And it Never Ends…..

       Appropriation is taking elements, such as techniques or aspects, of something and using them in the creation of something new. This happens in the music industry all the time and is known there as sampling. Musicians sometimes borrow beats, melodies and rhythms from other songs when creating a new song. It is sometimes done because they love the melody and believe that it can help them convey the meaning of their song to their audience and therefore they are in a sense giving the melody a new meaning. They are assigning their own meaning to the melody when the original may have had a different meaning. However sampling is legal as you need permission from the original artist. 

       In the commercialized world the appropriation of Barbie is a hot topic. Barbie is redone in so many different ways on the Internet, such as, Gangsta Bitch Barbie and Lesbian Bondage Barbie, that it amazes me that Barbie continues to be such a popular toy and that the meaning behind it has never faltered. All of these appropriated Barbie are created by people who want to change the meaning behind Barbie.

       Not everyone is happy with the meaning associated with Barbie. After the release of Barbie and her quick rise to popularity she became an American icon of what beauty is and many girls and women alike aspired to have the impossible body of Barbie. Women began associating blonde and busty with beautiful when beauty can be defined in many different ways.

       According to Dr. Strangelove “Barbie has a very specific role in the economics system- the eroticization of female identity and socialization of each new generation of consumers” (140). It is hard to believe, but Barbie actually has an alarming effect and influence on the buying power of consumers. Barbie is a huge brand that associates its name with other products than just the doll, such as lip gloss and hand creams. Girls that love Barbie will want to buy these products because they have a picture of Barbie on them and in this sense they influence the purchases of consumers.

 

 

       I personally never had a Barbie, but almost every girl that I know had at least one and now my younger cousins have quite the Barbie collection and Barbie was around even before my time. Barbie has incredible staying power as well as the ability to put her name on a product in order to sell it. I would not be surprised if my granddaughters were asking for a Barbie one day.