Barbie is 50. She has and is, to this very moment, a favorite of young and mature (never old) girls around the world. Barbie has gone through many changes in her life. She has had numerous makeovers to her appearance. She has conquered the workforce by proving a woman can do any job; from a mother to a school teacher to a scientist, she has done them all. And the best thing about Barbie is the fashion. I don’t care what Barbie is doing in her life; she always manages to look good doing it. She always has the latest styles in her closet, the best designers, and a favorite around here . . .the millions of shoes.
Personally, I have always loved Barbie for her fashion. When I was a young girl, I wanted all the clothes I saw hanging on the store shelves. I would spend my playtime undressing and redressing Barbie in numerous outfits. If she was going to the store, I had to put her in an outfit for that. If she was going for a drive, I had to find her an outfit for that. If Barbie was going on a date, well you know, I had to find her the perfect dress and shoes for the occasion.
Even today, I am a tad bit jealous of Barbie. What fashionista wouldn’t be? She has a wardrobe, for which you would save your last wish (when that genie appears) and her shoe collection is amazing.
Barbie has accumulated millions of shoes over the years and all the hottest designers want to design something special just for her.
So, it would only be only fitting to celebrate her birthday by teaming up with one of the hottest shoe designers in the footwear game, Christian Louboutin.
Christian Louboutin will design three special edition dolls. The three dolls, packaged in Louboutin shoe boxes, each come with four pairs of Barbie-size Louboutin heels. The $150 dolls will be sold through BarbieCollector.com and at Net-a-porter.com, which is Mattel’s exclusive partner for this project and will be selling dolls for the first time.
That news is super- exciting. What a way to celebrate your birthday.
Too bad, Christian Louboutin almost ruined the great news with a statement that sent Barbie fans and women into a state of disbelief.
“She needed great shoes, a thinner ankle and, to me . . .”
* runs to daughter’s Barbie collection, picks up doll, examines Barbie’s ankle, realizes she has no ankles, returns to laptop.*
That’s right. Barbie has no ankles. I can remember when I was younger and would play with Barbie and if I pushed down too hard when I would make her walk, her ankles would bend -because they were nothing more than thin rubber. If Barbie were a living woman and had those ankles she would be unable to walk. Poor woman couldn’t parade around in her fabulous shoe collection.
The most ironic part of this story is that Barbie has, for the most part, been criticized for having the “ideal” body. She has ample breast, shapely hips, and a thin waistline. In essence, the “perfect” hour- glass shaped body. Then, courtesy of Christian Louboutin, we come to find out that her non-existent ankles are actually cankles. And Barbie isn’t as perfect as all the complainers believed.
Poor Barbie, I know that had to be a stab at your self-esteem, after years of parading around feeling good about yourself and your accomplishments to find out that those accomplishments really are not good enough. You really needed to do it all with much thinner ankles.
Unfortunately, it was an even deeper stab at young girls.
With more and more women risking their lives to go under the knife to remove a ounce of fat or change the look of their nose, teenagers starving themselves, and young girls becoming body-conscious at earlier and earlier ages; having a popular and influential designer speak on such trivial matters as the aesthetic adequacy of a doll’s ankles only compounds the problem.
Christian Louboutin addressed the controversy by explaining he was only thinking of the technical aspects of shoe making.
“I just added my little science to Barbie and I’ve been proud to serve her. But fat ankles she didn’t have, she just could have had thinner ankles. That’s all.”
He also added that he apologized to his goddaughter about the statement and the uproar it caused.
Did you notice the word “thinner” was still part of his vocabulary?
In the end, the best way we as women can combat low self esteem and the effects it can have on our daughters is to remember that we must:
1. Love ourselves the way we are.
2. Embrace every inch and (often times self-perpetuated) imperfection of our bodies.
3. Avoid criticizing your bodies or the body of other women around your daughters or other young impressionable girls.
4. Teach our daughter(s) to love herself no matter what.
5. If we want to make changes to your body, like losing weight, let it be for reasons of health and not because of the opinion of another.
6. Do pamper ourselves when you are feeling down.
7. Also, be mindful of the influence that we have on our sons in forming their healthy understanding about the beauty of women.
In the end, we wish Barbie a Happy 50th Birthday. We think that she looks marvelous (And we love the shoes).
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