Pink and Patriarchy

Day 30 of 31: 200 Words-A-Day Challenge

This is day 30 of the 31-day 200-words challenge. For an unexpected reason, this is the hardest one yet to write. But here it is!

Please write with me again… or for the first time … JUST WRITE. And then please share what you’ve written in the comments or via Notes. I’d be forever grateful if you restacked. The Directory for the full month of prompts will be updated soon.

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Pink and Patriarchy

The last few days, I have cringed and moved on at every mention (and there are SOOOO many) of the new Barbie movie. I have photos and vivid memories of five-year-old Gina getting her first Barbie, equipped with car and house. Soon, Skipper and Ken joined her.

One of the outfits I eventually got for Barbie included a scale permanently set on 105 pounds. Thus, my issues with body image began. This will likely come as a surprise to those who’ve met me in person, but that’s another essay for another day. The point here is: I had absolutely no intention of seeing the new Barbie movie. None.

The commercials, the media hype, the too-perfectly gorgeous characters. The pink, my god, the pink  (BLECH!). No. Just no.

But then…. Mary Pipher posted on Facebook about it. Dr. Pipher is best known as the author of Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls (1994), which was on the NYT bestseller list for three years. Her book Writing to Change the World (2006) holds a prominent place on my bookshelf and is the inspiration for this Facebook group.

So when Mary Pipher has something to say about anything I listen. Given my aforementioned attitude about the movie, I still cringed but I read her post.

And damn. Now I want to see the movie just to hear the name Barbie and the word patriarchy used in the same scene.

I’m still unsure if I can endure all that pink, though. But for Mary Pipher, I’ll try.

[You can read Pipher’s Facebook post here: https://bit.ly/PipherBarbie]

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Your Prompt / Day 30 of 31

Consider a prominent cultural icon or figure (real or imagined) from your childhood. How would they be received if they emerged in today's world? Would their messages or actions be interpreted differently in our current cultural landscape?