More Barbie

In related (but unrelated) news, [1] Barbie fell off the list of favored Christmas wish toys in Britain, while [2] yet another artist twists Barbie’s image to her own will.

All the gory details:

1. “The Barbie doll has for the first time failed to appear on the list of toys expected to top British children’s Christmas lists, retailers revealed today.

   “Younger rivals, such as the Bratz series and Dora the Explorer, have usurped the 45-year-old doll, which is manufactured by the US company Mattel, on the UK Toy Retailers Association’s top 10.”

   (Guardian: “Barbie: the doll of Christmas past” [October 6, 2004])

2. “There’s a cross-dressing male doll with long hot pink hair and a tight miniskirt. A “Jailbait Barbie” stands behind bars, wearing a pink and white striped uniform and an identification number. An eight-legged black widow doll crawls up a spider web, with Ken wrapped in her webbing.

   …

   “In a scenario that has its parallel in real life, Baker finds down-on-their-luck Barbies–at thrift stores and from friends–then introduces them to a world of sex, drugs and violence.

   “‘I always loved Barbie,’ she said. ‘I don’t know what led me to this. Barbie was too clean and she needed to be in the real world, so I put her in my world.'”

   (AP: “N.C. woman sells naughty Barbie dolls” [October 4, 2004])

(FYI, this is “More Barbie” because a previous post here at nmb covered another perversion of the Barbie image, “Food Chain Barbie”)