“Our Barbies, Ourselves”

In the piece “Our Barbies, Ourselves”, Prager criticizes society’s expectations for women and how these were channeled into Barbie. Prager solidifies her disapproval of men’s expectations for women through language. Prager somewhat offers a concession to the claims she makes throughout her essay. She admits that she “loved Barbie” and still somewhat identifies with Barbie’s signature designs. Prager shows how iconic the toy was when she admits to having enjoyed the toy despite the fact that Barbie looked like someone “who got her start at the Playboy mansion”. Throughout the piece, she emphasizes the prominence of the toy in society despite its flaws and biases toward women. However her reasoning for never getting married seems to conflict with her reasoning and claim she argues for in the essay. She criticizes the creators of Barbie for creating her physical appearance in a way that she felt was biased. However, she also “follows” the creators when she decided not to marry because she “simply cannot find a man who looks as good as Ken”. Here, she satirizes the mentality that has been infiltrating society for so long: to judge based on appearance. Even though she hasn’t married for the reason she writes, she uses it to help develop a critical tone towards society’s values. Prager also writes that “we’re all trapped in Barbie’s world and can never escape” to show the inevitability of society’s focus on appearance rather than personality. With this, Prager demonstrates how difficult it is for society to stray away from judgements and stereotypes that have dominated society for so long. She implies that these elements are somewhat ingrained in society and default in nature as people don’t realize they are judging or stereotyping. By focusing on a common household toy that has been prevalent for generations, Prager also emphasizes how society’s flawed value towards appearance is evident in many aspects and is introduced to children at a young age.