#barbie controversy

[barbielore]

Do you know the Barbie dog that you can feed and then make poop? I think there was also a cat that could pee real liquid??

When I got this ask I said out loud “yeah there was a dog that pooped” but before I could finish the thought my husband said, “Yeah, that’s called a dog.”

The end of the thought was going to be, “But I don’t know about a cat that peed?”. But I googled it because I didn’t want to look stupid and - yeah, Barbie had a pissing cat!

Potty Trainin’ Blissa had a mechanism where it could drink liquid and when squeezed would pee the liquid into her litter box - or, presumably, wherever the child felt like making the cat pee.

The pooping dog was Tanner. There were a couple of iterations of Tanner but memorably, he got recalled because the magnetic food-poop was a swallowing hazard.

Not because the pieces were themselves big enough to choke on, but because when you swallow multiple magnets they can stick together in your digestive system. And having magnet “foo is just tempting fate.

Personally, I was always unsettled by any of the “feed them and then they excrete” dolls or toys. So, you feed them, and then they poop out the same item, and then you feed it to them again?! But obviously some people liked them.

[plurapony]

ill never forgive the world for what they did to midge. in 1990 they made an entire set dedicated to Midge's marriage. she was just a girl, Barbie's best friend who wanted a more simple life.

she just wanted a husband and kids and a wonderful family !!!! so in 2002- 12 YEARS! AFTER SHE GOT MARRIED! why was it such a controversy that she got pregnant and a pregnant doll was released?

the doll was intended to be for children who are expecting siblings into their family, to introduce them to the wonder of life that came with a new baby. such an incredibly sweet premise!!!

and midge was the perfect doll for it, she got married to alan 12 years prior and come onnn LOOK AT THEM!!! they are such a cute family.

and yet the public freaked out. and her entire character plot of being a wife and having a loving family was wiped from her character when introduced in 2013. midge ill never forget what they did to you and midge ill always love you 🩷

[blackdollsmatter]

LeBron James gets a Ken doll and some folks are calling it the "death of masculinity." Spoiler: it’s not. Grown men can buy dolls, appreciate culture, and still be strong. Masculinity isn’t dying—it’s evolving. 💪🏾✨ #Barbie #LeBron #Kenbassador #Masculinity #RepresentationMatters

[song-of-baldy-ron]

It really does say something that men* are so mad at how Barbie portrayed the Kens even after the ending where the narrator states that they are given women’s actual roles in society right now.

These are the same men that say “feminism has gone too far” and “women these days actually have more rights than men because (insert bs reason here)” 

But when actually presented with what that situation looks like in Barbie suddenly that’s not true. Which is it, guys, do women today have more rights or is Ken’s ending still troubling to you? If reality is what you say it is, this should be a success right?

*obligatory not all men

[thatneoncrisis]

lumping myself in with women for the sake of conversation about certain pieces of woman focused media because ultimately issues concerning feminism affect me and the experiences that art tries to capture are things that intersect with my life

[polterwasteist]

The MCL Barbie & Ken (but fraternal love)

btw i still didn't watch the movie but i thought this poster reminded me of them so yeah-

[propheticjester]

i can't take ship wars seriously. to me it just conjures up the image of two 5 year-olds at daycare standing in front of the shared toychest and arguing about which dolls can and can't kiss each other. you're gonna waste all your recess time arguing instead of having fun. meanwhile i have chosen a plastic dinosaur to officiate Barbie and Raquel's wedding while Stacy fights Batman.

[operagirl]

Controversial opinion but the nutcracker from Barbie and the nutcracker in his human form is hot y’all just like older men.

[sapphire-weapon]

Hi, I just wanna share that I ship Ashley and Leon since the original RE, and I ship them even more now more than ever. I just wanted to say that I’m glad that I saw your blog. You defend them from hate comments. I could never do that. All I do is hide the fact that I ship them because people online (and IRL) can really be mean when I say that they have a good potential together.

I just think that their relationship can be wholesome and built on trust. It is without ill intention and born out of care & adoration. Which I think are the some of the foundations of having a healthy relationship, that’s why I love the idea of them together. I know this may be cliche to say this, but I think they can complete each other in some ways.

Is it wrong to want a potentially healthy relationship for Leon? I don’t get why people hate on the idea of it so much. I mean people can not ship it, and that’s fine. I just don’t get it when others start attacking because I mention that I ship them. It’s like I feel like I’m about to get executed whenever I say that they have a chemistry together 😆

Also, I apologize for talking so much about them. I just have no one to talk to when it comes to them. I just wanna share it to someone.

Lastly, I wanna say that you make deep analysis on not just their relationship and dynamics, but also on other lores on the RE franchise which I enjoy reading. It really gives a lot of new perspectives & insights on a lot of things that I don’t notice when I play the game. Thank you for this, really!

aw, anon

I also went through a period of very many years where I wouldn't say out loud that I shipped Leon and Ashley, because there was a stretch of a very long time in fandom where you got tarred and feathered if you dared have a Leon ship that wasn't Cleon or Aeon. Even shipping him with Chris was considered taboo back in the day (and, wouldn't you know, I do that, too).

And I was scared that people wouldn't take my (completely unrelated, mind you!!) meta seriously if they knew I shipped Leon/Ashley, so I just kept quiet about it. I even tried to pass it off, for a while, that I had no RE ships at all. It was just easier to say that than be dodgy about it.

