Welcome to the Legion!

Barbie-ad-1

Let’s be real. Barbie has been the doll young girls grew up with. We’ve been told through alluring fashion statements and pretty pink packaging that Barbie can do anything she puts her mind to (even though her accompanying stories reveal that she can’t). At the end of the day, however, the wide-eyed little girl whom Barbie belongs to is the ultimate master of the doll’s story. After almost 60 years since Barbie hit the shelves, Mattel finally recognizes that fact with their latest ad (seen below).

I remember getting a talking Barbie where she said crap like “Math is hard!” I mean, regardless of how I interpreted this at the time, I was always going to be bad at math. My impressionable brain, however, gave me led to believe that girls overall just weren’t meant to be as good at math than the boys. Every other word that came out of her mouth after that was boys, dates, shopping, blaaaaahhhhhh. That’s just one example of how awful Barbie was at her job at teaching feminism to young girls. Remember Computer Engineer Barbie? Terrible.

With the recent leadership change in Mattel, we’re already seeing positive improvements with the brand, which had been experiencing a slump in sales for a long time. First there’s the DC Super Hero Girls line where the creators modeled each character’s body types after young athletes. Now Barbie seizes her legacy by embracing the fact that her real story is a blank slate. Through the power of a little girl’s imagination (in this ad at least), Barbie becomes, as Sneha Vakharia of Catch News puts it, a representative of “equal opportunities and infinite possibilities.”

Way to go, Mattel. You’re stepping in the right direction.

About author View all posts

Christina E. Janke

Christina is the co-host of “Intro to Geek” on Shauncastic and Editor-in-Chief at Agents of Geek. Her love of all things Mass Effect knows no bounds. She also carries an obsession with comic books, video games, and quirky television shows. Her heroes are Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Gail Simone. She hopes to be just like them when she grows up.