The Disappearing President Barbie

As it so happened, I went to Toys 'R Us recently to pick a board game, and wandered, sentimentally, into the Barbie aisle.

I remember President Barbie. I remember Dr. Barbie. I remember when Barbie had careers unrelated to children and animals.

Now Barbie can do the following:

"What do YOU want to be when you grow up - a pet boutique owner? Baby doctor? Swim instructor? You can do it all, with Barbie® doll and these sweet "I Can Be…™" sets! Barbie® doll has fun and looks fab as she pampers pets, takes care of those baby bundles of joy, and teaches the toddlers to swim safe!" (http://barbie.everythinggirl.com/catalog/productbrd.aspx?subcat_id=210015&product_id=2000947)

Now, Barbie always had pets and babies that you could play with. But, for a while, we saw more diversity. And, of course, it's not to say these 3 aren't admirable careers, but they seem to represent a very sexist, old-fashioned stereotype that Barbie/women can only involve themselves in nurturing careers--careers that deal with small children and animals.

I think someone needs to inform our guest lecturer that, sadly, President Barbie is dead.


...Anyhow, I found yesterday's lecture very interesting on so many levels (I promise, no more about Barbie).

First, I thought it was interesting that Ms. Winter played into the very old belief that women are automatically more moral than men, and thus will run things differently. On the one hand, it is very possible that, due to socialization, we would run things differently. But, on the other, it seems a naive assumption that presumes something about women--that we are the opposite of men. This idea is very old, and while it is possible that there are some biological components to differences between the sexes, a lot of it appears to be socially constructed as a way of marking men and women as different from one another.

Secondly, I got a kick out of the quote about Sarah Palin as a temptress/cheerleader. The honest truth is that the GOP has played her up in exactly that way, and her constant winking at the camera during her debate DID feed into that image. The problem, I feel, is that Sarah Palin and her backers are playing directly into sexist stereotypes, and then crying sexism when the public responds.

Finally, I do very much agree with Ms. Winters on one thing in particular: for women to stop feeling the pressure to 'be men', more women do need to be elected. We do need to shift the political landscape, and with it our idea of what a politician is, to encompass more than traditional, hegemonic masculinity. Then, perhaps, we can stop focusing on whether our candidates are too masculine or too feminine, and just allow them to be whoever they are along the gender continuum.