NYLON - March 2009 - (Page 140) american idol there’s nothing wrong with being a barbie girl. FIRST-WAVE FEMINISTS have long protested Barbie’s unattainable beauty. Naomi Wolf condemned the doll in The Beauty Myth, and TIME magazine columnist E Amy Dickinson claimed in 2000 that “Women my age know whom to blame for our own self-loathing, eating disorders, and distorted body image: Barbie.” It’s easy to picture some faceless, nefarious male executive creating Barbie (who is celebrating her golden anniversary this month) to foster an impossible beauty standard for decades of women, but, actually, we’ve been subscribing to such standards for centuries. Ruth Handler created Barbie in 1959 hoping to satisfy her young daughter’s obsession with teenage life and fashion models. Whether Handler’s creation was ultimately empowering or victimizing has been debated for decades. But this we do know: The 90 percent of girls between ages three and 10 who own a Barbie don’t care. For many girls who play with her, Barbie is merely a form to dress up on and a head of hair to style. In late 2005, researchers at the University of Bath studied girls who mutilated their Barbies. They concluded that some girls were able to, say, microwave her because they understood that Barbie was an inanimate object (not a treasured idol). Some girls, of course, grew up feeling frustrated that couldn’t look like her. But maybe we are still sometime frustrated with how we look—regardless of whether o a smiley, nipple-less doll has anything to do with it. Besides, Barbie has had some pretty fierce looks ove the last 50 years (if you haven’t already figured that out from Mattel’s sponsorship of New York Fashion Week and its three-year partnership with the CFDA). She’s already been outfitted by 70 designers, including Anna Sui and Zac Posen. And for those taller than 11.5 inches, Henry Holland’s entire fall collection is Barbie-inspired. In addition to being well-dressed, Barbie has held over a hundred jobs, from surgeon to rap musician to Thunderbird Squadron Leader. In 1986, Barbie even started a band, B and the Rockers. An African-American Barbie ran for of in 2004. These professions were meant to show girls possibilities ahead of them, and assuage the Barbie ba Whether it’s a doll or David Bowie, beauty inspirat can come from anything. Barbie’s looks have reflect styles of their times, and fashion lovers need not sa their girl power to appreciate them. HOLLY SIEGE PONYTAIL BARBIE With her strawberry waves and arched brows, Barbie’s first look resembles a young Lucille Ball (a brunette version was also sold). Her flawless makeup job is thanks to the fact that, as with all Barbie prototypes, 15 artists worked on her with tiny brushes. maybelline dream matte powder in sandy medium A powder that will make your skin as even and poreless as Barbie’s. Almost. $7.99, AT DRUGSTORES. clarins brow pencil in dark brown Strong brows reigned supreme at the time of Barbie’s inception. $23, AT DEPARTMENT STORES. original pomade by oribe still lifes: jonathon kambouris Any late-’50s girl would have wanted to smooth flyaways with a product created by a worldrenowned hairdresser. $35, ORIBE.COM. 140 http://www.ORIBE.COM
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