they don't even sell makeup or have anything like our dating rituals, they plaly with Barbie. Barbie embodies not a cultural view of femininity but the essence of woman" (Lord, 1994: 80). As an icon, Barbie has transcended identification as merely an American woman or a female consumer capitalist - she defies national, ethnic, and regional boundaries. She is able to defy all boundaries becuase every person in the world has access to her. Unlike human icons who elude ownership, Barbie was meant to be owned by everyone. For Barbie, plastic reproduction is reality.