I'm sure some people will have filtered the [dolls name] for [reasons] including the current #Movie but here is another incredibly well threaded essay by @ryanhoulihan on why she's such an important *figure* and a touchstone or Rorsach test for many aspects of modern western #society and #culture
@ryanhoulihan I tooted the other day a point that is raised here, about boys having Action Figures.
One difference with those is that they're typically *not* interchangeable in the same way that Barbie's and her accessories are. I mean you could get Skeletor driving GI Joe's tank, but I can already here another 8 year old boy saying "That's just stupid".
Their outlooks and ambitions are just as restricted as Ken's.
@ryanhoulihan You mentioned Lego at one point, that was my thing. Although you said "engineering" it was mostly ungendered, or where there was long hair pieces or femme/butch faces, they were instantly and infinitely interchangable. So my 1980s chef could have a femme face and short hair *if I chose*.
And accessories could be whatever you wanted. I remember building a camera crane rig for a movie set out of a car body, hinges and turntables.
@ryanhoulihan Maybe that's a lesson. Boys are brought up to fit in a defined box and struggle to play nicely outside of that?
@davoloid Yup. There’s no “every boy.” It’s too vulnerable