The Spice Girls represent realityby Sarah McQuarrieHow can anyone compare Barbie, a symbol of the unrealistic body images imposed on women by a patriarchal society, to the Spice Girls Dolls, who are paragons of modern feminism? Barbie was obviously created in a male-dominated society to cause young girls to accept the physically impossible expectations imposed on their bodies. Were she to be created in 'real life', Barbie would be a physically impossible mutation. She would tower over us all-at least, until she tipped over. These are the sorts of expectations that were imposed on our youth before the advent of the Spice Girls Dolls. Spice Girls Dolls, then, represent modern feminism, while Barbie persists in advocating out-dated patriarchy. While Barbie is famous for a plastic, unrealistic body, the popularity of the Spice Girls Dolls is a result of their music, which seems to speak to the young women of today. While Barbie's entire lifestyle is impossible, the Spice Girls are real women who have become successful in a male-dominated world. Obviously the Spice Girls have been socialized into a society in which Barbie represents the expectations placed on women, so their dolls do have some similarities with the Barbie dolls. The fact remains, however, that the Spice Girls are real women, with real careers and real, thought-provoking opinions on important issues. Spice Girls Dolls have something else that Barbie lacks-diversity. Every Spice Girl, from Scary Spice to Baby Spice, is her own person, with her own opinions and a unique personality. Barbie, on the other hand, is Barbie, and whether she's wearing her doctor uniform or her wedding dress, she will always be the same outdated patriarchal symbol. The Spice Girls Dolls also provide viable role models for modern women. Barbie, though the public relations department at Mattel continue trying to re-invent their aging product, is out of date. How many young girls idolize Barbie? Now, how many pour their allowances into Spice Girls merchandise, and stand in incessant lines to see Spiceworld? The answer should be obvious. Why? Because the Spice Girls are the newest wave of feminism, and stand for something that today's youth can relate to. The Spice Girls are often criticized for Œonly caring about the money'. What else can we expect from these successful modern women? Do people get upset when corporations merge? Are people shunning Taco Bell-Pizza Hut because they only care about money? Of course not! Why should the music industry be run any differently than the fast food industry? The Spice Girls have succeeded in the capitalist economy by merging their assets to provide a better product. If we are to advocate a neoliberal economy, then we should be proud of the Spice Girls for their ingenuity. Though some may quarrel with the ethics of marketing music like a taco, this is not a fair complaint to level at the Spice Girls, who are merely making a living as best they can in a capitalist economy. Spice Girls, with their skillful marketing of both themselves and their music, represent successful businesswomen and, as such, are more representative of our modern capitalist society than Barbie ever could be. |
Barbie is a classicby Erin HidlebaughThe Barbie doll, "is bigger than Madonna, Marilyn, and the Spice Girls combined." A quote from the internet sums up the idea behind my entire argument. How anyone can argue the Spice Girls are better than Barbie is beyond me. Barbie in her long history has taken on several different 'pop' icons and has survived to this day. Like Wayne "Can't win the Gold" Gretzky, Mr. T, the New Kids on the Block, and Michael Jackson, the Spice Girls are going to fall to the dominance of Barbie in the doll market. I cannot imagine my childhood without her, let alone the world. She has been a constant plaything for three generations and now is becoming a much sought after collectable. In 1959, Ruth Handler created Barbie and the wonderful world of make-believe that surrounds the doll. Since then an entire family has been introduced to Barbie-land, making it an ideal world with a mom, dad, sister, brother, and a set of twins. There is also been multitudes of friends brought into the sphere. Besides the large family that Barbie has acquired over the years, there is the vast amount of vehicles, houses, animals, and work place settings. What can they come out with for the Spice Girls? How about a Milli Vanilli-type machine where you can play their tape and then whirl them around on a stage. Another accessory that they could develop is an air pump so that you can refill their heads in the event that they spring a leak. Now, many may say that she is a stereotypical beach-blonde, but I beg to differ. Sure there is a lot of "Malibu" or "Hawaii" dolls made, but there also is veterinarian, rock star, doctor, nurse, hairdresser, and some type of powersuit-wearing executive dolls on the market. Now that the Mattel company has decided to make her anatomically correct I cannot see one thing wrong with the doll. There are Hawaiian, black, red hairded, and brunette dolls. Barbie has never represented more people. Young girls of all races and religions now have a true, realistic role model. All the Spice Girls can offer is the image of five harlots from Britain. There has also been an international set made; dolls from Scotland, Ukraine, Canada, and many other nations. Children who play with these dolls realize just that, they are dolls. Anytime you start creating dolls after real people, you are setting kids up for a fall. They expect a lot for role models and plastic, imaginary creations cannot let them down, but, let's face it, the Spice Girls are real and will make mistakes. In closing, it is a sad, sad world where an inanimate object (no, not Ginger Spice) is smarter then five 'normal' human beings. Barbie has been a role model for millions of girls and is regarded as a symbol of beauty by everyone who sees her. If girls are made by society to want to be like the Spice Girls who, really, are not all that spicy if you think about it, then that is as responsible as anything for the dumbing of our youth. Finally, our youth can't afford to be dumber, especially not as dumb as the so-called Spice Girls. |