Athena to Barbie by Wright J. Lenore;

Author:Wright, J. Lenore; [Wright, J. Lenore]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: SOC010000 Social Science / Feminism & Feminist Theory, PHI018000 Philosophy / Movements / Phenomenology, REL105000 Religion / Sexuality & Gender Studies
Publisher: Fortress Press

Barbie as Artistic Medium

Barbie is the first thoroughly branded female archetype in modern history. The doll’s iconic look has remained virtually unchanged since the late ’50s. New skin tones and sizes have been added in recent years, but her facial features are remarkably the same. What has changed, however, is Barbie’s cultural import. The Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. (CFDA) announced in May 2019 that Barbie would receive a major fashion award for the many times she inspired celebrity fashion choices.32 Barbie’s influence in human culture arises from her iconic power. She is deployed as a medium for cultural change and artistic expression. Her influence over social norms and practices gains purchase from the power of icons.33

Iconography is driven by a profusion of images that constitutes representation as reality.34 Icons act as mirrors for society, mirrors that attract or repel individual viewers. Kylie Jenner—American media personality, founder and owner of the company Kylie Cosmetics, and daughter of Caitlyn Jenner and Kris Jenner—borrows the iconography of Barbie and the iconic package in which Barbie is sold for her 2018 Halloween costume. Jenner’s self-fashioning as Barbie bears personal and professional significance. Jenner has built a makeup empire with a net worth of nine hundred million dollars in sales. Her appropriation of Barbie as a costume signals an appreciation for—and an identification with—Barbie’s model of female success. She replicates the Barbie color scheme and packaging perfectly, coding herself as Barbie rather than a person paying homage to Barbie. She embodies the image of Barbie qua doll, complete with the blonde wig and fabricated stand that holds Barbie in place inside the product box, to communicate her shared status with the global icon. Jenner is a prop, a proxy, in society’s games of make-believe.

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