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Beyond The Pink: The Subversion Of Barbie

Image: Barbie is a modern doll with a classic sensibility

Barbie: “A modern doll
with a classic sensibility”

Barbie is iconic.

Ubiquitous, and evocative, she is an inscrutable Mona Lisa for our times. Her pink-themed branding aggressively colonizes entire sections of every mainstream toy store.

Critics have decried the doll’s image for the 50 years of her existence. Yet her glamorous power endures within our cultural topography.

“Women my age know whom to blame for our own self-loathing, eating disorders and distorted body image: Barbie.”

- Amy Dickinson, Time Magazine

The Iron Maiden of The Beauty Myth?

Barbie for President:
‘Iron Maiden’ or
aspirational?

In her best-selling feminist work, The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf describes the pernicious effects emanating from a widespread societal obsession with a coercive ideal of feminine appearance.

In Wolf’s view, the mis-proportioned figure of Barbara Millicent Roberts almost certainly embodies this malign ideal -- an unrealistic ‘iron maiden’ from which young women struggle to escape.

Meanwhile, Mattel, the maker of the doll, brightly and optimistically casts Barbie as an empowering, aspirational model -- a toy manifestation of the American dream where any identity is possible.

Which view is correct?

Iconoclasts and Subversion

Tom Forsythe was famously sued by Mattel, for his absurdist Food Chain Barbie photographic series. His challenging legal journey opened the path for other artists to freely experiment with Barbie-themed images, without fear of litigation.

Fondue For Three - Tom Forsythe
This series sparked a 5 year legal battle with Mattel
over fair use, free speech and artistic expression

I want to mention and share the work of several such artists, each of whom leverages and re-mixes the standard portrayal of Barbie in some way. The sequence progresses from coy and conventional, through to a much darker world view.

These images form entry points for reflection on our deeply persistent cultural relationship with Barbie. Our understanding of her turns out to be as mutable as the clothes she wears.

Barbie’s Wedding

Beatrice De Guigne captures “Barbie and Ken’s Wedding” through the ironic lens of an actual wedding photographer...

Beatrice De Guigne’s Wedding Photography
Click here to view series

This series is kind of cute, even saccharine, and is more of a playful take on stereotypical wedding photos, than it is a commentary on the Barbie universe. But this naturally leads to the question, “What happens after the wedding?”

The next two photographers suggest some possible, not entirely happy answers...

in the dollhouse

Dina Goldstein’s ‘in the dollhouse’ series features real-life models posed as Barbie and Ken.

It purports to examine ‘the less than perfect life of B and K. B is a super doll, the most successful doll in the world. Her partner K is grappling with his sexuality and finds himself in a loveless marriage. He struggles with his position in the household and faces his lack of authenticity.’

Dina Goldstein’s ‘in the dollhouse’: an unhappy marriage?
Click here to view series

Check out Dina Goldstein’s ‘in the dollhouse’.

Goldstein is most well known for her Fallen Princesses project, which creatively imagines less-than-idyllic scenes of post-fairy-tale life.

Mariel Clayton: Disturbing Yet Funny

Mariel Clayton’s work takes the Barbie aesthetic, and corrupts it. The results are disturbing, incorporating elements of sexuality and grisly force.

Ontario-based Clayon’s meticulously arranged dioramas often show the aftermath of violence. Barbie exists, in this world, as a smart, sexy, psychotic -- in control of herself and the situation -- rather than as a vapid materialist concerned solely with clothes and fashion.

Mariel Clayton: Grim humour amidst banal clutter
Click here to view more

WARNING: SCENES OF VIOLENCE AND SEXUALITY.

I particularly appreciate the careful detailing of each photograph. Clayton’s rooms are filled with the banal clutter of domesticity, a mundane backdrop to the turbulence elsewhere in the scene.

We are drawn into a fantastic and gruesome world where Barbie has taken matters into her own hands — a world where she has liberated herself from the drudgery of her consumer existence. The message is anarchic. Irreverent. And, I think, delightful.

Mariel Clayton’s work on Facebook
Mariel Clayton’s website

Interview with Clayton

Barbie: She Is Us

Barbie: a fascinating figure

Barbie influences -- and represents -- our cultural values in many ways, whether we approve or not. She is our Madison Avenue Madonna, our corporate-generated Venus. She is a fascinating figure, at once the subject and object of artistic critical interpretation.

