Barbie as Markswoman: A little tongue in cheek (and a little straight-up) exploration of Barbie's relationship to guns

Barbie as Markswoman: A little tongue in cheek (and a little straight-up) exploration of Barbie's relationship to guns

This article and photos ran in Shooting for Women, October 2004.

More Barbie at the Range Photos

By Cybele Elaine Werts
CybeleW@aol.com
www.supertechnogirl.com

Like most little girls I longed for a Barbie doll, but unlike most little girls, I never got one. This was because my mom, a radical feminist, felt that they were sexist. She was right of course. Barbie dolls champion clothes and consumerism over hard work or spiritual exploration. Not to mention that over time, Barbie dolls have become radically thinner with correspondingly bigger bustlines, reflecting the worst of our cultural norms about women's bodies. Despite my mother's best efforts, I finally got my Barbie, but only because I resorted to stealing one from a friend. Pretty awful I know, and sad that I would have to become a closet Barbie fan.

Now that my mom has passed on, I've indulged myself with my very own Barbie, code name "Iolanthe." In a show of respect to my own rather smart wardrobe, I dressed her in a smart little denim outfit with cute platform boots just like mine. She smiles mischievously at me, as if she knows that any respectable post-modern feminist like myself wouldn't be caught dead with a Barbie in the room. Even so I sensed that Barbie had unexplored potential. One day my friend Daphne inspired me to make my Barbie a markswoman as I am. I immediately went off to collect some rifles, a target, sandbags and other shooting accoutrements. I imagine that Barbie is me (only better looking) so I got her a hot pink rifle, and set her up with two cats who look just like their real life counterparts. There is Lucy, a black and white kitten whose middle name is "Trouble," and Program, my black Halloween cat. Then one autumn afternoon I went to town with my new digital camera.

You might ask then, do I just have too much time on my hands or did I actually do this with a purpose? Seeing Barbie with her rifles had got me to thinking about the history of women in the military. Early pioneer women were often called to render home defense, a form of the military although they were of course not granted actual uniforms. During the Revolutionary period one Margaret Corbin fought with her husband at Fort Washington and was voted a disability pension of one-half a soldiers pay and one suit of clothes by Congress. I suppose you could say that Barbie's focus on fashion in the military goes back quite a ways, and I'll try not to get on my soapbox about women earning half the salary of men both in Revolutionary and modern times. Clearly, women have been involved with the right to bear arms from the very beginning.

Barbie herself has been involved with the military (and so presumably with weapons) for a relatively short time. In 1989, thirty years after her debut, Mattel made the first Army Officer Barbie, quickly followed by Air Force officer (1990), Pilot (1990), Marine Corps Officer (1991), Navy Officer (1991), Army Officer Desert Storm (1992), Boot Camp (1999), Military Aviator (2004) and others. Her outfits were copied from actual uniforms and approved by the Pentagon, lending them credibility. You might note that it was only in the Gulf War (1992) that American women both fought and died in combat positions for the first time. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, this period would usher in the majority of combat and officer options for both Barbie and real American women.

I also noted with great interest is that while Barbie comes prepared with a variety of military paraphernalia, never has she had an actual weapon. In contrast, GI Joe, having been around an even shorter time since 1964, had been supplied with weapons by Hasbro since day one. One can only theorize that Mattel felt that providing Barbie with actual armaments would compromise her image, as well as quite possibly her fashion sense.

The gap between Barbie and GI Joe, who are both engaged in military careers, is unfortunate. While GI Joe is doing the real work of war, Barbie, unlike her real life brethren, is still primarily a decoration on the runway of the armed forces. This is really too bad, because although I am a conscientious objector myself, I respect the women who choose to honor our country by military service. I would like it if toys reflected this choice in general, and if Mattel in specific provided Barbie with real weapons if she is expected to engage in real (such as it is) combat.

One might ask then if Barbie did actually end up at the front line somewhere, would she actually shoot anyone? People might think of her as a bit on the ditsy side if only because of her predisposition to swell clothes, but in fact I believe she would have the patriotic balls to do whatever the military, or her conscience required of her.

With this prospect in mind, I set my Barbie up like me. She is a markswoman for sure, but not necessarily someone who would kill living things, people or otherwise. That I leave to her to decide. She might, like my father and myself, choose to be a conscientious objector. He told me once that while he couldn't help but enter the fray of World War II, he always shot over the heads of his enemies. Or she might, like my friend Susan, support the armed services with her entire mind, body and heart. Either way, I hope that Barbie's first foray into weapons, hot pink or otherwise, will offer her the same choices that each of us has every day: the right to bear, or not, arms.

Note: If you note that I use the word "weapon" instead of the more obvious "gun" it's because a good friend of mine who is in the military advised me that this is the correct usage of the term in the military.

How I Created the Barbie Photographs

The great thing about photographing Barbie is that as a model, she never gets impatient or crabby. She can sit in any position - no matter how uncomfortable - for hours, even days. The challenge is that Barbie basically has one expression, and not being human, she doesn't emote much of anything. Unfortunately, this often makes Barbie dioramas about as exciting as a bowl of fruit.

To counteract this problem I used a number of techniques to give her "expression." The key one was the use of shadow and angle. Although she always has that chipper expression, she can appear pensive or thoughtful with a little creativity. Here are some notes on the accessories I put together, most of which I bought on www.ebay.com . Most of the items cost $5 or less, and in many cases I simply used my own creativity.

The Outfit
This came with the 1990 Air Force Officer Barbie which I chose because I really dig the bomber jacket. The blue ascot is pretty sharp too.

Hot Pink Rifle
This is a GI Joe White M-1 Dress rifle. I painted it pink with nail polish. (Forgive me Joe!)

Regular Rifle
This is another GI Joe Rifle.

Sandbags
I made these with canvas from an ammunition bag. I put rice inside just like the sandbags I use in real life.

Winchester Wildcat 22 Ammunition
I cut the end off a box of actual ammunition and glued it to a tiny toy food box. It turned out to have a double entendre because I'm a cat person.

The Book: The New Position Rifle Shooting: A How-to Text for Shooters and Coaches
I'm a big fan of this book so I wanted Barbie to use it for her reading as well. I took the digital image off of Amazon Books and printed it way small. Then I glued it to a tiny pad of post it notes. Looks just like a real book!

Rifle Rack & Target
These are GI Joe accessories

Two Cats
I bought the little plastic cats at I Party, then used black nail polish to make them look like my real life kitties.

Autumn Leaves
I got the autumn leaves from Michael's craft store.

Wicker Chairs
I borrowed these from a friend. These were helpful because posing Barbie in a prone position proved awkward.

The Photograph of Me
I printed a photograph of myself very small then put it into the "picture frame" which is actually a case for a 512 MB digital camera storage disk. Vain, I know.

REFERENCES

Women in the US Military: Barbie
http://www.womensmemorial.org/historyandcollections/collections/artifactpages/barbieenlists.htm

Barbie History – including notes on the military
http://www.billbam.com/barbiehistory.html

Women's Military History
http://www.undelete.org/military.html

Drugs, Sports, Body Image and G.I. Joe
http://www.bebeyond.com/LearnEnglish/BeAD/Readings/SteroidsGIJoe.html

The New Position Rifle Shooting: A How-to Text for Shooters and Coaches
by Frank T. Hanenkrat - Top notch book on everything you need to know about shooting Rifles. There is an excellent section on breathing technique and entering the "flow" state. The book is available on www.amazon.com