#barbie native american

[my-plastic-life]

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

[fucks-spock]

a warning to other native folks who may be interested in the barbie movie

there is a scene in which the patriarchys effect on the barbies is directly compared to the effect of smallpox on indigenous peoples. if this makes you uncomfortable as it did me do not feel obligated to watch it. a lot of white people are pressuring native people to watch and see for themselves if it makes them uncomfortable. do not feel that you have to if you think it will negatively impact you. we know what hurts us.

and please note i am not attacking the movie or calling the writers terrible, i am not commanding you dont see the movie. this is a warning post for NATIVE FOLKS who are fully capable of making their own decisions.

[pinkfai]

Source : legalmente_barbie on Instagram 🩷

[magnetostits]

i’m kinda tired of hearing people talk negatively about the actresses who were nominated for the oscars instead of margot robbie when lily gladstone is the first ever native american to be nominated like can we be positive about something please

[mamaangiwine]

Hey about your post on the Barbie movie. Totally open to you still disagreeing and hearing why but as someone who saw the movie I just wanted to give perspective.

Obviously the consequences in Barbieland are just cute and funny but ultimately bad but I'm having a hard time seeing how comparing smallpox blankets (a tool of imperialism used to kill people) to infecting a place with patriarchy (another system of oppression that also kills people in real life) is a harmful metaphor.

I agree in a lot of ways the movie completely fails to actually address things like race and class to solely focus on sexism and it has been heavily criticized for being libfem. However, is it not analogous to compare two systems of oppression that obviously work differently but are both very bad?

I appreciate you reading my ask and hearing me out. I look forward to understanding your perspective better.

Thank you for being respectful.

So firstly, as you said the movie has been widely criticized for not touching on racism or classism- which is honestly something I expected. It's The Barbie Movie, after all. I wasn't expecting a particularly in depth exploration of that kind of intersectional feminism. No... Barbie's "intersectionality" lies in its optics. There is a trans Barbie, disabled Barbie, and various woc Barbies. Which begs the question- in a movie that wishes to show case its inclusivity and celebrate that inclusivity via the diversity of it's Barbies...in a movie that wishes to suggest "intersectionality" through the diversity of its Barbies...who then is missing in this film?

There were no Native Barbies.

Honestly, that's not unusual for me as a Native. I didn't expect to see Native Barbie. I don't expect to see Natives in much of anything that doesn't take place in "the old west" or some kind of historical drama (that is, if it isn't being written and/or made by Ndns). Up until recently, people didn't even question why we hardly got to play indigenous roles in films (Johnny Depp as Tonto comes to mind).

Which is why it's so sad that the only representation we get in a film that is trying to tout its "inclusivity" is a throw-away line that references our suffering and the genocide we endured...and are still feeling the effects of to this day.

Tragedy is not one for one. Oppression is not one for one either. I don't agree that small pox was a "tool" of imperialism. Small pox, once colonizers realized they could weaponize it, was a failed "means to an end". It was just genocide. Plain and simple. Also, "patriarchy" is a broad concept that affects multiple people differently (going back to intersectionality) whereas Native genocide only affects Natives. Including the imposition of western, white patriarchy on both Native women and men. If one is going to make comparisons, they need to be prepared to take responsibility for ALL of what that comparison implies.

Let's not forget though, this wasn't just a "comparison". This was a part of a joke. Granted the joke didn't center around smallpox, but it was still placed within an exchange of dialog in which, yes, they are discussing patriarchy, but still funny-silly-goofy things are happening. For one thing, even if you could make the argument that there is an analogy to be made, there is a time and place for things- and it certainly isn't in a comedy centering around two white actors.

There isnt an analogy to be made though. The truth is, this "joke" is apart of a long problematic history of white women (like Greta Gerwig) using the history of minorities as a means to compare their own oppression to atrocities that they were also historically complicit in. White men were not the only one who stood to gain from Native Genocide. It's also a way for white feminists to wiggle their way out of discussions of their own privelege and take accountability for a system that they benefit from.

I would like to posit a question here, if I may... Would you have felt comfortable with a reference about the Holocaust in the Barbie movie? Would you have felt comfortable with a reference about Jim Crow in the Barbie movie? Particularly refenced via a line that had no bearing to the plot or any real attatchment to a character's world view or identity? That could have gone unmissed from the final product as a whole? If the thought made you pause or cringe, that's understandable. That's how it should be.

Personally, I feel Greta Gerwig felt she could make this comparison because Natives are not always treated as a living group of people suffering under colonialism, racism, and patriarchy- it's for the same reasons we are only seen in movies set in the "old west"- we are often thought of as something from the past. As though we are already gone. This makes it so Ndns have to work especially hard for our voices to be heard sometimes, because the genocide we experienced wasn't just about exterminating us but convincing people we had already been exterminated.

For all these reasons, Native voices should be elevated, Native actors should be hired, and Native History should be respected.

[barbielore]

Thus far I have created polls to break down all the dolls in the Dolls of the World line that represent the same country or cultural group with, as far as I can tell (and it is very possible I've missed one), two exceptions.

These two exceptions being Native American and Pacific Islander.

If I can break down the trouble I am having with these two.

