Once a pet peeve of feminists, Barbie has become a symbol of power, independence, and inclusiveness. The eponymous film released on July 19, 2023, was preceded by a surge of pink pop, adopted by a whole generation that claims its right to kitsch and hyper-femininity. So, ready to play?
Glossy smile, peroxide mane held back by a headband, tanned skin, and sexy halter top: she landed on social networks in the flesh at the wheel of her bubble-gum pink convertible.
Who? Paris Hilton? No, the first, the only, the inimitable toy pop star: Barbie. Incarnated on screen by Margot Robbie in Greta Gerwig’s film (released July 19, 2023), Mattel’s doll experienced a peak in popularity with the release of photos from the set that immediately set the tone: kitsch and euphoric like a neon roller girl outfit hurtling down Venice Beach, plastic and ironic like the photoshopped abs of Ryan Gosling, alias Ken. But romantic, feminist, and inclusive, promises us the film team.
As you can see, Barbie is back and is not just a dream for little girls anymore. For the past few months, her girly aesthetic has taken pop culture by storm, as well as fashion, beauty, and decoration under the code #Barbiecore.
A pink attitude relayed by celebrities and influencers past masters in the art of chromatic statements.
We will thus have seen Anne Hathaway or Florence Pugh rosy from head to toe (in Valentino), but also Kim and Khloé Kardashian, Hailey Bieber, and especially Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly, in Barbie and Ken Seapunk version for the release of La vie en rose, the new documentary on the rapper’s life. Why so much love?
It reconnects us to the nostalgia of childhood and the pleasure of play and fashion that the doll has embodied for generations of little girls with her dream dressing room, and her accessories by the thousands.
But also her long hair to comb and her body with unreal measurements, which contributed to shaping a certain stereotypical and caricatural image of femininity: blonde, slender, with a generous chest, the hypersexual bimbo in a word.