Barbie at 50: USU students reinvent America's most famous cultural icon

LOGAN — Barbie's come a long way, baby! And some Utah State University students may now have taken her even further.

In her 50 years on America's toy shelves, Mattel's iconic blond bombshell has paraded as a princess, a surfer, a veterinarian and a teacher — flaunting her beauty across a nation that has become increasingly obsessed with body image and physical "perfection."

USU students and others reinvented Barbie and her longtime boyfriend Ken this week in more than 50 dramatic new roles — some of them in parody and others fashioned to make political statements and raise cultural awareness.

Participants created Madame President Barbie, Recycling Barbie, Ninja Barbie, God as a Woman Barbie, Bus Stop Barbie, Sorority Barbie, Sally the CNA, Ken's Kitchen, Meterosexual Ken, Transgender Baby, Chuckie Barbie — and the list goes on. Others were a bit more poignant, such as Suicide Bomber Barbie, Domestic Abuse Barbie, The Truth About Teen Pregnancy for Me.

It was all part of a doll design/essay contest sponsored by USU's Women and Gender Studies program to redefine gender expectations, defy traditional stereotypes and evaluate Barbie's contribution to modern society.

"I'm from Carbon County and I made Coal Miner Barbie to reflect that heritage," said program officer Katie Jo Matekovic. "You'll never see a real coal miner Barbie designed by Mattel, but I've actually been underground with my dad, and to think about doing that every day is kind of scary. Coal miners are my heroes."

Several participants acknowledged that Barbie is a powerful cultural symbol that America loves to hate.

"Barbie is kind of vilified because she is beautiful, and why is that so?" asked Gary Arave, a Broadway makeup artist and USU theater alumnus who provided Barbie makeovers during the event. "I mean, Barbie's done a lot of great things, and she's led the charge in a lot of ways.

"She was an astronaut four years before we got on the moon," Arave said. "She was a NASCAR driver eight years before Danica Patrick was doing the Indy car races, and she ran for president 16 years ahead of Hillary Clinton. So why do hold her beauty against her? I think it's an interesting double-edged sword that we see with Barbie, and we sort of need to reclaim her."

To represent that "who you are matters more than how you look," broadcast journalism student Ashley Tolman helped create the HGH Ken and Under the Knife Barbie.