To my knowledge, there are 5 different dolls in the Dolls of the World line named "Native American Barbie", one named "Northwest Coast Native American Barbie" and one named "Princess of the Navajo". The majority of these dolls do not provide any further context on the doll packaging to indicate if they are specifically referring to a particular culture under the Native American umbrella. Their costumes may indicate specific tribes, but if so, I am not informed enough to know.

Pictured above are 1993 and 1994, both presented as Native American but with nothing more specific listed.

1995, whose box text indicates she is from the Southern Plains.

1996 and 1998 which are again unspecified - 1998 mentions Navajo and Hupa on her box text, but uses these as examples of Native American tribes without claiming identification with either.

And then Northwest Coast Native American Barbie and Princess of the Navajo.

I do not know enough about Native American culture to know whether it would be appropriate to combine these into one group and create a poll asking to pick which one is the best, but it does not feel respectful. It also does not feel appropriate to exclude them from the bracket. So I am at an impasse.

(Pacific Islander Barbies discussed in a separate post.)

[drmistytang]

This classic Dolls of the World Barbie Doll was in desperate need of a makeover!

Her original skirt was a travesty. And I just so happened to come across this beautiful yellow Native inspired fabric (found at Goodwill, as is my way), so naturally here we are.

See more of her here! -> https://www.etsy.com/listing/1516850474/ooak-rescue-doll-1993-dolls-of-the-world

[popculturelib]

Barbies of the BPCL: Northwest Coast Native American Barbie

This Barbie is part of the Dolls of the World collection from 2000. The description from the Barbie collection reads:

Yake'i ixw sateeni! (It is good to see you!) I'm Northwest Coast Native American Barbie doll from Alaska, land of the last frontier. My people live in the Northwest Coast and panhandle area of Southeast Alaska. It is called the panhandle area because it looks like the handle of a frying pan. I am wearing our beautiful ceremonial dress with a Chilkat Robe, traditionally woven from cedar bark and mountain goat hair. Now, I'm ready for the Winter Ceremonials, where we sing and dance, feeling close to the spirits of nature, as our ancestors did. Please come to visit Alaska soon! Tsu yei ixwa sateeni! (I'll see you again!)

Check out our other Barbies at #bpcl barbies.

The Browne Popular Culture Library (BPCL), founded in 1969, is the most comprehensive archive of its kind in the United States.  Our focus and mission is to acquire and preserve research materials on American Popular Culture (post 1876) for curricular and research use. Visit our website at https://www.bgsu.edu/library/pcl.html.

[prettycheesecakes-blog]

Hey babes ❤️❤️ it's good to be back online ❤️

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

im pretty sure this is not a popular opinion which is why i havent said it, but its been on my mind for months now so fuck it, i guess.

you know that post, the one about the barbie movie and margot robbie talking about barbie being a doll with no reproductive organs and sexual desire, and a lot of tumblr users just like, celebrating this as a win for asexuality?

i hate that post. a lot. like a lot a lot.

because while i dont think margot robbies conclusion is wrong (shes a doll), i think calling barbie asexual is inaccurate and it makes me, an ace person, uncomfortable.

like i dont think its a purposeful link, but that comparison very much implies that sexuality and sexual desire is tied to having reproductive organs, which uh no, thats not how that works and i really dislike that implication. idk about you, but i dont like tying my queerness to my biology.

that link is also one that rings of those who presume that there is a universal normative experience, which is also true of the movie itself, see jessie genders video on that. there are many people in the world who have what would be considered atypical reproductive organs and plenty whose reproductive organs can be considered not-working like those who have gone through the menopause, and they are not all ace.

its also just reductive as to what asexuality in general. margot robbies quote was specifically that barbie didnt feel sexual desire, and funnily enough, sexual desire =/= sexual attraction. while i, myself, be a sex-repulsed ace, there are plenty of horny aces who do the fuck. ive already mentioned the fact that im opposed to linking my queerness to biology, and honestly that part only made me more uncomfortable after the movie ended on "im here to see my gynecologist".

also just, barbie is a plastic doll. like thats how she starts in the movie itself. shes not asexual, shes a doll. and idk dude, theres just a part of me that is deeply uncomfortable with tying asexuality with a doll.

like imo, this just isnt the win for asexuality people were treating it as. we can do better than this.

especially considering the way queerness was handled in the film, but again, go watch jessie genders video on it, its better presented than my rambling post

[olowan-waphiya]

[fandomshatepeopleofcolor]

Why must everything be against indigenous people? including The Barbie movie?there's a disgustingly racist joke about small pox in the movie.some people say it isn't a joke while others say it's an analogy

https://www.tumblr.com/antinativefaves/723813293691666432/your-fave-is-anti-native-barbie?source=share

This is really not surprising considering that Greta is a white feminist. I reblogged it and I will be sharing it on all my blogs.

mod ali

[pleasestealmyideas]

Mattel - create a Barbie doll line that brings representation to several oppressed groups around the world. Donate part of the profits toward these causes. Collaborate with fashion designers of these cultures. Blend traditional and modern fashion styles promoting the idea that these groups have existed and still exist, persist, and create.

Some cultures I'd like to see represented in a few different outfits as Barbie dolls:

Multiple Native American tribes

Uyghurs

Darfuris

Romani

[troythecatfish]

[blackberryjambaby]

ok so i watched barbie. it was really fun but not nearly as good as people made it out to be