Early adolescents' experiences with, and views of, Barbie

Adolescence, Spring, 2004 by Tara L. Kuther, Erin McDonald

   I liked to play and pretend that [Barbie] was my best friend,
   and that we were going on a trip together. Once, I popped my
   Barbie's head off. I thought it was funny because I didn't like
   her anyway.

   We would smash Ken's head on a wall and it would break off. I would
   make Ken go bungee jumping but would hit the ground and die. I would
   swing her [Barbie] around by her hair and I would chew on her hands.
   I threw her [Barbie] at my brothers.

   I started to practice cutting the hair on all the Barbie dolls
   I had and dress them up. I'd cut off all of Barbie's hair and burned
   the clothes because she kept talking too much.

   I would play Barbie with my friends, make her have sisters married
   to Ken and have a daughter. We would make them have divorces and we
   cut Barbie's hair off and set her on tire. We busted Ken's head off.

Boys' Experiences with Barbie Dolls

Most of the boys' responses began by denying any experience with Barbie dolls, but then indicated that, indeed, they had some experience playing with Barbie dolls. Very few boys reported engaging in imaginative play with Barbie dolls, and all who did explained that they were either complying with a request of a female sibling or pretending to harm the doll.

   My sister had and still has Barbie. When she was little I was
   asked to play Barbie with her and I did. I was not very interested
   but I did it for my sister.

   When I was younger I would take my sister's Barbie and make
   up different ways she got hurt. Sometimes I would take balls and
   throw them at her, pretending it was a meteor shower. I would also
   make her get hit by her Barbie convertible.

   [We] used to see how many ways she could ... kick the bucket in one
   day.

The boys often simultaneously professed indifference and curiosity about the doll. Many reported that they were "not allowed" to play with the dolls because they were not gender appropriate.

   I dislike Barbie because I [am] a boy. My sister has about
   a million, though. Sometimes I look at them to see what kind they
   are, what year they are, or what country they are supposed to
   represent. I never touched one when I was little. Mostly because
   I wasn't allowed to.

Other boys expressed the desire to play with the dolls.

   I'm one of five boys so I didn't have any Barbies. If I did I would
   play like a family thing and how she has to take care of the family.
   I would have played with her by like having the guy go to work and
   the mom staying home and taking care of the kids and the house.
   I would have got a big house too.

Torture play with Barbie dolls was commonly reported by the boys. The dolls subject to such play were not personal possessions but belonged to sisters, cousins, or female playmates.

   I have had many experiences with Barbie as I have a six-year-old
   sister. I have done experiments with Barbie. Can she fly out of a
   second story window? Is her hair flammable? And at Boy Scout camp
   every scout brought a Barbie, and we had a Barbie torture session.
   My job was to fuse Barbie and Ken together. We also burned her at
   the stake, upside down. I would attach the explosives to Barbie and
   watch what effects more explosives would do. I also launched them
   into the air and shot it with a slingshot.

   Well, once I lit one on fire, tore off a head. I also would make
   her dress up as a GI Joe. I cut off her hair and drowned her and
   sent one to sea. I used to throw them out the window and at a wall
   and stuff. I melted her to a wall.

   I just melted one in a microwave.