It was actually kind of funny. For a while, a not-insignificant portion of the fandom went to me, specifically, for all of their Leon things, and I just had to kind of laugh at how ridiculous it was that these same people would've just stopped agreeing with anything I said about him -- things that they agreed with and had been relying on for their own interpretations -- if they'd known I shipped him with Ashley. It's all very, very stupid.

But now I'm in my 30s and I don't give a fucking shit anymore. I don't care about being an authority on canon anymore. I'm happy to be a reference if someone needs it, but I don't care about being the central hub of information. I don't need to try to make people feel impartially about me anymore.

But, authority or not, I'm still a story analyst at heart before anything else. I look at Leon's character first and then think about any possible ships second. And, yeah. After analyzing him for so long, I've noticed that Ashley brings out a side of him that isn't shown at any other point -- and it's in a positive way that's absent when she's gone. So, naturally and logically, in my head, it stands to reason that there's something to that.

Some people seem to be under the impression that Leon's character arc lives and dies by Ada's involvement, and boy is that just not the case. There's a lot of different moving parts when it comes to Leon's character arc, but he's primarily defined by the striking lack of agency he has, despite being one of the main characters of the series. Ada perpetuates and exacerbates that helplessness, but it would still exist without her. In Leon's own words: "nothing ever changes" and THAT is what's at the center of his character arc.

But even beyond that, Leon is a character who needs to be needed; it's something that's shown over and over and over and over again. So, as much as people like the idea of a "partners" type ship (like Chris/Jill) and so they ship him with Claire -- or as much as people like the whole cat-and-mouse will-they-won't-they thing that Leon has going on with Ada -- neither Claire nor Ada need Leon, so it would never really work in the long-term.

And as much as Leon doesn't want Ashley to need him... he still needs her to. Because he doesn't realize that Ashley can both need him emotionally because that's what romance is you fucking stupid idiot, Leon -- and also be her own independent person living her life to the fullest at the same time.

And you know what? I like queen/knight ships, and that's exactly what Leon and Ashley are. So I just embrace it.

This isn't to discount other people's tastes or ship preferences. Ship whatever the hell yall want. But Leon/Ashley has always existed, will always exist, and it's just as valid as any other ship. Thankfully, the remake seems to have made it more "acceptable" -- which really just tells me that the only reason why we Leon/Ashley folks were blacklisted for so long is because the vast majority of the fandom was just bad at RE4 and took out their impotent gamer rage on Ashley, as though it was her fault they sucked at the game. (If you got annoyed at Ashley screaming for help in OG -- or in remake, even -- it's because you let her get grabbed. It's player error.)

Just sayin.

[juniperhillpatient]

always be ready to humble yourself. saw a post of a ship I personally dislike & thought “ugh they don’t even interact outside of a few combat scenes just why” & instantly had to remind myself what I ship & calm down

[barbielore]

Hello Barbie and the Hello Dreamhouse were releases by Mattel to try to keep up with modern technology. In the age of Siri and Alexa, the Hello Barbie and Hello Dreamhouse were voice-activated Barbie toys.

However, much like Video Girl Barbie before her, when Hello Barbie hit the market, she raised a lot of concerns about privacy.

Hello Barbie essentially used the same mechanics as any other voice activated digital assistant - with the help of a WiFi connection, you could talk to Barbie and she could talk back. However a number of security concerns were raised about this, ranging from ToyTalk's privacy policy outright saying it keeps the data and shares this with third parties, to the possibility that a hacker could at best make Barbie say something rude or at worst, use this data to obtain personal information about other people's children.

The company offered a bounty to anyone who could help them identify potential weaknesses in the Barbie... but at the end of the day, perhaps the Barbie was more trouble than she was worth. Kids don't need a Barbie doll with an internet connection. (Does that make me sound like a curmudgeon?)

The Hello Dreamhouse didn't talk back (obviously, it's a house) but was theoretically supposed to respond to voice commands to emulate a smart home. The doors could open by voice command, the chandelier disco ball could spin and light up in different colours, and so on.

However after the privacy concerns and a lot of bugs and glitches, the Dreamhouse was discontinued along with Hello Barbie.

You know what stands out to me about that, though? Once they were discontinued, existing Hello Barbies and Hello Dreamhouses no longer worked, as the app was no longer supported.

Meaning anyone who had bought this and was using it no longer had access to the product they paid for.

[rabbit-inwonderland]

figured out why I don't like how bland the feminist message in Barbie is! everything they do and say (wrt feminism) is done better in Legally Blonde

[the-commonplace-book]

"What about an average Barbie?"

Midge.

"Who's like... a MOM."

MIDGE.

"Nothing extraordinary, but that's okay."

M I D G E

[fantaghoul]

Real controversial opinion that's probably gonna get me on some kind of watchlist, but I enjoyed Disney's Wish more than I enjoyed the Barbie movie.

There, I said it, please put the pitchforks down. I don't really have the energy to elaborate on it rn.

(Please don't send me hate. I am willing to have a civilized debate with anyone that wants to, but please try to keep the death threats to a minimum. Please.)

[yourfavehaskenergy]

Randy Marsh from South Park.

Randy Marsh from South Park has Kenergy!

[imkeepinit]

"When know-nothing movements put know-nothing politicians into power, that power gets squandered on garbage." - Adam Ozimek

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