If you were a girl, or, better, if you had a little sister, then I am sure you were exposed to the ritual of Barbie torture. It may have started with cutting off her hair and probably included the removal of a limb, or worse, a trip into the microwave. My favourite was burning my initials into the torso with a magnifying glass. Well if this sounds familiar do not panic: you are not a misogynist or latent murderer. It turns out that this mean streaked behaviour is absolutely normal and comprises a considerable amount of the way kids play with the Barbie product.
After an exhaustive study of Barbie play habits from the University of Bath, it turns out that kids use “torture as a legitimate play activity, and see the torture as a ‘cool’ activity”. Kids were using Barbie across a range of actives well beyond the prescribed dress-up and mock dating. After facing accusations of creating a body issues in young girls and promoting consumptive behaviours, it looks like Mattel may face heat again, but could they have seen this coming?
Visit http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/articles/archive/barbie161205.html for the whole story.
Todd Falkowsky
Todd is a designer and professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design. Check out his most recent online project, The Canadian Design Resource.
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ur a sicko go die somewhere barbie is a toy not a fucking stake little girls who type barbie into google images will see this u sick twisted wierdos
Chill out Max! I think you have an overdeveloped sense of how innocent young boys and girls can be in their play. The whole point of the study is that young children torture their own Barbies, and that it can still be healthy form of self-expression.
good job bob.
what the heck is dat
I FIND THIS PICTURE VERY DISTURBING AND I DO NOT WISH TO SEE IT ON THE INTERNET! IT HAS SCARED ME 4 LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh GOD yeah I tortured them often as a child,, even now when I found my barbies kept in the closet outgrown for years.. That’s why I’m not surprised seeing this. I never knew why I did that, probably because I used to undergo hyperactivity disorder that when I got mad I just lash it out. I scalped my barbie dolls when I broke up with my last ex. Ironically, I was a barbie fan. Now I’m a 14+ collector. I wonder why most people do that, regardless of their age.