Blog #3 Barbie

What is your relationship to Barbie or any kind of children’s culture (like Disney?)  How does Christiansen validate or challenge your views?

Christiansen's views on "secret education" seem to validate how I saw myself and the community around me. As a child, I used to love Barbie dolls. I played with them all the time, for years. We used to play pretend school in my room, making houses out of encyclopedias and using materials from around the house as furniture. When I played with my Barbies, I was always Teacher Barbie. Thinking back, my 5th and 6th-grade teachers had a heavy influence on my decision to go to school to become a teacher. I used to play out the day that I had in school with my Barbies at home so in a sense Barbie had an influence on me too, I thought that if Barbie could be a teacher I could be one too. So from elementary school age until adulthood, my dream was to become a teacher. If I remember correctly, I believe that most if not all my Barbies were white with the long blond or brown hair down to their butts. Playing with my Barbies most likely unconsciously influenced me to relax (straighten) my hair. I remember around the age of 11 or 12, yes I was still playing with Barbies at that age. I was going into middle school and I told my mom that I was NOT going into middle school with two braids in my hair, and I was adamant about it. So she let me get my hair relaxed. The Barbies were an example of the beauty standard that society thought we had to live up to.