The Indian Version Of Barbie ? 🩷🤔

Almost every girl would have had a phase in her life when she loved Barbie dolls. I was one of those girls as well, not addicted, but like many others, I dreamed of having one. Even getting the cheaper dupes from roadside stores made us happy. Despite not having a brand name, or even if it wasn't made by Mattel, we still called it Barbie. Even if it was a fake version manufactured in India, we never called it just a doll, we called it Barbie. I realized this only much later: the name Barbie has become so deeply rooted in India that it is used to refer to almost any fashion doll, not just those made by Mattel. That, in itself, is a serious issue worth thinking about.

In today's class, my professor showed us a Barbie doll and asked the class what it was. The class replied that it was a Black Barbie. He then asked us, "Why not just call it Barbie? Why associate Barbie with its colour?" It's because there is already an ideal figure that we associate with Barbie, it should be fair, have blonde hair, blue eyes, and a waist size that is humanly impossible to achieve.

*Image credits: Gemini 

Children and young people who play with Barbie often aspire to be like her, and this has also given many people an inferiority complex when they realize that it is something they can't achieve. If I think about my own experience of growing up with Barbie dolls, I was also a huge fan of Barbie as a kid. At that time, I never thought that I should be as pretty as she was because, as children, we don't understand the seriousness of these things. But as we grow into adults, we start caring about our weight, glowing skin, makeup, and fashion because we don't want to be seen as weird. This can trigger an inferiority complex, as even children are given Barbie dolls to play with, and that too, an adult Barbie, which indirectly tells them that this is what society expects them to be.

 Despite the recommended age limit of 13+, children still long for Barbie dolls, and parents often buy them willingly. If people are going to the birthday party of a young girl, they almost immediately reach for a Barbie from the store shelf. The first thing that comes to many people's minds when buying a gift for a girl is either a Barbie doll or a makeup set. This reflects the profound influence Barbie has on society and also reinforces the idea that girls should always look pretty. The sad part is that it is imposed on kids.

In the movie Barbie (2023), starring Margot Robbie, Barbie panics because her feet become human and she develops cellulite, features that people are often expected to fear or feel insecure about. After this incident, she sets out on a journey to become "normal" again. This can indirectly influence people to fear cellulite on their own bodies, even though we often forget that Barbie is a doll, while we are human beings.

Then my professor gave us a challenge: to create a Barbie that represents the roots we come from, and for us, that is ultimately India.

After the class, I thought of three names: Tara, Durga, and Kayal. Which I grouped them as The Triveni which refers to the Triveni Sangam which is the confluence of the three Indian rivers, Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati which also symbolises unity.

I also drew a rough sketch of how they would look. They represent Indians from different parts of India, Kayal from the South, Durga from the North, and Tara from the East. Though they come from different parts of India, the three are best friends, showing how important unity is despite geographical differences.

Later, I'll be sharing the first sketches of Tara, Durga, and Kayal. Each doll represents a different part of India, yet together they tell a story of unity, identity, and belonging. 

#TheTriveni #Kayal #Tara #Durga