In the new Barbie movie, there is a transgender actor — born a man — who is playing Barbie as a doctor. It’s far from the most important thing in the world, but it’s one of many wake-up calls in the culture today. A 1980s ad campaign (I still have in my head) had girls declaring: “We girls can do anything. Right, Barbie?” It’s just a toy. But taking the girl from Barbie does seem to take away the point of Barbie.
I half-expected to find out that actor Dylan Mulvaney himself was in the Barbie movie. Bud Light is regretting making Mulvaney a spokesman for the once No. 1 beer in America. I suspect that there won’t be the same backlash — people boycotting Barbie as they are boycotting beer. But Barbie seems more significant. As silly as it may seem, for a girl, Barbie introduced beauty — even if very few of us were ever going to look like her — and vocational opportunities. Ken’s head might have popped off, but there was, in the playing with the dolls, something to be said even about interacting with men. Differences were suggested, even if the dolls didn’t have all the accurate parts. (Which seemed appropriate for child’s play!)
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