This Week in Jews
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Am I the only one who missed the memo that Barbie is a Jewish feminist icon?
Yes, that tall, long-legged, blonde, blue-eyed, straight-haired, high-arch-footed doll is a symbol of empowerment. And a Jewish one, at that.
OK, yes, Barbie was created by a Jewish woman and her story is exciting and inspiring. But this all just seems like a stretch.
It can’t be just me.
One person commented on the Hey Alma Instagram post, “Do we really wanna claim this? Barbie has created a misrepresentation of beauty in society.”
Another said, “Jews invent irresistible product and achieve American dream. Nice for them. Barbie erases Jewishness, sorry. Part of the generation that wanted to obliterate identity to Americanize, to assimilate.”
Others take a lighter approach. “Did she ever have just a ‘Barb’ phase?” “If Barbie’s mother is Jewish, then of course she is Jewish.” “as a blonde Jew, this is the representation I needed 🥲”
You know an actual Jewish feminist doll would be short, curvy, dark, curly haired and only come with chunky necklaces as accessories. But this isn’t about the origins of the doll (which is modeled after a sexy toy marketed to men in 1950s Germany, btw), nor is this critique of the film.
It’s about our bizarre need to claim things as Jewish when it’s trendy. Harry Potter was Jewish for a minute. Shrek is Jewish. Apparently Dungeons and Dragons is Jewish. I have said before that we have to stop reading Jewishness back onto every cultural phenomenon. Yes, Judaism has universal themes (that might be because most of Western civilization is based on Ye Olde Testament). Because when everything is everything, what is it? When Judaism is EVERYTHING, what is Judaism?
I played with Barbies as a child (perhaps longer than most kids—my best friend and I had elaborate, ongoing dramas with medical crises and love triangles, I mean, we all know there aren’t enough Kens to go around) before evolving into a sullen teen feminist holed up in my pink bedroom listening to Fiona Apple. When I gave birth to a daughter decades later, I cringed when she was gifted a Barbie doll in a frilly dress. I wanted to raise a strong girl who would grow to understand womanhood to be something powerful and special and not defined by stereotypes of femininity. I would do anything, including outlawing skinny plastic dolls, to keep her on that path.
So when I drove past a long line of grown women and men dressed in pink outside a local theater, I had to reassess. I thought Barbie was on the outs. I thought we weren’t supposed to dress up in pink to see films about dolls. I thought we were past this. Especially Jewish girls, most of whom (or am I just speaking for myself?) carry the historical trauma of being not-Barbie. Barely a generation ago, Jewish women were being slighted by Jewish men in favor of svelte, Slavic Christines. Hello, Philip Roth, Billy Joel, every Ben Stiller movie.
But at some point between emoting to Fiona Apple and having a daughter, playing marriage with a plastic bimbo went from embarrassing to empowering.
“Barbie is the prettiest golem story I’ve ever seen,” writes Sarah Jae Leiber for the Jewish Women’s Archive. “The act of playing with a Barbie doll, projecting your hopes and dreams for yourself onto an eight-inch piece of plastic, is vulnerable and hopeful in a similar way. It is the same level of trust and delusion to expect care and understanding from any non-living creature of legend.”
Are you kidding me.
So look, the movie is good fun. The swirling cultural critique is fascinating and will pay for someone’s PhD in the not-too-distant future. I’m just amazed at how a waning symbol of 20th century stereotypes and materialism came roaring back as something to dress up as and spend money on (the movie has grossed nearly $800 million), and how quickly we staked out a claim on something we had so effectively forsaken.
I leave you with this. Gotta hand it to Rabbi Seth! :)
Your turn to weigh in!
Community Announcements
Check out the Seattle Jewish community calendar and the virtual calendar.
This week’s parasha is Eikev.
Candlelighting in Seattle is at 8:21 p.m.
Would you like to host a Jewish high schooler from Chile for this coming academic year? I hosted a Jewish high schooler from France last year and it was a great experience! The placement organization is called Foreign Links Around the Globe (FLAG) and I would be your contact person! Email me at jacob@redsolid.com if you're interested or with any questions, and check out https://flag-intl.org.
Shoutouts
Mazel tov to Ilan and Rabbi Kate Speizer as their daughter becomes a Bat Mitzvah this Shabbat! —Joel Magalnick
Mazel Tov to the citizens of Israel, who will benefit from an estimated $7.2 billion investment in Amazon Web Services data centers. This is expected to generate 7,700 new jobs and add $13.9 billion to Israel’s GDP. Mazel Tov to Amazon and Israel! —Randy Kessler
Pining for the day when the endless Barbie hype goes the way of the previous pop culture flavor of the month ... whatever that was.
Rabbi Seth rocks!!!
Barbie is a shapeshifter...doctor, lawyer, scholar, (even Talmud scholar) bimbo in the kitchen....and she supplants the baby doll whose message to lityle girls is, " you are mommy, only and always."