500 years from now, historians and anthropologists will study the doll, and her endless accessories, as valuable indicators of our fashions, social institutions, customs and mores (A visit to Barbie’s Facebook page or her YouTube channel is remarkably instructive).

What is your opinion of Barbie? If you are a woman, did you play with Barbie as a child, and how did you interact with the doll? If you are a man, to what extent did Barbie shape your impression of feminine beauty? What role, if any, did Barbie have in forming your expectations of gender norms?

If you are a parent -- are you going to buy Barbie for your children, or will you attempt to shield them from ‘princess’ culture?

[LINK: Aqua - Barbie Girl]

Bonus Barbie: What would Barbie look like as an average woman?

Nickolay Lamm recently released a short set of of photos depicting a normally proportioned Barbie that he fashioned using a 3D printed model (based on CDC measurements of an average 19 year old American woman). The contrast is striking.

Nickolay Lamm's 'average Barbie'.
Click here to view more.

Lamm discusses the process he undertook to create this version here.

Concrete Wave Responds

Michael Brooke responds.

Michael Brooke is the publisher of Concrete Wave Magazine -- so I sent him a courtesy link to my post, Concrete Wave’s Lame ‘Pin-up’ Cover, wherein I discuss the photograph selected for the front of their soon-to-be-released 2012 Longboarding Buyer’s Guide.

Shortly after being contacted, he sent me the following text:

Hi Nathan,

Here is my response:

Thank you for your comments about one of the buyer's guide covers.

Over the past 13 years in publishing longboard magazines, I have had the opportunity to work with many different companies. All have brought a tremendous amount of inspiration and creativity to my life. It is this energy and stoke that has driven the world of longboarding forward. I have always prided myself as being open to all types of ideas... as long as they weren't too off the wall.

In truth, I consider myself much more than a magazine publisher. I really feel more like an artist that gets an opportunity every two months to paint a new piece of art. We love doing multiple covers but this is only the 2nd time we've done eight covers. We publish 2000 copies of each of these covers.

I decided to publish this cover because I think it is a very cool tribute to 50's drag racing. The lady holding the flags IS a longboarder. The scene is a "drag racing motif." This cover is art and with art, you can read into it as much as you'd like. I see this as something of a departure for Concrete Wave, but not something that is raunchy or pornographic.

I have been very committed to encouraging more females to take up longboarding. If there are people who believe that this cover discourages females to take up longboarding, I can most definitely assure you that was never the intention.

The guide is released [next] week. It is my sincere hope that everyone who sees it, enjoys it.

We created eight covers to give a wide range of ideas. We are now working on the April issue... and I promise you more surprises... but this is the first and last drag racing cover.

Michael Brooke
Publisher
Concrete Wave Magazine

Thanks to Mr. Brooke for his response (and his permission to reprint it here). I have no doubts as to Mr. Brooke’s sincerity of intent.

As to the success of that intent -- I encourage readers to have a look at the cover, and to judge for themselves.

(I can’t resist making one snarky, slightly unfair comment: Can you tell that the flag-wielding woman is a longboarder? Hmm...)

On to the next windmill!

See previously
Concrete Wave’s Lame ‘Pin-up’ Cover

See also (other skate related posts)...
Letter to Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon: Why Jeopardize the Ashbridges Bay Skate Park?
Is Skateboarding Illegal in Toronto?
Speed! Thrills! Women! FUBU Skate Race Recap
Grappling with another longboarding death
Aftermath - 2011 Toronto Board Meeting
The rise of Patrick Switzer, Downhill Skateboarder
Our first longboarding tragedy

Concrete Wave's Lame ‘Pin-up’ Cover

Is this cover a good one? No.

Each year, Concrete Wave Magazine publishes a fantastic Buyer’s Guide showing off the latest in longboarding equipment and apparel.

You’ll find every major manufacturer and distributor represented in its pages. It can be thought of as an annual snapshot of the sport’s technical and design evolution.

Recently, the magazine posted a preview cover (one of eight) for the upcoming 2012 Buyer’s Guide that has provoked controversy.

The cover depicts a slim female model brandishing a pair of chequered flags, while downhill skaters roll by on either side of her.

Let me explain why this was not a good choice for the cover.

It’s not about the skating
The clearest argument against this cover is to ask, “What’s the focus of the photograph?”

