Barbie phenomenon

Barbie phenomenon
Lonnie Carter, playwright Photo submitted

What to make of this, I am asked.  A phenomenon, I reply.  Kate MacKinnon, an hilarious Weird Barbie, offering Barbie/Robbie a high heel or a Birkenstock — my daughter having worn highs to her recent wedding, now exclaiming I love Birkenstocks!, before Robbie/Barbie goes off to the Real World, leaving the Perfect Barbie/Robbie World far behind.  Sort of.

Good stuff, I note.  Clearly, Greta Gerwig is a much more astute student of cinema history than I, so I only timidly note her deep affection and respect for the Busby Berkeley movies of the Thirties.  Some ten or so routines with twenty girls in twirls, round and round. Lovely to see the shout out.

But what to make of this?  Despite numerous attempts by Company Mattel to make the product BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color, for those who have not been keeping up), Robbie/Barbie is still who she has always been, and apparently will always be.  Blond and Gorgeous.

What is this old white coot to think?  We still want little girls to aspire to be BLONDE AND GORGEOUS?

What other conclusion can I come to?

Disabuse me if you can.

The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Millerton News and The News does not support or oppose candidates for public office.

Latest News

Passwords
Cartoon by Natalia Zukerman
Millerton, snowmobiles, homes, businesses

The following excerpts from The Millerton News were compiled by Kathleen Spahn and Rhiannon Leo-Jameson of the North East-Millerton Library.

January 24, 1935

Keep ReadingShow less
Gen Z is facing hard times despite a growing economy

The college-age generation is grappling with inflation, increasing housing prices, climate change, and now mass corporate layoffs. In a world where geopolitical turmoil is increasing, the ground beneath their feet is shifting. Many believe their future is bleak.

My nephew, Joey, just got married. His wife lives with her parents, and he lives with his. While he makes good money as a pharmacy manager at a national chain drugstore, neither he nor his wife can afford even a down payment on a house in Long Island. They are moving in with the wife’s parents. Joey’s sister is also married with two children. They also live with their parents. Welcome to the American dream turned nightmare for almost 70 million young Americans.

Keep ReadingShow less
Dutchess County among three selected for state childcare pilot

The North East Community Center’s Early Learning Program shuttered abruptly last December after nonprofit leadership announced that significant financial strain required the program’s termination. NECC Executive Director Christine Sergent said the organization remains open to reconsidering childcare in the future.

Photo by Nathan miller

Dutchess County is one of three counties selected to receive significant state funding as part of a new childcare pilot program announced by Gov. Kathy Hochul last week — an initiative that could expand childcare options in rural communities like Millerton.

The announcement follows Hochul’s State of the State address in which she proposed a landmark $4.5 billion investment toward universal childcare in New York. Hochul visited a childcare center in Queens on Thursday, Jan. 15, to outline her vision for the rollout of the pilot program, which would include a total of $60 million in state funding, along with additional funding from each of the three counties — Dutchess, Monroe and Broome — with a particular focus on serving newborns to three-year-olds.

Keep ReadingShow less