Barbie Goes to War

Mattel promotes the message: ‘We have always known that a doll can help change the world. Barbie inspires the limitless potential in every girl’. This chapter examines one particular area of potential for Barbie and Ken, that of engagement in the military, to explore the extent to which Barbie reflects rather than changes the values of American society and is constrained by the financial and physical constraints of the doll trade and its growing links with a range of moving picture technologies. Introduced to the world in 1959, Barbie already had a rather dubious back-history. From the 1970s, Barbie’s many and varied careers have included enlistment in the army, navy, and air force with the emphasis shifting from fashion tips to career prospects. In 1990, serving with the air force. She found: ‘Military galas are grand’ wearing her ‘regulation form-fitting jacket with gold braid, dress shoulder-pads and military decorations’. By 1992 Barbie and Ken shared a ‘Rendezvous with Destiny’, honouring Operation Desert Storm by joining the 101st Airborne Division of the army wearing ‘authentic desert battledress uniforms of camouflage material’. Sergeant Barbie is a medic and her superior Staff Sergeant Ken is ready for action but without a weapon. As well as the obvious gender questions, the research covers the confronting issue of race, the competing role of G.I. Joe, and whether children actually play with these largely inflexible and over-dressed dolls. The text draws upon unconventional sources from the preserved doll delivery boxes to customers’ comments, underground documentaries, and Romanian sociology.