Barbie and femininity

Hey guys, just wanted to talk about something I've been thinking about for a while. You guys know barbie ofc, she was a character a lot of young girls watched as a kid. Well, I didn't watch her as a kid because I was told 'no, its too dumb and girly, you wouldn't like it' as I was the girl who loved science and didn't like 'girly stuff'. But I've been thinking over this comment, and after seeing that other girls were told similar things made me feel like I should be speaking about this. I want to talk here about why barbie is actually perfect for young girls. 

Think back to early-late 2000s tv and movie culture. Most shows were harmless as a child but when you think about it, they were perpetuating some crazy stereotypes that have been ingrained into young women today. The stereotypical mean girl: she loved fashion, boys, pink and was considered vain and stupid. This stereotype was thrown at us from every corner, and I'm not saying this was inherently bad, its good to have different representations of girls. But the same old story of the mean girl who was pretty and girly compared to the nerdy girl who loved books and didn't care for feminine things was honestly horrible. Think about the message these stereotypes were sending: being girly and liking things like fashion and shopping made you seem like a dumb blonde. For me and lots of other girls, I began to reject the idea of feminine things like makeup and wearing dresses/cute clothes. I didn't want to be seen as 'just a girl', I wanted to be thought of as an intellectual who didn't have time to paint my nails. I don't think its bad to be nerdy or anything like that, but its bad to be pushing this ideal onto young girls that your worth depends on whether you are outwardly feminine. This is what I feel is a prime example of our society's patriarchal views. The mean girl's purpose in life was to get the guy, not focus on herself. Is this really a message we should be sending? No hate to my parents, but being told that barbie is silly and just another thing for girls *which I was apparently not* made me hate being a girl. Why were my views only valued if I rejected my feminity? Why couldn't I be taken seriously when I wanted to get my nails done? Why can't I be both girly and have a passion for STEM? These are questions I started having after I began watching the barbie movies for the first time a few years ago. 

For me, barbie was the person I wanted to be like. Not only did she have amazing outfits and the best storylines, her own character is what made me really love her. She's confident in herself and doesn't care what people think. She's kind to everyone and would give characters a second chance but would never let anyone step on her. She fought for herself AND her friends. And, most of her storylines included a love interest but ONLY AS A SUBPLOT. This was revolutionary, because in the midst of the 2000s mean girl era, her motive wasn't to get saved by a man or get married, it was to do what was right. And the best part, she was always outwardly feminine, she never hid it to be different. She is the epitome of what every girl should be like, and everyday I strive to be just like her.