living doll
Nostalgia, the resurgence of pink and a certain Greta Gerwig film have put the world’s most famous doll back at the centre of the cultural conversation. But what’s the secret to Barbie’s endurance?
words: Meena Alexander
The year is 2002. I am sat in my room, door closed, gazing at my most illicit and treasured possession. She normally lives under my bed, safe from my parents’ prying eyes, but at regular intervals I crawl under there to plait her golden hair or treat her to an outfit change. She was given to me by a schoolfriend out of pity because my mum was reluctant to buy a doll that looked nothing like me – back then there was no Barbie with my brown skin or corkscrew curls – but my eight-year-old heart still beat for her. She represented everything I wanted to be: sophisticated, stylish, grown up. And though my mum was far from the only parent wary of the impact this doll could have on my young, malleable mind, she might have been naive thinking she could shield me from it. Because Barbie is not just a doll, she’s an
