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Performing gender in a Barbie Expo: White passivity, exotic otherness, and tradition in a fashionista bow
Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies Pub Date : 2019-01-01 , DOI: 10.1080/10714413.2019.1608743
Nancy Taber , Darlene E. Clover , Kathy Sanford

On a recent research-related visit to Montreal to explore issues of gender in museums and art galleries, we took the opportunity to also visit the Barbie Expo, on permanent display at Les Cours Mont-Royal. As feminists, we hoped this public exhibition would highlight a particular (and critical) view of women and girls in our society, by tracing Barbie’s evolution as it has been related to societal change. We took a cursory look at information about the Expo (location, opening times), but refrained from a detailed review so as to experience the Expo without any preconceived expectations. We knew the Expo was located at Les Cours, but at the time we did not realize this was a shopping mall. As we detail below, there has been much critique of Barbie over the years, and the toy manufacturer, Mattel, has responded by introducing new Barbies with different features, body types, and careers. As feminist educators, we saw this Expo as an ideal opportunity to move away from focusing on stereotypical representations of women, in a fun and engaging way. Indeed this was the reason we selected this as a site for study; we recognized the “resistive and regulatory [public pedagogy] potential” (Savage, 2010, p. 104, italics in original) of the exhibition. In addition, the Expo is a fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and we expected that it might promote positive gender messages to the children whom it was assisting. Instead, we were overwhelmed by the vast array of Barbie dolls sightlessly staring from glass cases at curious and perhaps even nostalgic visitors. We were dazed by the sameness of their representations of women and the powerful normative messages of what it means to be a woman. After our research visit we searched for more information about the Expo and learned that its intended audience was “the very grown-up, sophisticated fashionista you’ve become, for the connaisseur of haute couture and lover of all things beautiful that you are today” (Les Cours Mont-Royal, 2018); its head curator (Gilanna Giobbi) wanted to celebrate fashion, with most of the dolls being dressed by elite fashion-designers (CBC News, 2016); and Les Cours was not just any shopping mall, but a high-end

中文翻译:

在芭比博览会上表演性别:白人的被​​动、异国情调和时尚达人蝴蝶结的传统

在最近对蒙特利尔进行与研究相关的访问以探索博物馆和艺术画廊中的性别问题时,我们也借此机会参观了在 Les Cours Mont-Royal 永久展出的芭比博览会。作为女权主义者,我们希望这次公开展览能够通过追踪芭比与社会变革相关的演变,突出对我们社会中女性和女孩的特殊(和批判)观点。我们粗略的浏览了世博会的相关信息(地点、开放时间),却没有细细回顾,以便在没有任何先入为主的情况下体验世博会。我们知道世博会位于 Les Cours,但当时我们没有意识到这是一个购物中心。正如我们在下面详述的那样,多年来对芭比娃娃的批评很多,玩具制造商美泰,作为回应,推出了具有不同特征、体型和职业的新芭比娃娃。作为女权主义教育者,我们将此次博览会视为以有趣和引人入胜的方式摆脱对女性刻板印象的理想机会。事实上,这就是我们选择这里作为研究地点的原因;我们认识到展览的“抵制和监管(公共教育学)潜力”(Savage,2010 年,第 104 页,斜体原文)。此外,世博会是许愿基金会的筹款活动,我们希望它可以向它所帮助的儿童宣传积极的性别信息。取而代之的是,我们被琳琅满目的芭比娃娃从玻璃柜里盯着好奇甚至怀旧的游客看。我们对他们对女性的描述的千篇一律以及作为女性意味着什么的强有力的规范信息感到茫然。在我们的调研访问之后,我们搜索了有关世博会的更多信息,并了解到其目标受众是“您已经成为非常成熟、成熟的时尚达人,对于高级时装的鉴赏家和所有美丽事物的热爱者,就像您今天一样” (Les Cours Mont-Royal,2018 年);它的首席策展人 (Gilanna Giobbi) 想要庆祝时尚,大多数娃娃都由精英时装设计师穿着(CBC 新闻,2016 年);Les Cours 不仅仅是一个购物中心,而是一个高端 对于高级时装的鉴赏家和所有美丽事物的热爱者,您今天的样子”(Les Cours Mont-Royal,2018 年);它的首席策展人 (Gilanna Giobbi) 想要庆祝时尚,大多数娃娃都由精英时装设计师穿着(CBC 新闻,2016 年);Les Cours 不仅仅是一个购物中心,而是一个高端 对于高级时装的鉴赏家和所有美丽事物的热爱者,您今天的样子”(Les Cours Mont-Royal,2018 年);它的首席策展人 (Gilanna Giobbi) 想要庆祝时尚,大多数娃娃都由精英时装设计师穿着(CBC 新闻,2016 年);Les Cours 不仅仅是一个购物中心,而是一个高端
更新日期:2019-01-01
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