Barbie Girl

Hyper-femininity can be subversive and empowering – just ask Barbie

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, July 20, 2023
Fantasy, Ice Spice, Workforce, Biography, Male, Hair, Teen Talk Barbie, Noise, RealDoll, Aqua, Clothing, Woman, COVID, History, Phrase, Scream, Man, Enchanted, Mattel, Barbie Girl, Feminism, Femininity, Love, Juicy Couture, Social media, Female, Toy, Cosmetics, Film industry

Indoors, confined to Juicy Couture tracksuits, I was missing excuses to express my hyper-femininity through clothing, as I had done pre-pandemic.

Key Points: 
  • Indoors, confined to Juicy Couture tracksuits, I was missing excuses to express my hyper-femininity through clothing, as I had done pre-pandemic.
  • Collecting Barbie dolls became a way to display my love of femininity in all it’s fun, ridiculous and pink-saturated possibilities.
  • My shelf of Barbies – from Western Winking Barbie (1981) to Enchanted Evening Barbie (1995) – is now my favourite part of my home.
  • But for many, her rediscovery will come through Greta Gerwig’s upcoming movie, Barbie – the doll’s first live action film, starring Margot Robbie.

Barbie’s complicated feminism

    • Lord describes Barbie as a complicated and contradictory pop-culture figure.
    • Lord sees Barbie as a “reflection of American popular cultural values and notions about femininity”.
    • Over its 64-year history, the doll’s evolution has reflected the often contradictory demands and ideals placed on women.
    • Some feminists argue that Barbie’s hyper-femininity isn’t self aware in the way that, for example, the hyper-femininity of drag queens is.

Rebranding Barbie

    • The company alleged that the band’s song Barbie Girl, released the same year, infringed upon Mattel’s trademark and imposed an adult image onto Barbie.
    • Fast forward 20 years and the soundtrack to the Barbie movie features a song by rappers Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj entitled Barbie World, which samples Aqua’s Barbie Girl.
    • With lyrics such as “I’m a Barbie girl, pink Barbie Dreamhouse/The way Ken be killin’ shit got me yellin’ out like the Scream House”, the pair position Barbie-branded hyper-femininity as a source of sexual empowerment.
    • In the trailers for the upcoming Barbie movie, Barbie Land is a matriarchal society where hyper-femininity is a sign of power.

Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie is a 'feminist bimbo' classic – and no, that's not an oxymoron

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, July 19, 2023
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For some, Barbie is the ultimate “girlboss” – she’s glamourous, successful and owns her own DreamHouse.

Key Points: 
  • For some, Barbie is the ultimate “girlboss” – she’s glamourous, successful and owns her own DreamHouse.
  • For others, Barbie represents an outdated female stereotype – a “blonde bimbo girl in a fantasy world”, according to Aqua’s 1997 hit song Barbie Girl.
  • Just ask the man with the megaphone stood outside the press screening of the new Barbie film that I attended in Leicester Square.
  • Vehemently protesting the film, he insisted that Barbie is a bad role model and a danger to young women.

Barbie in the real world

    • In the real world, Barbie is shocked to find that things are a little different than in Barbieland.
    • While Barbie says she feels “ill at ease” in these situations, Ken (Ryan Gosling) feels “admired”.
    • Like real women, Barbie is faced with objectification and criticism.

Ken’s rights

    • It is not long before Ken’s endearing innocence is tainted by a concept that is novel where he comes from: patriarchy.
    • Ken becomes intoxicated by male dominance and the film takes every opportunity to lampoon it.
    • In other words, the many faces of radical misogyny in modern society, from men’s rights activists to incels.
    • Much like the men who are indoctrinated into these radical groups, the Kens are led to believe that their rights are being eclipsed by women’s and find themselves conforming to toxic male stereotypes to regain a sense of control.
    • Barbie makes a point that Leicester Square-megaphone-man really needs to hear: it’s not a Barbie doll that threatens women’s rights, opportunities and safety – it’s the patriarchy.

BUMPER ALLEN, INTERNATIONAL SUPERSTAR, LEADS ALL-STAR VOCAL CAST ON 'PITCH PERFECT: BUMPER IN BERLIN (MUSIC FROM THE PEACOCK ORIGINAL SERIES)'

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Thursday, November 24, 2022
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LOS ANGELES, Nov. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, UMe releases Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin (Music From The Peacock Original Series) digitally. Its 16 tracks serve as the perfect digital audio companion to Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin, the new original six-episode Peacock series starring Adam Devine, Sarah Hyland, Flula Borg, Jameela Jamil, and executive-produced by Elizabeth Banks, which premieres on the Peacock streaming service today. The digital-only album is available now in superior Dolby Atmos/Spatial Audio. Click HERE to listen to or order Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin (Music From The Peacock Original Series).

Key Points: 
  • LOS ANGELES, Nov. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, UMe releases Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin (Music From The Peacock Original Series) digitally.
  • Its 16 tracks serve as the perfect digital audio companion to Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin, the new original six-episode Peacock series starring Adam Devine, Sarah Hyland, Flula Borg, Jameela Jamil, and executive-produced by Elizabeth Banks, which premieres on the Peacock streaming service today.
  • Click HERE to listen to or order Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin (Music From The Peacock Original Series).
  • The declarative, chart-seeking ballad "Know My Name(Bumper Version),"an original Bumper in Berlin single and focus track, was written by Ryan Tedder (OneRepublic) and produced by Andrew DeRoberts.

'BARBIE GIRL' AND AQUA'S ICONIC ALBUM 'AQUARIUM' TURNS 25 YEARS THIS YEAR

Retrieved on: 
Friday, July 29, 2022
Barbie Girl, Universal Music Enterprises, Toy, Aqua

LOS ANGELES, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The year 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of Aqua's debut album'Aquarium' and iconic global hit ' Barbie Girl '.This will be celebrated and marked by an exclusive re-release of the album on September 9thvia Universal Music Enterprises.

Key Points: 
  • LOS ANGELES, July 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The year 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of Aqua's debut album'Aquarium' and iconic global hit ' Barbie Girl '.This will be celebrated and marked by an exclusive re-release of the album on September 9thvia Universal Music Enterprises.
  • 'Barbie Girl'was released as a part of their ground-breaking debut album 'Aquarium' in 1997, the hit made everyone sing along to the lines"I'm a Barbie Girl, in the Barbie World,"while it alsocatapulted Aqua into the public consciousness.
  • Not only did the group gain attention for their iconic music, but their cartoonish universe with blue hair, spikes, and wild outfits also made them a true symbol of the late 90s.
  • Having sold33 million albumsand gained worldwide attention, Aqua stands as a one-of-a-kind moment in Danish music history worth celebrating.