Barbie's Queer Accessories by Erica Rand. Trade PB in very nice shape. There is a few indentation lines on the bottom edge and an old price sticker on back cover. " She’s skinny, white, and blond. She’s Barbie—an icon of femininity
to generations of American girls. She’s also multi-ethnic and
straight—or so says Mattel, Barbie’s manufacturer. But, as Barbie’s Queer Accessories demonstrates,
many girls do things with Barbie never seen in any commercial. Erica
Rand looks at the corporate marketing strategies used to create Barbie’s
versatile (She’s a rapper! She’s an astronaut! She’s a bride!) but
nonetheless pre-molded and still predominantly white image. Rand weighs
the values Mattel seeks to embody in Barbie—evident, for example, in her
improbably thin waist and her heterosexual partner—against the naked,
dyked out, transgendered, and trashed versions favored by many juvenile
owners and adult collectors of the doll. Rand begins by focusing on
the production and marketing of Barbie, starting in 1959, including
Mattel’s numerous tie-ins and spin-offs. These variations, which include
the much-promoted multi-ethnic Barbies and the controversial Earring
Magic Ken, helped make the doll one of the most profitable toys on the
market. In lively chapters based on extensive interviews, the author
discusses adult testimony from both Barbie "survivors" and enthusiasts
and explores how memories of the doll fit into women’s lives. Finally,
Rand looks at cultural reappropriations of Barbie by artists,
collectors, and especially lesbians and gay men, and considers
resistance to Barbie as a form of social and political activism. Illustrated
with photographs of various interpretations and alterations of Barbie,
this book encompasses both Barbie glorification and abjection as it
testifies to the irrefutably compelling qualities of this bestselling
toy. Anyone who has played with Barbie—or, more importantly, thought or
worried about playing with Barbie—will find this book fascinating." Please check out my other listings. Thx!