Berlin Barbie bummer; feminists protest Dreamhouse opening

Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:

No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.

If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

**easysauce**

(CNN) -- Guess it's a cultural thing.

While a Barbie-themed restaurant opening was hailed with general delight and fanfare in Taipei earlier this year, the opening of the blonde doll's new European digs is being met with quite a different reception in Germany.

Left-wing feminists are protesting the Barbie Dreamhouse Experience -- a 27,000-square-foot lifesized pink estate -- opening in Berlin on May 16.

Located off the shopping district of Alexanderplatz, the Berlin Dreamhouse is meant to show off Barbie's Malibu lifestyle.

The pink mansion is full of rooms showcasing how her makeup, kitchen and wardrobe are put together.

In addition to viewing 350 Barbie dolls and other displays, visitors can strut a long runway, "bake" virtual cupcakes in a pink kitchen or eat real ones in the cafe. And, of course, shell out for dolls and products in the gift shop.

Protestors from the Left Party are up in arms over the sexism and shallow materialism that they argue Barbie symbolizes.

"They present an image of cooking, primping and singing, as if it were in some way life-fulfilling," Socialist Alternative editor Michael Koschitzki, 27, told German newspaper Der Spiegel.

"The Barbie Dreamhouse is the expression of a conventional role model that isn't OK," he said.

Barbie has long been a subject of controversy -- with criticisms ranging from sexism to racism to creating body image issues for girls.

The Berlin movement has led to an "Occupy Barbie Dreamhouse" page on Facebook, which displays a cover image of a dark-haired girl saying, "I can't stand pink!" in German. The page currently has 1,761 likes and is updated every few hours.

The group behind the Facebook page has also announced it's planning a peaceful protest for opening day.

The Berlin mansion is Barbie's first Dreamhouse in Europe and will be dismantled to tour other European cities after August 25.

A U.S. Dreamhouse opened last week in a Florida shopping mall, to mixed reviews.

from http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/15/travel/barbie-dreamhouse-berlin/index.html?hpt=hp_c4

my favorite snippet from this article

"They present an image of cooking, primping and singing, as if it were in some way life-fulfilling," Socialist Alternative editor Michael Koschitzki, 27, told German newspaper Der Spiegel.

because cooks, singers and fashion designers/models are all shallow, unfulfilled sexist professions by default right? why let the individuals have the agency to define how they individually promote their career's.

stay at home moms/dads are actually hugely important life-fulfilling roles, that also provide opportunities for fulfillment in their families.

**Mr Hyena**

The protest is sexist towards women.

**KalashnikovMarine**

Barbies creep me out man.

**hotsauceman1**

I dont get it, The only way Barbie could have gotten a nice house by herself is not from ken, but from her own fulfilling career.
They should like a smart bachelerette women who has no kids and doesnt need a man to buy all the nice stuff in life.

**kronk**

The real question is "Is this Dream House Wheelchair accessible?"

**easysauce**

KalashnikovMarine wrote:
Barbies creep me out man.

lol, thats what my sister said about lots of my 40k "man barbies"

**hotsauceman1**

TBH, Dolls freak me out,
I can shop for ny nieces because i think the doll isle will come alive and attack me.

**Grey Templar**

The only real problem with Barbie is the potential body image issues.

**Frazzled**

hotsauceman1 wrote:
TBH, Dolls freak me out,
I can shop for ny nieces because i think the doll isle will come alive and attack me.

You are right to be afraid. One day they will.

**hotsauceman1**

I doupt that, kids are smarter thne you think and know barbie isnt real.
It is real people you have to worry about with body image.

**Frazzled**

I alwasy thought it was really freaky to go into a preschool and see all these naked dolls(GC's room too) until the wife informed me that it has to do with fine motor skills. Its actually much easier for the kids to get the clothing off then it is to manage to get them back on.

Pretty much the opposite of most gamers in high school.

**Grey Templar**

Wouldn't that be social skills not motor skills

**easysauce**

the whole body image thing is silly,

if you can't look at a toy/comic/tvshow/movie actor/actress without thinking you have to look like that, then that is your own doing, not the object or fantasy.

all the ken dolls, warhammer dolls, gi joes, actors have ripped abs and steroid esque muscles, and while there is a problem with men trying to look that way through steroid abuse, that is not the fault of the inanimate objects or the fantasies on tv.

so while people abusing steroids, or being bulimic or anorexic to attain a body type is obviously harmful to them, they are the one making the choice.

it is antithetical to a free society to blame these things for individual's actions as it denies the individual's agency in decisions.