The answer is, it’s not the skating.

The model’s rear end is literally the central focus of this photograph. Just look at it. The composition, her stance, the lines, our inevitable ‘male-gaze’ -- it all points to her ass!

The picture itself is high quality -- the scene is interesting, the model is attractive and the lighting and post-processing must have taken a lot of work and thought to set up. Kudos to the photographer -- I think you successfully accomplished what you were trying to do.

But ultimately, it’s an ass shot -- not a photo of inspired skating. That’s why it’s not a good choice for the cover.

Concrete Wave and sexist skate culture
Is this cover sexist? (And, who cares if it is?)

I’ve read that the intent was to pay homage to the mid-20th-century California drag-race scene, evoking the mood of outlaw competitions and classic pin-up art. While that might be the case, it still doesn’t justify using this photo for the cover.

I feel let down. It’s not like I’m outraged, or disgusted by the cover -- trust me, there’s a lot worse they could choose -- but I’m disappointed. I know that Concrete Wave can do better than this.

Why can’t I simply lighten up and not take this seriously? Why chastise the magazine for indulging in a little harmless wink-wink, faux-retro rebel attitude? (Not to mention, there are 7 other covers being printed)

Well, Concrete Wave is a major influence and voice in the longboarding world. One of the main lessons you learn in skating is, You gotta set an example for the groms. Don’t bait spots. Wear your safety gear. Don’t be an asshole in traffic.

And we expect Concrete Wave to set the right example, to be an enthusiastic, passionate, mature observer of the community -- and the industry. Its cover ought to reflect the values and culture we want to promote in the burgeoning growth of the sport.

Concrete Wave, you don’t need a cover babe to sell your magazine. Let the skating speak for itself.

Or, as one commenter (Doug Parkins) wrote succinctly, “If they needed a hot chick for the cover, why couldn’t she be riding?”

I know many female skateboarders. I can’t speak for them, but I’m pretty sure that each of them has had to deal with the challenge of being a female skater in a male-dominated sport, in their own way.

Women getting together to skate is still, in the current era, sufficiently rare as to be noteworthy (e.g. FUBU Skate Race Weekend, Longboarding Girls Crew, etc.). Representation does matter.

Is it appropriate for Concrete Wave to use a cover that insinuates women are merely adjuncts to the sport, who aren’t there to participate, but merely to look good? Where’s the respect for the skating?

Certain skate manufacturers may find that printing suggestive, testosterone-laced advertising fits with their ‘edgy’ branding and target demographic -- but is that the message and attitude that Concrete Wave itself should be reinforcing? Even if it’s not intentional? Do we want our culture to be open and welcoming, or awkward and intimidating for female skaters?

“We are here to shake things up a little,” wrote the magazine on Facebook.

It’s entirely possible to make an argument for this cover from a cynical perspective. A massive percentage of longboarders are male teenagers -- who in that group is going to object to looking at a shapely female derrière? It wouldn’t surprise me at all to learn that this cover turns out to be the most popular of the set. Also -- controversy begets traffic, which eventually turns into more readers. Perhaps Michael Brooke (the publisher*) actively wishes to court a little friction, in order to juice sales and readership.

And he’s welcome to do that. But I’m hoping that’s not the case.

Luckily, there are 7 other
covers to choose from...

I don’t think the pin-up cover fits with Concrete Wave Magazine. It is at odds with the publication’s positive themes of sparking inspiration and fuelling stoke.

There is a decade of past Concrete Wave issues that back up my point of view -- about culture, about content, and about what it takes to sell a skate publication. Mr. Brooke obviously disagrees with that assessment.

What do you think? Is the ‘pin-up’ cover appropriate for the Concrete Wave 2012 Longboarding Buyer’s Guide? Let me know in the comments...

Update - March 7, 2012
Concrete Wave/Mr. Brooke sent me a lengthy response, which I have posted here.

* Regarding the publisher of Concrete Wave, Michael Brooke: Few people command greater respect than Mr. Brooke in our skate community. He has tirelessly chronicled, supported, and celebrated longboarding in all its myriad forms through thick and thin. I do not dispute in any way his right to tell critics -- including me -- to stuff it and to publish whatever he wants about longboarding to his audience. He has earned that right, and I thank him profusely for his contributions to the community. It’s the editorial decision I am disappointed with, not Mr. Brooke.

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