Commercials for Mattel’s Barbie dolls have undoubtedly come a long way in the past few decades.
In 1959, the first aired Barbie commercial focused solely on her appearance and her stereotypical feminine qualities. It even depicts Barbie as a bride and ends with the phrase, “I’ll make believe that I am you.” Just this first commercial alone set up Barbie as a icon for young girls to look up to and strive to be like. It told young girls that being a beautiful wife is the most important thing a grown woman can be.
Throughout the years, however, Mattel has changed its rhetoric in their Barbie commercials. An example of this is the “Imagine the Possibilities” commercial they released in October of 2015, which depicts young girls in such workforces as veterinarian, professor, mens soccer coach, and business women. This commercial ends with the phrase, “When a girl plays with Barbie, she imagines everything she can become.” Mattel has definitely stepped up their game in the way they prepare young girls for adulthood.
There are still some problematic messages being sent through Barbie commercials, though. A commercial that proves this is the Moschino Barbie commercial that, ironically enough, was also released in October of 2015. This commercial advertises a collaboration Barbie between Mattel and the designer clothing company, Moschino.
The commercial is pretty typical for an average Barbie commercial, including a catchy tune and children playing with the doll while complimenting her style. However, the aspect that made this commercial stand out was the fact that one of the three children featured in this commercial was in fact a boy. While this was a bit of a surprise to most viewers, just two months before in August of 2015 Target released its plans to remove all gendered labeling from their toy aisles; it is hard to believe that wasn’t somewhat of an influence on this move. Many viewers accepted this commercial and viewed it as socially progressive, but of course some viewers saw this as threatening to their precious patriarchy.
While it is incredible that Mattel has made such progress in moving away from teaching girls damaging lessons, and also including both genders into their advertisements, it is still apparent that toxic masculinity is still influencing some of their advertising choices. Mattel including a boy into a Barbie commercial could have been a very smart move. They could have sent the message that both girls and boys can enjoy playing with Barbies. While some say that this is exactly what the commercial did, it is imperative that we take a closer look. The boy in the commercial presents himself as very fashion-forward, some might even say flamboyant.
Of course there is nothing wrong with a young boy presenting himself this way. However, for those who believe that boys shouldn’t play with Barbies, most of the time is is for reasons like “It will make them gay” or “My son needs to be a man.” Yet Mattel chooses to portray a boy who encompasses some of the major stereotypes of the gay community. This commercial just further perpetuates the message that boys who play with Barbie are girly, flamboyant, and possibly gay.
Once again, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a young boy expressing himself in this way, and there is also nothing wrong with said boy playing with Barbies. What Mattel needs to understand, though, that they are only furthering a damaging message of the patriarchy.Boys who play with Barbies are not going to magically turn gay; they are not going to make a dramatic transition from a ‘rough and tumble’ boy to one who loves fashion just by playing with a plastic doll, either. Kids are who they are, and they should play with whatever they want to play with. Barbie commercials should ideally focus on all types of children from both genders: a preppy girl, a sporty boy, a tomboy girl, and a fierce, fashionable boy. However, Mattel also needs to be aware of the harsh stereotypes surrounding young children in today’s society to make sure that they are not just furthering that crippling message.