**CthuluIsSpy**

Grey Templar wrote:
Wouldn't that be social skills not motor skills

Yes, I would imagine that gamers have really deft hands

**Grey Templar**

easysauce wrote:
the whole body image thing is silly,

if you can't look at a toy/comic/tvshow/movie actor/actress without thinking you have to look like that, then that is your own doing, not the object or fantasy.

all the ken dolls, warhammer dolls, gi joes, actors have ripped abs and steroid esque muscles, and while there is a problem with men trying to look that way through steroid abuse, that is not the fault of the inanimate objects or the fantasies on tv.

so while people abusing steroids, or being bulimic or anorexic to attain a body type is obviously harmful to them, they are the one making the choice.

it is antithetical to a free society to blame these things for individual's actions as it denies the individual's agency in decisions.

The dolls would only exacerbate an already existing problem. if the problem didn't exist in the first place the dolls wouldn't be enough to create it.

The problem could be solved by having less media focus on the perfect body as well as good parenting.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

CthuluIsSpy wrote:
Grey Templar wrote:
Wouldn't that be social skills not motor skills

Yes, I would imagine that gamers have really deft hands

That could be read multiple ways, all of them naughty and pertinent to this situation.

**Sigvatr**

Oh man, nothing better than irrational feminists to make my day.

I do approve of the protests though. And no, that's not because of that one woman showing her boobs. Totally not. Really!

...okay, it is.

**nerdfest09**

You should read an eye opening article called 'Bleeding Sweden the fall into ideological depravity' sure opened my eyes!

**Sigvatr**

I just read about FEMEN (NSFW: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FEMEN), the organiazion behind it, and I gotta say that I like the group. A lot! Their sense for drama is outstanding (Swinging a burning cross...while naked!).

We need more similar feminist groups.

**Newabortion**

Little girls want to be beautiful princesses how is it sexist if the company caters to their imagination?
"Sorry little girl, no Barbie for you because you need a realistic expectation that you will be fat, sad, and a single mother when you are 16."
Next stop, Lets sue Walt Disney because there are no plus sized women princesses,let alone transgender princesses.

**Sigvatr**

The only female sexist (aka the most vocal part nowadays) acceptable Barbie is a barbie doll with her holding a leash and Ken being attached to it.

**Frazzled**

Women's image issues don't come from barbie. Thats a feminist bs. They come from all the magazines/pics/advertising that show concentration camp victims as models.

**hotsauceman1**

Yeah, its like the video game violence, kids know that barbie is fake.
Now if they show a real person as a model, they do think it is possible.

**Dreadclaw69**

Wasn't Barbie the one who had the career and owned the car? Sounds like she showed girls that they didn't have to rely on their man for what they wanted.

**Monster Rain**

Yep, that's pretty moronic.

This isn't a new thing, though. Some fool is always crying the blues about Barbie at least once a year.

**Dreadclaw69**

Sigvatr wrote:
I just read about FEMEN (NSFW: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FEMEN), the organiazion behind it, and I gotta say that I like the group. A lot! Their sense for drama is outstanding (Swinging a burning cross...while naked!).

We need more similar feminist groups.

So its the PETA of feminism?

**Monster Rain**

Dreadclaw69 wrote:
Wasn't Barbie the one who had the career and owned the car? Sounds like she showed girls that they didn't have to rely on their man for what they wanted.

Barbie doesn't have the correct career. She should do what the protestors think she should do, because they are objectively correct in their opinion.

**Sigvatr**

Dreadclaw69 wrote:
Sigvatr wrote:
I just read about FEMEN (NSFW: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FEMEN), the organiazion behind it, and I gotta say that I like the group. A lot! Their sense for drama is outstanding (Swinging a burning cross...while naked!).

We need more similar feminist groups.

So its the PETA of feminism?

Are you kidding? FEMEN is the holy grail of feminist movements! Their main form of protest is having 18-20 year old students showing their boobies!

**hotsauceman1**

Monster Rain wrote:
Dreadclaw69 wrote:
Wasn't Barbie the one who had the career and owned the car? Sounds like she showed girls that they didn't have to rely on their man for what they wanted.

Barbie doesn't have the correct career. She should do what the protestors think she should do, because they are objectively correct in their opinion.

She has been a Vet, Lawyer and an astronaut all before 40, think about that schooling she needed.

**Dreadclaw69**

Good thing there hasn't been a Jelly Wrestling Barbie

hotsauceman1 wrote:
She has been a Vet, Lawyer and an astronaut all before 40, think about that schooling she needed.

So what would make her an acceptable role model? Or is she a target because she is being judged by feminists on her appearance?

**Sigvatr**

In order to be acceptable, Barbie must be a fat, unattractive woman only wearing at least 3 layers of clothing. And glasses! Don't forget the glasses!