Gender

I must admit that I was quite intimidated by Barbie at first. I logged on a few times this past week, changed my outfit, walked around my room for a few minutes, and left without interacting with another Barbie girl. I am 21 years old and my biggest fear for the last 6 days was not belonging in the world of young girls, virtual shopping malls and chat sessions. My fears were confirmed each time I logged on and had zero friend requests. But today, I logged on once again and changed my outfit, walked around my room, and-fortunately- accidentally stumbled upon the entire Barbie world. To my surprise, there were other girls walking around interacting with each other! So here I am, 2 hours later, ready to discuss the role that gender played in my virtual experience today.
I have to say, it’s a girl’s world. The whole virtual Barbie experience revolves around shopping and having money. The more games that you play, lost pets that you find, and trivia questions that you answer correctly, the more Barbie dollars you win to go shopping with at the mall. That’s it. The goal of my virtual existence is to make as many purchases as possible so that I can have wardrobe changes between the puppy park and the café. Barbie World is completely one-sided when it comes to gender and is clearly geared toward females only. It supports the dominant ideology of society’s image of what it means to be a female by offering a limited selection of wardrobe choices, allowing users to participate in typical “girl” activities and using feminine titles.
Upon entering Barbie World, I had the option to create my own look. I got to pick the color and style of my hair and facial features, and pick out an outfit. The wardrobe selection was very limited and included many dresses, skirts, tank tops, high heels, and accessories such as jewelry and purses. Not to mention I had no option to become a male character, such as Ken. The most masculine outfit I could have chosen would be a small tee shirt (fitted) and bell bottom jeans. The clothing options that I could choose from fit the mold of society’s ideal, and old-fashioned, image of a woman. When I left the mall and began walking around, I found zero Barbie girls wearing jeans. Each one had different accessories and hair styles to match their pink skirts and dresses. All of these young girls have already learned their expectations in the world- to look pretty and feminine. I saw one male character that was an automatic part of virtual Barbie because he was the “Genie Boy” who could grant wishes. I did not get to experience Genie Boy because he was only a part of the VIP Barbie, which cost extra to participate in. And with the lack of funds in my bank account at the moment, I could not justify purchasing this special membership.
As I was enjoying my free virtual Barbie experience in the land of sparkles and pink, I became completely enthralled at the activities offered to me. I could shop, purchase pets, go to the beauty salon, and visit the Rec Center. However, the Rec Center is not what I would usually think of- the most athletic option I had there was to paint. I was shocked at the lack of activities I could participate in, and every single one was a typical “girl” activity. There were no sports or video games, or any other activity seen as “masculine” that girls can just as easily participate in. it is extremely typical for society to shun women who wish to do “male” things. The young girls participating in Barbie World are learning far too young what they are expected to do for the rest of their lives- shop, play with animals, and do non-confrontational, easy things.
Every title in Barbie World had an appealing, girly sound to it. Words such as dazzling, fab, glam and charm were used all over the place; words that society would never allow any heterosexual male to use. It seems as though women are expected to constantly be glamorous, put together, and perhaps even unintelligent or flaky by being easily drawn to “pretty” words. Society expects that when putting something shiny, pink and pretty in front of a woman, she will be instantly drawn to it.
Barbie World supports the dominant ideology of society’s image of what it means to be a female by offering a limited selection of wardrobe choices, allowing users to participate in typical “girl” activities and using feminine titles. Do I enjoy it? Yes, very much so. But I suspect that’s the point of it. I have been drawn in to this sparkly, fun world and I will definitely visit tomorrow to see if I have made any new friends. While I have realized the motives of Barbie World and been able to recognize the dominant ideologies it is supporting, many younger girls participating in this virtual world will not. With all of these young girls idolizing a virtual experience that shows them exactly what they should do, how will the next generation find their own voice and refrain from regressing back to society’s expectations that were originally formed early in history?