Just a note: I Blame the Patriarchy has moved, and devoted fans of Twisty Faster may follow the varied adventures of the spinster aunt at her new address, from which I shamelessly stole this delightful image.
And speaking of ventricles, The Globe and Mail brings today's chortling readers this delightful tidbit that makes the cockles of my wizened, black heart pump with glee:
London — Barbie, beware.
The iconic plastic doll suffers mutilation and “torture” at the hands of some young girls, according to research published Monday by British academics.
“The girls we spoke to see Barbie-torture as a legitimate play activity, and see the torture as a ‘cool' activity in contrast to other forms of play with the doll,” said Agnes Nairn, one of the University of Bath researchers.
“The types of mutilation are varied and creative, and range from removing the hair to decapitation, burning, breaking and even microwaving.”
Of course, the fact that the researchers' subjects are young girls means that this sort of recognition of the inanimate nature of unobtainably-bodied plastic figurines is naturally moralized in a typical gendered hysteria. Instead of merely destroying Barbie, the girls are "torturing" and "mutilating" her, manipulating their property in indecorous versions of play approved neither by Mattel nor the society that thinks a female toy is useful only for undressing:
“The meaning of ‘Barbie' went beyond an expressed antipathy; actual physical violence and torture toward the doll was repeatedly reported, quite gleefully, across age, school and gender.”
While boys often expressed nostalgia and affection toward Action Man, the British equivalent of GI Joe, renouncing Barbie appeared to be a rite of passage for many girls.
“The most readily expressed reason for rejecting Barbie was that she was babyish, and girls saw her as representing their younger childhood out of which they felt they had now grown,” Ms. Nairn said.
“It's as though disavowing Barbie is a rite of passage and a rejection of their past.”
Girls rejecting the babyish notions of womanhood in favour of a more nuanced, complex understanding? What a catastrophe!
<snicker>
UPDATE: Oh, now the CBC's trailing the story like a good little mule. Notice the new headline: "Girls often 'torture' Barbies, researchers say," aggravating where it cannot inform.
What's that, CBC? Many young girls like to mutilate and "torture" Barbie dolls, including
popping off their heads and microwaving them, a British study suggests? Oh, NO! This is terrible! It must be a high percentage of little girls who behave in such a violent manner, right?
Researchers at the University of Bath have been analyzing the effects of product branding and marketing on more than 100 children aged seven to 11.
Um - 100 children, CBC? the survey was of 100 children? YOU'RE PUSHING A SENSATIONAL STORY ABOUT GIRLS ON THE BASIS OF A SURVEY OF ONE HUNDRED????
Aw, forget it. It's like shooting fish in a barrel.
I "manipulated" my Barbies too. I don't think it's torture since they, um, plastic.
And I like how this seems to transgress gender boundaries. My brother destroyed plenty of his toys too (and was rather creative) but no one's calling that torture. Toy soldiers in the Easy-Bake oven anyone?
Posted by: Steph | December 20, 2005 at 10:28
The article brought a smile to my face with the memory of torturing my brother's Action Man by dismembering him and slowly melting him...ah, the innocent days of childhood ;)
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