The Barbie Murders:
"Cover yourself," the barbie said, with a pained look. "You're flaunting your differentness..."
I thought it was interesting how the author created this future where the word barbie no longer refers to a child's toy, but rather a member of a separate, standardist society. In "The Barbie Murders" members have undergone multiple surgeries to look like a Barbie doll. In this "ideal" town of theirs, everyone looks the same, dresses the same and abandons everything that makes them different from everyone else. They have began to talk not of their own thoughts but thoughts of the group. No one uses the word "I" only "we". This quote really sums up the general feeling of this essay. This society of "barbies" is suppressing anything that they consider standard, pure and ideal. Sound familiar anyone?
Barbie-Q:
"On the outside you and me skipping and humming but inside we are doing loopity-loops and pirouetting."
I really liked this quote. It shows just how excited these girl's were about their barbies. They knew that they did not have what other girls had, but they were so excited about the small luxuries they did receive. It is amazing how happy a barbie and her accessories can make a little girl.
Strip!
"If you ever want power: strip."
Of course, I chose the first sentence in the essay. It definitely caught my attention.
"I hated that fear and I hated the bathroom where my transsexuality and my disability conspired to make me vulnerable."
This essay really shows the suffering the author went through and how stripping helped her gain acceptance. She accepted her own difference. She had gone through a point in time that she couldn't even carry on with everyday life without feeling scrutinized for simpling being herself. This really put thing into perspective for me to realize what people go through when "being themselves" means going against the norm to the point that others consider them "freaks". I have nothing but love and respect for people that are strong enough in themselves to fight the codes that have defined their lives for so long.
"The Barbie Murders" and "Strip!" are similar in that both show fear in things that are different. They both also show some negative consequences that come with the fight against who we truly are, just to fit into a society.
Talking about Barbies always makes my own experiences. While most people talk about all of the accessories they bought for thier Barbies... I think, my Barbies WERE the accessories. You see, I always loved my toy horses better, and the only reason I had Barbies was because someone needed to sit in the saddle and brush my wonderful ponies. I wish this online game would have been around when I was a kid! I used to put glitter on my real horses hooves.... poor Libby....
Cali Girl Horse ADVENTURE! :)
Probably the coolest thing about me is that I am utterly obsessed with turtles. Sea Turtles mostly, but I love just about anything turtle-esque. I spent a summer in southern Greece, in the beautiful Mediterranean heat, volunteering for a Sea Turtle Conservation Project. Originally, I had signed up for this project to enhance my resume. Plus, who wouldn't want to spend a summer on a beach in Greece. It was actually a lot of work. We had to spend hours tracking for nests, then digthem up in the over 100 degree weather, count and replace the eggs. This is what I did over and over. But then I got to hold a hatchling! It was tiny, adorable and made all the work worth it. It made all of the hassles and bundled up nerves involved in traveling alone, to a foreign country, make a lot of sense. I am now addicted to traveling and in love with turtles. Thank you Greece!
